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Advocacy Kit Produced by the Australian Young Christian Workers
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Developed in 2007
By the Australian Young Christian Workers 40A Mary St, Highgate WA 6003
Australian Young Christian Workers
The Australian Young Christian Workers (YCW) is a movement run by and for young people aged 18 to 30.
YCW seeks to organise, educate and empower young people to be leaders of positive change within their own lives and community. YCW’s national campaigns seek to bring about Just and Meaningful Work and the
Formation of Young People. Click on www.ycw.org.au
With Thanks
The Australian Young Christian Workers would like to thank Jan Barnett and Sara Kane for compiling this resource. The YCW would like to acknowledge the work of NetAct, a coalition of Catholic Social
Justice, Welfare and Educational Agencies for developing some of the information in this kit.
Copying this Resource
The material in this resource is intended for use by anyone working with young people. You are welcome to copy and distribute this material for the purpose empowering young people to make an informed vote. However we ask that you acknowledge the YCW as the authors of this work.
All material remains the property of the original authors.
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Contents
Overview 4
Young People in Australia – What we believe & what concerns us 5
Young People in Australia – What Governments can do 6
Young People in Australia – Your Summary Points 7
Lobbying Skills 9
Scenarios 10
Visit to Candidates Report 11
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OVERVIEW
The YCW works to create a society which actively supports, respects and values the God-given dignity of each person.
We will consciously uphold basic human rights, especially the right to meaningful and just work.
We will educate for global awareness and solidarity.
Through action and review in community, young people will discover
the deepest meaning and mission of their lives.
At this time in Australia we are at a critical point in our political history. The Social Vision of the YCW sets a framework for us as we strive to engage in a process of see, judge and act, which will call us to vote in the spirit of the gospel. A wise parish priest gave this advice:
SEE
1. Ask yourself – who are the people about whom Jesus would be most concerned at
this time (individuals and groups)?
2. How are we as humans, treating our planet, and the whole of creation?
JUDGE
3. Decide which Candidates/ Parties would be most likely to work for structures and policies, which would support fairness for all people and care for planet earth.
4. Decide which candidates support your own values in all of this.
ACT
5. Vote accordingly.
It is in this spirit that we have prepared this kit. We hope that the material is valuable for your own reflections, and for sharing as widely as possible with your YCW and other groups.
In the Christian gospel, Jesus calls us to engage the society in which we live and to do what we can to transform it in line with the values of the Kingdom, which he proclaimed by his words and example. For Christians, and for the YCW, the work of social transformation is
not an optional extra. It stems from God’s own passion for the marginalised and suffering, and for the care of the very earth on which we live.
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Young People in Australia
What we believe
The rights of young people are not conceded rights that are derived from family or from the state: their human rights are personal and inalienable.
Good health, affordable housing and equitable, high quality and accessible education are basic to the well-being of young people, and provide a foundation for stability at all stages of their lives.
A just industrial relations system is designed to serve social, as well as economic goals, allowing young people to live and work in a manner befitting their human dignity and their responsibilities to their community and their world.
Governments are obliged to ensure that young people whose work gives them little or no bargaining power have adequate safeguards on conditions and wages.
Legislation enacted by governments needs to protect and encourage the wholehearted involvement of young people in the political process.
Future generations have a right to inherit a healthy and bio-diverse environment.
The allocation of resources
demonstrates the seriousness of the
government’s rhetoric is about the importance of young people as society’s future.
What concerns us?
Widening Gap
The growing inequalities in Australia are especially evident in the particular economic, political and social difficulties faced by young people at this time. Educational access, vocational training, employment, housing, health (and especially mental health), are particular issues for young people. 15% of young people in Australia live in poverty (OECD Report 2005)
Education
The proportion of students continuing on to post-compulsory education has decreased in the past ten years (ABS 2003). Specific cuts in TAFE funding, in Abstudy and in Adult Migrant Education Services have negatively impacted on students in disadvantaged groups, especially those in greatest need and those with the least powerful voices (TAFE
Report 2004).
Young Indigenous Australians
Young Indigenous Australians are suffering significant levels of disadvantage because of deepening racism, the mainstreaming of government policies, high rates of imprisonment, housing and health problems, and media portrayal.
Young Australians in Rural Areas
Microeconomic reform and the withdrawal of
services by Government and the private sector have created hardship, insecurity, unemployment, lower wages and greater inequity across rural Australia. Many young people have been forced to leave rural Australia in search of educational and work
opportunities (St Vincent de Paul 2003).
Housing affordability
House price increases have been significantly greater than income increases. Importantly, the largest proportional increases in house sale prices occurred in the traditionally lower cost housing areas such as Greater Western Sydney. In this region, house sale prices increased in the order of 62% to 83%, while
increases in individual income for the 25-34
age group were generally in the range of 18% to 23% (Berryman 2004).
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Industrial relations
The new industrial legislation has increased the power of employers, and decreased the power of young workers to negotiate. Those without skills or experience have less power to negotiate an individual contract, leaving many young people vulnerable to exploitation.
Casualisation of work
The rate of casualisation has grown from 16% of our workforce in 1984 to 27% in 2003.
Casuals have fewer rights and less security, which can deny them access to credit, such as a home loan. Because many young people can only obtain casual employment, the laws hold
particular significance for them.
Environmental Threats
Australian society, with the rest of the western world, is based on an economy that depends on an ever-increasing consumption of resources. This is environmentally unsustainable for the future of our country and our world.
What Governments can do?
Areas of Disadvantage
Introduce a formal process (e.g. fairness impact statements) to consider the impact of legislation on disadvantaged Australians.
Education
Commit to the adequate and equitable provision of funding comparable to OECD standards (especially those disadvantaged by the cuts of the past twenty years –
rural, indigenous, NESB students).
Provide equitable access for post-compulsory education (TAFE/university)
Needs-based funding
Increase needs-based funding for young people to provide greater equity in areas of urban, rural and indigenous disadvantage – health,
education, housing, employment and infrastructure.
Health
Commit to Medicare and frame
target levels of expenditure and taxation to ensure that all
Australians have access to
affordable health care.
Provide dental care for all Australians
Establish outreach youth health facilities
Housing
Provide incentives for the development of affordable housing in the private market, and commit to funding for public and community housing in areas of need. (as identified in the Vinson Report)
Industrial Relations
Promote the rights, conditions, and bargaining positions of all workers, ensuring that vulnerable young workers are not forced to negotiate in an unequal bargaining situation.
The Political Process
Promote involvement of young people in the political process through strategies that protect and encourage their registration as voters, and their participation as citizens in political debate and advocacy.
Environment
Promote the use of alternative fuels and
energy efficiencies. Commit to a 60%
reduction in polluting emissions by 2050. Increase investment in alternative energy research.
For more Information
ACOSS: www.australiafair.org.au ACTU: www.actu.asn.au
St Vincent de Paul: www.vinnies.org.au
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Young People in Australia
Your Summary Points
Based on the information provided and your own further research, complete a few summary points you would like to raise with politicians.
Concerns
Widening Gap
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Education
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Housing
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Health
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Environment
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What Governments can do
Widening Gap
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Education
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Housing
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Health
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Environment
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Young People in Australia
Your Summary Points
Concerns
Industrial Relations
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Political Process
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Young Indigenous Australians
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Young Rural Australians
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Other
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What Governments can do
Industrial Relations
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Political Process
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Young Indigenous Australians
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Young Rural Australians
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Other
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Lobbying Skills
Questions:
1. Who are your allies and your opponents?
2. Who is your target; i.e. who will you lobby for change?
3. What is your goal; the immediate outcome from your meeting and long term goal?
4. What tips can you think of for having an effective delegation to your target?
5. What other strategies apart from lobbying might you use to reach your goal?
Visiting a politician is one of the most powerful things you can do. It carries more weight than signing a petition, sending a postcard, making a phone call or even sending a letter. It’s not difficult to visit a Candidate/MP, yet very few people do it. To make your visit as successful as possible, here are some suggestions.
BEFORE YOU GO
Know your politician. Make sure you know your Candidates’ names, parties and electorate. Know your issue. Make sure before you go that you are clear about key points you want to make and the action you would like the Candidates to take Know your objectives. Make candidates aware that you, as ordinary Australians, are concerned about this issue.
Organise your delegation. It is good to organise a group to visit a Candidate. Others can give you confidence and might be able to think of additional points to raise. About three is an ideal number.
Make the appointment. Call the local office. Tell the office how many will be coming and what groups you are from. Half an hour is a normal meeting length.
DURING THE VISIT
Be neat and presentable. Candidates may react negatively to anyone dressed in a messy, radical or unkempt way. This may turn them against your cause, regardless of the worth of your ideas. Be early. Make sure everyone in your delegation knows where the office is and ask them to meet outside 15 minutes early. Be friendly, polite and patient, and don’t get side-tracked. Remember your outline and objectives and make sure you get to raise the issues you intended to raise. Find out Candidate’s views on the issue – this is important.
Ask the Candidates what they would be prepared to do. It is important to draw a commitment from the Candidates that means you will have to get back in touch with them and vice-versa. Ask
them what action they would be prepared to take, e.g.: make a public statement, talk to a minister,
write a letter raising your concerns, ask a question in Parliament, raise the issue at a party meeting. Thank them for the visit and leave some information. Regardless of the outcome, thank them again for the opportunity to meet with them and to air your concerns. Leave a copy of the information about your concerns.
AFTER THE VISIT
Debrief. Talk it over with your group. Follow up. Make sure the Candidates honour any commitment to you. If you don’t hear anything in a week or so, phone or write, and keep on doing so, right up to the election.
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SCENARIOS
You are part of a group concerned about one of these issues. You undertake a delegation to lobby your cause with your local candidates for the Federal elections. Use the information from
the Young People in Australia paper to prepare your argument.
1. Last week at the local club, a group of your friends got into a huge discussion about the lack of opportunities for young people in your area. Many of them have had to drop out of TAFE or Uni because of rising costs and all have experienced real difficulties in finding and keeping worthwhile jobs. They can’t afford to move out of home, and health, sports, leisure and entertainment are increasingly out of the question. How can the CEO of the Macquarie Bank think he’s worth more than $33 million, while ordinary workers’ wages are just a fraction of that? That’s more than 700 teachers are worth! What can you propose to your local candidates?
2. Your friend Paul has just dropped out of TAFE. The cost of tools, the cutbacks in courses
offered because of lower numbers, the hours he was expected to spend at TAFE, the difficulties in keeping up his hours in his casual job, have all become too much. So he thought he had no choice but to drop out. Paul also believes that, as a young indigenous man, he has suffered significant levels of disadvantage because of deepening racism, and media portrayal. Prepare an argument for your local candidates.
3. Christine has been talking at her YCW group about her life’s wish to own her own home. She
has a casual job and she knows that house price increases have been significantly greater than income increases, even for permanent workers. Importantly, she lives in Campbelltown, and she knows that house sale prices there have been astronomical. What will you say to your local candidates?
4. Your YCW group has been collecting worker’s stories for YCW Action. Everyone who has shared a story has spoken of feeling powerless under the new Industrial legislation – not
knowing the laws and not being able to argue for his or her rights. The situation is often worse for young rural Australians. Prepare an argument for your local candidates.
5. Joe has been a casual for over ten years, and he’s fed up. He knows he has fewer rights and less security, which can deny him access to credit, such as a home loan. He is scared that he will never be able to find permanent full-time employment. His YCW group has discovered that casualisation has grown from 16% of our workforce in 1984 to over 30% in 2007.
What do you want to say to your local candidates?
6. Marthese has become very concerned about the drought in South Australia. Her YCW group has looked at the effects of the drought and its links to global warming. Members have agreed to take personal steps to save water, but they have also talked about the need for changes in government policies. Growing global consumerism and high paced living has led to increased emissions from factory production and the burning of fossil fuels. Desalination,
recycling, solar panels, hybrid cars, wind farms – all have been part of the discussion. What will you say to your local candidates?
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Visit to Candidates
Report
Electorate
Candidates visited
Participants at meeting (Names and contact numbers)
Points made
1.
2.
3.
4.
Outcome
Possible action for the future?
Please return to
Australian YCW
40A Mary St Highgate WA 6003
