The City of Ballarat's draft Youth Strategy 2027-2030 is now open for public feedback.
The four-year strategy represents a shared commitment across the City of Ballarat and invites schools, community organisations, businesses, employers, health services, sporting clubs and the wider community to work together to support young people.
The draft strategy has been shaped by extensive community engagement, including a co-design group of 15 young people aged 12 to 25.
City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Tracey Hargreaves encourages the community to review the draft strategy and provide feedback during the public exhibition period.
"Around one in six Ballarat residents are aged 12 to 25, so it's important that we work alongside our young people to continue creating a city where they feel connected and able to thrive," she said.
"We've heard from almost 1,000 people throughout the development of this strategy, and we are grateful to everyone who has contributed their ideas and experiences.
"The draft is now available for review and I encourage our community to provide feedback before the strategy is finalised."
The Youth Strategy is guided by the Nest Framework, Australia's first evidence-based framework for child and youth wellbeing.
Developed by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), the Nest Framework identifies six key domains that help children and young people thrive: Valued, Loved and Safe, Identity and Culture, Healthy, Material Basics, Learning, and Participating.
The draft Youth Strategy 2027-2030 is available for public exhibition on the City of Ballarat's MySay platform until Sunday, 20 September 2026.
