Hope and Resilience: Young Australians’ reflections on hope in a complex world

For young people today, the future is increasingly fraught with challenges. Existing research often focuses on young people’s concerns and fears about the short- and long-term future. In contrast, this research provided young people aged 12 to 18 with the opportunity to share their hopes and aspirations for the future.

Hearing from young people is critical to enable decision-makers to strengthen young people’s capacity to thrive in a complex world characterised by inequality, discrimination, unemployment, underemployment, a youth mental health epidemic, and a worsening climate.

Understanding the enablers of and barriers to young people’s hope is vital to a strengths-based approach to early intervention and the prevention of violent extremism. In this research, experienced researchers partnered with young researchers to explore the hopes of and how hopeful young Australians are, what enhances and undermines their hope, and what they need from decision-makers to be hopeful and resilient. A mixed-methods approach generated data through an online survey with 1,002 young Australians, 15 interviews, and one participatory research workshop with 21 young people.

This research highlighted that hope is critical for the wellbeing and resilience of young people. In the absence of hope, young people feel stuck, pessimistic and anxious. Young people’s hopes are beautifully ordinary and achievable. They hope for a home, a job, strong relationships, and a just, equitable, and kind world.

Young people’s hopes for the future hinge on two key factors: decisive action from government to address young people’s concerns; and concerted efforts to strengthen young people’s participation in decision-making.

Artist name: Yehansa Dahanayake

Artwork Name: Hope is...?

Artist Statement: This series of collage zine-style works seeks to capture the views of young people when asked to respond to the question "What would hope as a picture look like?". The "Hope is...?" series is passionate, messy and meaningful, and seeks to represent young people's diverse feelings and experiences with the complexities of hope in an ever changing world.

Recommendations for decision-makers:

collaborate across governments, civil society organisation and educators to support young people’s wellbeing, hopes and resilience;
include rights-based interventions which protect young people now and in the future; and
provide investment in, and a commitment to, approaches which meaningfully engage young people and embed their ideas and concerns into national and international dialogue, decisionmaking and action plans.

10 GUIDING PRINCIPLES TO DRIVE EFFECTIVE YOUTH ENGAGEMENT

Respect: Respect, value and advocate for young people’s rights to have a say in the decisions that affect them
Inclusivity & diversity: Embrace the diversity of young people’s experiences and perspectives and include diverse young people.
Transparency: Be open and honest with young people about what is and what is not possible, and communicate the reasons why.
Authenticity: Commit to authentic community consultation; give young people and advocates time and clear mechanisms to respond to policy decisions and issues.
Accountability: Recognise and support young people as legitimate stakeholders, and commit to genuine partnerships, action and reporting back.
Collaboration: Collaborate with young people, as well as the youth sector, researchers and other organisations that support young people.
Safety: Create safe and comfortable spaces for young people to share their experiences and concerns, and challenge the status quo.
Capacity building: Provide mentorship, resources, and support to empower young people to participate in and lead initiatives.
Sustainability: Ensure long-term commitment to youth engagement initiatives and strategies that go beyond ‘one-off’ engagements.
Impact: Evaluate youth engagement initiatives to understand what is working and what can be improved.