A few weeks ago, I had the distinct pleasure of attending Griffith University to view the final assessment of an inspiring young academic from Redland City. Her commitment to young people in Redlands was/is experienced in every word that she delivered. With her permission, I am providing you with excerpts from her report, as I believe it illustrates the many frustrations that our community experiences across the board. There is often a great deal of talk, back patting & self flagellation by Council which appears to result in very little. This view is shared by Ainslie Meiklejohn-Griffiths in Redland City Council's approach to our future generations - today's young people.
The Mayor's latest glossy Residents Report branded with "winner" logos goes on to espouse "Sustainability: the bottom line" and explains the importance of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In the true sense, this should not just be about the green environment. It needs to consider the other pillars of livability and consider our people and our youth. Ainslie will tell you that we should not have to wait another 10 years to meet the needs of our young people and we are not meeting them now.
We have not achieved sustainability by winning "Keep Australia Beautiful- Queensland's Sustainable City" awards. This award does not measure the health and prospects for our current and future youth. If Council is really serious about "sustainability" we need less talk and more action in improving the lives and opportunities for our young people in Redland City.
Unravelling the Rhetoric - Ainslie Meiklejohn-Griffiths - 16 November 2010
Preamble.
The inspiration for this report emerged from a poorly researched news article released early this year, which
featured information about youth and graffiti. The article was in the local newspaper which has the ability to
reach numerous residents and influence opinions. The more concerning part with the article was the picture,
which depicted four officials from the community, two were politicians and two were from a youth organization. The in-discrepancy with the photo was the incorrect labeling of art as graffiti. This shows how policy can be made and implemented without correct knowledge of the problem at hand. There are many different studies about young people and youth culture. It is now known graffiti is a part of a sub-culture and some galleries display graffiti style artworks. While not all young people engage in the graffiti sub-culture and not all people participating in graffiti styled artworks are young people, this small-scale mistake in the local paper was indicative of a larger issue.
The Redland City is an area “just south-east of Brisbane, Queensland, it covers 537 square kilometres.
There are large government, financial, commercial and retail centers at Cleveland and Capalaba, as well as
extensive retail and services facilities at Victoria Point, Alexandra Hills, Birkdale and Redland Bay” (Redland
SHire Council 2006). If the local paper is to believed, the focus of this area is on koalas, however this has
proved to be problematic as the local residents, primarily the young people of the area are missing out on
facilities and opportunities to create and negotiate pathways. The council produces numerous documents,
which promotes the different facilities, which the council funds, however it is possible to prove these
documents are about rhetoric and the young people are missing out in the process.
Un-raveling the Rhetoric
In Redlands 2030 Community Plan it outlines specific goals and aspirations of the council in regards to the
direction of the facilities provided for the residents. One of the goals outlines states “accessible and afford-
able community facilities, services, programs, activities and events, designed by, with and for children and
young people, encourage them to feel included, display their culture and interact in a safe environment”
(Redland City Council 2010). From this information it is possible to discern young people are not currently a
priority as this is a goal for long-term future. If community initiatives were a priority, this goal would be based
on updating existing facilities to meet future demands or about sustaining an already proven commitment.
This information shows the lack of action the Redland City Council is engaged in and shows the need to im-
prove levels of commitment.
As stated previously, a commitment towards young people and social enterprise has been made on the be-
half of council. However this move towards engaging young people in community initiatives can be seen as a
reactionary measure as stated in a media release it states “Redland City Council is committed to building
safe, strong and self-reliant communities, Cr Hobson said. The project [The Cage Youth Foundation] aims to
reduce youth crime and anti-social behaviour in the area by providing opportunities for our young people to
positively contribute to community life” (Redland City Council 2009). This shows the current lack of activities
for young people, despite the installation of the youth plaza. It reconfirms the ideas, a skate park while it pro-
vides a recreation area does not solve deeper social problems. Moreover, further announcements is council
documents claim the council is “Ensuring young people are part of on-going dialogue and decision‐making
about how the community develops is recognised by initiatives such as Redlands 2030 and the Austra-
lia 2020 Summit” (Redland City Council 2009). However as explained by Lucas Walsh these types of initia-
tives can often be views as tokenistic by the young people (Walsh, 2010). The use of space by young people
in the area, which is labeled as antisocial in both the media and other community reports, only indicates the
lack of engagement between council and young people.
The Redlands Young Adults Project 2006 shows a dissatisfaction for facilities for young adults in the Red-
lands area. The main factors of concern in the document which the young adults saw as needing improve-
ment was transport, employment and an entertainment precinct (Redland City Shire, 2006). The Annual Re-
port 2005-2006 reflected this information on page 27, however there was not commitment of funding other
than the implementation of a skate park (Redland Shire Council 2006). As previously discussed, the aca-
demic dialogue shows a skate park is a useful tool for entertaining a specific audience, it cannot be included
as a central theme for a youth strategy. The dissatisfaction with employment levels as expressed in the Red-
lands Young Adults Project 2006 shows a need for intervention or advocacy from government as Honouring
Our Commitment shows the need to make a stable transition from study to work as young people who do not
make this transition run the risk of not finding adequate employment or the further necessary skills to gain
independence (Dusseldorp, 2002). This information proves, Redland City Council is aware of the issues.
Recommendations
Public transport was indicated as a serious issue for young people as they often are unable to provide their
own transport. It is recommended public transport is more frequent in the area and more affordable. Any or-
ganization dealing with young people should also be mindful when organizing events to ensure the times
allow for public transport use. Alternatively, it could be appropriate for the provision of transport to be privat-
ized and heavily subsidized for specific events.
For young people to be able to take control of their own area as provided by the Safer Suburbs grant. Young
people should be trained to create social events and activities which both themselves and their peers could
engage in. This would be a perfect example of social enterprise and it would also deliver skills to young peo-
ple which they could use in the labour market in an attempt to make the transition between education and
work easier.
It is not sufficient to provide a youth space which is only accessible on a weekly basis and entertainment
provided should match the target audience needs. Inclusionary practices which involve appropriate levels of
consultation with young people before spending funds on projects needs to be acted upon. Acting in a timely
manner to feedback or criticisms and making the appropriate changed to ensure young peoples needs are
meet if of high importance.
The local media has published many articles about young people and antisocial behaviour, which influences
public opinion. The appointment of an individual to advise staff at the local paper or for staff to receive fur-
ther professional development and learn the further ramifications of reporting about young people would be
helpful in this situation.
To engage in dialogue with business owners where young people frequent the vicinity regularly and produce
appropriate strategies which suit the needs of all parties. If security officers are to be utilized, it is advised all
officers are to receive professional development in dealing with young people.
For council to engage in ongoing dialogue with young people, outside of the already utilized communication
channels. It is clear from the behaviour of the young people current solutions are yet to be proven viable and
further investigations as to what young people need should be embarked on.
