I
hope you enjoy this issue of my quarterly e-news. Inside you'll find
links to my latest reports, briefs, submissions and other advocacy
resources.
Friday 11 April 2025
Issue 12
Dear Colleagues,
Next
week I will complete my eight year term as South Australia’s inaugural
Commissioner for Children and Young People. In 2017, when I was first
appointed, I prioritised engaging with as many of our state’s children
and young people as I possibly could – I needed to hear what they wanted
from their Commissioner to ensure my advocacy work was aligned with
their needs and based on their voices and experiences; not my own
assumptions. I also wanted to understand the complexity of their lives
and to understand the differences that exist between them by age, stage
and circumstance.
My
work has seen me sitting on the floor with children, engaging in
drawing and creative activities, conducting interactive workshops, and
facilitating focus groups. I’ve interacted with children and young
people at forums, summits and other events, many of these organised by
me and my team. It has been an absolute privilege to do so. I am
immensely proud of all that has been achieved and extremely grateful to
all who have worked with me to achieve some of the incremental systemic
change that is needed, and also larger policy reforms we have proposed
and, in some cases, seen.
I
feel grateful to have had the opportunity to spend so much of my time
getting to know this generation of South Australians. They have been
generous and welcoming to me. And I ask you to please thank them for
their kindness and happy dispositions as well for sharing the tough
stuff when I’ve asked them to. I have learnt so much from them over the
past eight years, and I am very confident our future is in safe hands. There
is work to be done for those who are missing out and this is the
subject of my final report which will be formally released this coming
Monday. This report provides clear direction as to what I believe needs
to be the focus of support for these kids, based on what they have told
me and what I’ve seen they need most to thrive not just
survive.
This
newsletter is full of stories about the breadth and depth of events and
activities my team and I have been engaged with throughout this first
term. They encompass the fourth iteration of the SA SRC Summit, the
third Keeping Kids Connected Summit and Harmful Sexual Behaviours
Workshops, the first Youth Impact Summit, the DreamBIG Festival ‘Listen
to Me’ Postcards Exhibition and Champion Schools Awards and the first
printed edition of Hub Magazine!
You’ll also find links to the latest resources and publications which include My Suburban Life;
the outcome of a neighbourhood mapping project I undertook last year
that reveals much about the impact that where a child grows up has on
their aspirations and opportunities.
Please
say hello if you see me out and about and encourage the children and
young people you support and interact with to do the same. Although it’s
goodbye it’s certainly not forgotten, and I thank you sincerely for
making my journey over the past eight years so fulfilling and
memorable.
Featured News
Champion Schools Postcards Awards
On
Thursday 10 April over 100 students and their Principals representing
35 schools came together from across the State to be presented with
their Award for having been amongst an elite group who participated in
the Commissioner's 'Tell Helen' Student Voice Postcard initiative for
six consecutive years!
The
first edition of Hub Magazine has been launched. It's made by young
people for young people with gaming and film reviews, sports coverage,
politics and current affairs, creative writing and arts reviews. Read it
today!
Over
200 young people and local government and community stakeholders came
together last week for the inaugural Youth Impact Summit University of
Adelaide. There was plenty to celebrate about young South Aussies who
are having a positive impact.
On
Friday 21 March, 130 students from Years 10, 11 and 12 gathered at the
Adelaide Festival Centre for the 2025 SA SRC Summit to prepare them for
the year ahead as advocates and leaders in change across their schools
and communities.
Schools,
educators and teachers who are fans of the Commissioner’s Space to
Dream Design Thinking Challenge will be excited to hear local education
content creatives, Makers Empire, are busy producing an extended version
with Harrison Thomas (pictured) presenting the In-App Course Challenge
that will be available from Term 2.
Three
passionate young South Australians presented at the annual Australian
Secondary Principals Association Summit earlier this month. They
contributed great ideas about what needs to be reformed and improved in
secondary schools.
In
Februrary, the Commissioner ran two Harmful Sexual Behaviours Workshops
with frontline staff and experts in Education, Health, Youth Justice,
Human Services, SAPOL and DCP. They were delivered to raise awareness of
and advocate for a state-wide approach to responding to HSB.
On
7 March the Commissioner partnered with The Smith Family and Youth
Opportunities to present a symposium to discuss how best to keep kids
engaged in their education during the transition from primary school to
secondary school. This event was the third in a series of summits and a
summary report will be published soon.
Period Justice Group Nominated for Young Achievers Award
The Commissioner's Period Justice Working Group
has been recognised by the 7NEWS Young Achievers Awards as a
semi-finalist for the Awards Australia Foundation Connection Communities
Award. Congratulations to all the young people involved!
Commissioner's Runabout
Read
this term's summary of what Commissioner Connolly has been busy with
over the last three months, connecting and engaging with SA children,
young people, and adult stakeholders on issues relating to her advocacy
work. Read more
Submissions | Briefs | Reports
My Suburban Life Neighbourhood Mapping Project
Last
year the Commissioner undertook a mapping project in which she asked
728 primary school aged children across Adelaide to draw her a map of
their local neighbourhood. The differences between what appeared on the
maps of children living in different Adelaide suburbs was very
revealing. It is clear that where children grow up has a profound
influence on their daily lives.
Parents
should not be put in a position where they have to choose between
ensuring their child has enough food or the ‘right’ uniform, transport, a
school excursion, or participating in an extracurricular activity they
know their child enjoys. The cumulative costs of items and school events
and activities means that some students are missing out. The
Commissioner has produced this guide to support schools in their efforts
to ensure no student misses out.
Children
and young people understand the risks associated with a lack of
exercise but are largely dependent on what their parents allow them to
do and what outdoor areas are safe and accessible throughout the day,
outside of school hours and on weekends. Opening school grounds to
students and the broader community means more kids could be physically
active in a place they know and feel safe in and which their parents'
are likely to give them approval to be.
The
Commissioner is calling for reforms to be made to South Australia’s
child justice system to align it with a child rights-based approach.
Such an approach would look beyond the current focus on policing,
courts, and detention and instead would commit to addressing the unmet
needs and underlying drivers of South Australian children’s involvement
with the State’s child justice system.
In
this final report the Commissioner focuses on six key groups of SA
children and young people who she believes are missing out more than
most. She is calling on the state government to undertake the
legislative change needed to break the cycles of disadvantage common to
these children. These are the SA kids who are experiencing participation
poverty, homelessness, chronic illness, disability, carer
responsibilities, or who have a parent in prison.
Visit ccyp.com.au Mon 14 April to access this report.
2025 SA SRC Summit
A
highlight reel from the 2025 SA SRC Summit which took place at the
Adelaide Festival Centre on 21 March with 150 senior students in
attendance to discuss their yearlong campaigns to bring about change in
their own communities.
Grants | Initiatives
Register for the Commissioner's Digital Challenge today!
Has
your school registered for this year's Learn to Speak Robot, Space to
Dream and/or Zoom Out Digital Challenges? To be in the running for the
great digital prize packs that include robot kits and a 3D printer,
you'll need to ensure you register!
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