17 Decisions, Events and Ideas That Impacted Young People In 2018

2018 is in the books.

We’re going to break down the biggest stories on the Smashed Avocado of 2018,

But before we do we want to say thanks.

To all the young people who have been driving change with us, through surveys, events, sharing our stuff, writing to us, writing for us, and being members - THANK YOU.

You're the experts in your own lives. You know more than anyone else what's important to you and what is affecting your life. Sharing that expertise with us is what allows us to do what we do.

We’ve reached thousands, literally thousands, of people through this site - so thanks for being on the journey with us.

We really appreciate it.

Thank you.

You’ve been awesome.

Now. Let’s look back and what was in 2018 (so much happened that we’ve broken it down into categories).

Democracy and Politics

1. The State Election

When young people vote, cool things happen. So before the State Election that happened in March, we put everything you could ever want to know about voting in one convenient place. We unpacked:

• Voting

• Pizza and Politics

• How young people are changing the game when it comes to elections

• What the parties said about the issues you’re passionate about

2. What The Actual Heck Happened During #LibSpill?!

One of the most confusing and chaotic weeks in Australia’s political history ended with a new Prime Minister. We answered the 10 questions young people asked us during #LibSpill.

3. We Read The SA Budget So You Didn’t Have To

Remember the Budget? That happened. The bad news is that reading budgets isn’t all that much fun. So good news is that we did it for you. Check out what it meant for the issues you’re passionate about. .

4. Don’t Let Yourself Not Vote In Council Elections

And, at the end of the year the Council Elections were held, and we explored why voting in them is pretty important.

Young people driving change

5. Florida Students

Following a mass shooting tragedy, student from Florida taught us all (including adults!) a lesson about driving change.

6. School Strike 4 Climate

When young people marched for action on Climate Change in November, we paid close attention to the narrative surrounding their actions. Here’s what we saw.

Young people telling their story

7. Emily: Here’s What Jobactive Is Really Like

Emily unpacked her experience with Jobactive. The story also featured responses from our survey about Jobactive.

8. Caitlin: From Education To Unemployment

Caitlin talked about her journey from finishing Uni to finding employment, and the lessons she learned.

9. Emily: “Let Me Tell You About Work For The Dole”

Emily shared her experience with Work for the Dole, and what she thinks about the program.

10. Matt: 5 Struggles Of Regional Life for Young People

Matt, a year 10 work experience student, explored the struggles young people can face living in regional areas.

11. Riley: Sustainability - What’s It To You?

Given the chance to write about an issue she’s passionate about, Riley (a year 10 work experience student) explored the idea of sustainability, and what you can do to help.

Unpacking the big stuff

12. Stop Blaming Young People For The Unemployment Crisis

So here's what happened:

• YACSA has been studying and talking about the 'youth unemployment crisis' for years.

• Someone contacted YACSA with some interesting questions about youth unemployment.

• We thought we'd broadcast our responses, because it's important to understand that young people are not the problem.

13. Young People Are Changing The Game When It Comes To Democracy

How will the relationship between young people and politics impact elections moving forward, and what happens when young people use their political force to demand change during elections? Dive in and find out.

14. Sentencing Young People As Adults Won’t Make Us Safer

Sentencing young people as adults won't make us safer, and can lead to increased re-offending. Find out why it's time decision makers started listening to the evidence.

15. What Do You Know About Image Based Abuse?

We went to a training session on Image Based Abuse (sometimes incorrectly referred to as 'Revenge Porn') run by YWCA Adelaide and Legal Services Commission of SA, and here’s what we learnt...

16. What You Need To Know About “The Religious Freedoms And Schools” Debate

This year there was a new push aimed towards allowing schools to discriminate against LGBTIQ+ students, on the grounds of religious freedoms. Find out what’s happening, how we got here, and YACSA’s take.

Ongoing

17. LGBTIQ+ Consultation

We’re doing a statewide consult of LGBTIQ+ young people to find out how services and systems can be improved. We’ve got a story up at the moment that unpacks some of the things we’ve heard, and links to the survey if you’re an LGBTIQ+ young person looking to participate!

(Thanks to everyone who’s filled in the survey btw!!)

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Thanks again for the year.

We’ll see you all in 2019 - where there will be a Federal Election and plenty more to unpack with you.

Until then, we’re going to leave you with this video!