Amnesty International Australia Victorian Youth Social Change Lab

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On November 25th, Asialink and the Asia Education Foundation worked alongside Amnesty International Australia in to host the Youth Social Change Lab. The forum was designed to empower and equip young people to take action to better society. Students from years 9 and 10 will come together at the University of Melbourne’s Parkville campus to:

  • Expand students’ knowledge of human rights and the role of activists around the world.
  • Build student’s skills in debate, public speaking, problem solving, analytical thinking and reflecting.
  • Strongly link to the Victorian Curriculum’s General Capabilities of Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical Understanding, Intercultural Understanding and Personal and Social capabilities.
  • Provide students with ‘deep-dive’ sessions on Indigenous rights, LGBT+ rights, and other student-identified human rights issues.
  • Empower students, through capacity building workshops, with the tools and confidence to become activists themselves.

The event featured a half day of capacity building workshops and talks starting from, followed by deep dive sessions on Indigenous rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, and environmental advocacy.  These deep dive sessions were run by activists in their respective fields, who shared their experiences, tools, and lessons with participants and answered student's questions.

Furthmore, a tailored Teacher Professional Development session was held to build teacher’s capabilities in promoting student voice, advocacy, agency, and leadership.

We'd like to thank our co-hosts, our panellists, and all the teachers and students who  made the event so engaging!

This event was inspired by the Amnesty International Australia Youth Membership Strategy whereby now young people aged 16 or 17 years can become a youth member of Amnesty International for free and help shape a global human rights movement in 150 countries with 10,000,000 supporters.

Students at the University of Melbourne's Redmond Barry building for International Victorian Youth Social Change Lab

Panellists talking students at the International Victorian Youth Social Change Lab

Amnesty Staff and Volunteers at the International Victorian Youth Social Change Lab