Our Future Proof Advisory Group was established in January 2023 and consists of nine young people aged 13-19, living, studying or working in Indigo Shire.
Members of the group are meeting fortnightly to provide advice and participate in meetings and events that promote resilience-building in bushfire affected communities. Members are receiving access to free training in project management, emergency preparedness, public speaking, governance processes, leadership, peer facilitation and other relevant community activation expertise.
Participating young people are also being remunerated for their time and expertise, with a base rate of $35 per hour.
Due to the great success and feedback we received in 2023, we have decided to recruit four more people to be part of this group in 2024.
Timeline and process:
15 February to 1 March: Applications open.
7 March: Active members of the group review applications.
18 March to 22 March: Pre-selected candidates are invited to an interview.
29 March: All candidates are notified of the selection process outcome.
This group is part of the Future Proof project, a partnership between Indigo Shire Council and the Youth Affairs Council Victoria and is fully funded through a grant from the Australian Government.
Meet the team
Charlie (she/her) is 15 and has lived in Yackandandah all her life. For the past 3 years, Charlie has been co-running the Climate Letter Project with her cousin Eadie, which primarily works to get young people involved in political decision making. Charlie joined the Indigo Future Proof Action Group because she as very passionate about providing a voice for young people in influential spaces.
Ella is a 15 year old young person who uses all pronouns and lives in Beechworth, where they attend Beechworth Secondary College. Ella plays football and does a good job keeping people entertained in the Indigo Shire Future Proof Action Group. They joined the group because they are passioanted about making sure everyone in the community has their voice heard, and they wanted to start building their resume.
Amii (they/them) is in year 9 at Beechworth Secondary. They joined Future Proof because they are very passionate about helping their community and bringing people together. Outside of Future Proof, Amii enjoys listening to and playing music, reading and hanging out with their friends.
Sarah (she/her), is an 19 year old from Albury/Wodonga. She recently graducated from Catholic College Wodonga, Class of 2022, and is currently a student at TAFE NSW. Sarah enjoys gardening, reading and listneing to music. She is incredibly grateful to be part of the Indigo Shire Future Proof Action Group as she is passionate about young people having a voice, expressing their creativity and having a platform to insitage positive change for all.
Thali is 13 years old and lives with austism and ADHD. She loves passing on her knowledge about having autism, to help others. Thali loves bringing awareness to things like austism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and other disabilities, or as she likes to refer to them, 'different abilities'. Thali applied to work at Future Proof because she saw it as a wonderful way to do the things she loves (like bringing awareness to the things she finds important) and meeting like-minded people. Even though Thali is the youngest in the group, she doesn't let that stop her, and is here to prove that young people and autistic people can, and will, make a change.
Mieke (she/her) is an 18 year old singer/songwriter and producer from Beechworth. She is proud to be a member of Indigo's Future Proof Action Group, where she works to build disaster resilience and preparedness in her community. Mieke was excited to join the group as she saw the opportunity it would provide to get involved with events in her local community and share her unique perspective on issues as a queer young person living in the Indigo Shire. Mieke is currently studying music production at Wodogna TAFE to accelerate her journey as an artist. In future she hopes to keep growing as a musician and continue her involvement with change making in the Indigo Shire.
Eadie (she/her) is 15 and from Beechworth, where she has spent most of her life. In late primary school, Eadie started to become passionate about climate action and from that she fo-founded the Climate Letter Project with her cousin Charlie. Eadie loves art and reading and is excited to help make some change in her community through Future Proof.
Abbie uses she/her pronouns and is in year 11 at Beechworth Secondary College. Abbie is apssionate about learning about things that she finds interesting and is also a fan of cats. In her free time, Abbie somehow manages to get her homework done and also watches movies and series on Netflix. In the future, Abbie hopes to save enough money to buy her own house and make it a safe place for herself and others.
Henry (he/him) is an avid skateboarder and talented musician from Beechworth. He is a big heavy metal fan and and has a deep passion for music. Despite he is only in year 9, he plays at the Tanswell's monthly - you might see him playing the bass or the drums -. He joined the Future Proof youth group because he thought it would help him become more employable in the future and thinks it looks great in his resume.