Bronnie Taylor, NSW Minister for Mental Health, Regional Youth and Women, and Victor Dominello, NSW Minister for Digital, Minister for Customer Service, Media Release, 14 September 2021

The 2021 Regional Youth Taskforce have held their third meeting of the year, coming together over the weekend discuss how young people in regional and rural communities could better connect to outside services.

Minister for Regional Youth Bronnie Taylor said the meeting focused on providing better access to training, services, work and recreational opportunities for young people across regional NSW.

“This is all about making life better for young people in regional and rural NSW, by finding innovative and reliable ways we can deliver better programs, study options and work opportunities,” Mrs Taylor said.

“These meetings are designed to tackle the issues that young people in regional and rural areas care about, the things that are affecting their day-to-day lives and today we also discussed living online safely as well as knowing how and when to reach out for mental health support.

“These incredible young leaders give us a direct line into what is working well and what isn’t, so we can look at adapting policy and closing the gaps.

“With so much news and information around COVID, we want to ensure the voices of regional young people are not getting drowned out.”

Mrs Taylor was joined by Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, Chief Data Scientist Dr Ian Oppermann and CEO of youth mental health organisation ReachOut Ashley de Silva.

Mr Dominello congratulated the Taskforce members on their commitment to improving the lives of regional youth.

“The last time I met with the Regional Youth Taskforce, we worked to implement a simple online process allowing P1 licence holders to progress to P2 licences, removing the need to travel to a Service NSW centre, which for some regional youth can often be hundreds of kilometres,” Mr Dominello said.

The Taskforce is made up of 18 young people, with two representatives from each of the nine regions of NSW. The group meets throughout the year to advise the Minister for Regional Youth on ways the NSW Government can improve outcomes for young people living in regional NSW.

For more information, please visit: www.nsw.gov.au/RegionalYouthTaskforce.