National Action Campaign
– Generation Connection
Generation Connection brings together five actions that build on the current reality of young people in Australia today. The five actions are as follows:
- Empowerment of Women and Gender Equality
- Justice for Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants
- Mental Health and Wellbeing
- precarious Work and Wage Theft
- Student Transitions
The actions of Generation Connection will be implemented through the following strategies:
- Engage more young people experiencing these realities through local activities and events.
- Creating safe communities (both online and in person) where young people can reach out for advice and connections with others experiencing similar situations as them.
- Develop relations with other likeminded organizations, with whom we can partner with to magnify our scope for change and increase our influence.
- Investigate and profile the situations that young people face, by proactively recording and collecting worker stories.
- Be receptive to learning more about the global, political, socio-economic, cultural and ecological drivers that influence the reality of young people in Australia.
Our Demands and Aspirations
- Strengthen existing workplace protections which already exist for young workers
- Criminalize wage theft
- Improve protections for migrant and refugee workers so they are not deported for asking for their basic rights
- For all teachers (primary and secondary) to be trained in mental health first aid as a mandatory requirement
- Increase the number of psychologist sessions available under medicare, and make them available to all
- For all those holding a temporary visa to have access to austudy (no international fee)
- To eliminate gender gaps and stereotypes by advocating for and empowering people of all genders to strive for equal opportunities, rights and social expectations.
- For all ycs students and school leavers to comfortably transition into ycw local groups and for all senior ycs students to be practically supported by the ycw as they navigate life after secondary education, the workforce and tertiary education.
To be organized nationally through the following action committees:
- Mental Health Committee
- Young women committee
- Precarious Work/Wage Theft Committee
- Students-Workers Working Committee
- Migrants and Refugees Committee
Serve, Educate and Represent
What we see
Young people and especially young workers continue to experience exploitation, discrimination and poor living and working conditions. This alienates young people from their own hopes, their community and impacts their wellbeing at all levels.
What we believe
The YCW believes in the innate human dignity of each and every young worker. We believe that each young worker is unique and irreplaceable and is called to make a difference in the world, to take action where they work, study and in their community to overcome the contradictions we experience on a daily basis.
What we are doing
We are implementing actions in our local communities in solidarity with other like-minded people as part of national and international campaigns for change. We are reflecting on our actions in small groups to discover a deeper meaning in life and learn new skills to develop our actions. We are a movement organised by young workers, for young workers at the local, national and international level to serve, educate and represent them and their demands.