FIVE Charles Sturt social work students attended the UNICEF Youth Drought Summit at Lake Macquarie last week.
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In total, 88 young people from across the state attended the three-day summit, which included panel discussions and debates as well as recreational activities and relaxation and mindfulness sessions, all designed to share the thoughts and ideas of young people living with drought and also to provide them with support and coping mechanisms.
All 88 delegates came with first-hand, lived experience of drought.
UNICEF, the United Nations' children's fund, organised the event after a study found that young people on drought-stricken properties in NSW had "escalating levels of stress".
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Charles Sturt supported the summit and sent a delegation of students because, as Australia's largest regional university with much of our footprint in drought-affected areas, we have a responsibility to be part of the national conversation on issues of regional significance such as drought and climate change.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that when summit delegates were asked for a show of hands of who believed the climate was changing, nearly all hands went up, with one calling out "it's the science".
On the final day of the summit, delegates made a number of action-based recommendations to political leaders.
They requested drought-affected communities have formal channels to communicate with ministers making decisions on drought policy and for governments to enter agreements with Aboriginal communities on how water systems are managed.
They also recommended access to mental health nurses and psychiatrists in every rural hospital; employment schemes for farmers seeking work off their properties; programs that foster greater understanding between urban and regional-based youth; and a HECS-style scheme for drought-affected families struggling to pay boarding school fees.
Charles Sturt is proud of our student delegates and congratulates UNICEF Australia for organising the summit.
The voice of youth, much maligned by some following Greta Thunberg's powerful United Nations speech, can be wise beyond its years and has a right to be heard.
A top education honour for Professor Alan Bain
CHARLES Sturt Associate Professor Alan Bain, who is based at the Bathurst campus, has been included in the inaugural Higher Education Hot List for 2019.
The list was published by The Educator, a magazine and news website for senior educational professionals and decision-makers in Australia.
Thirty experts and practitioners were included in recognition of "going above and beyond to have a game-changing impact on Australia's higher education landscape".
Professor Bain, who works in the Charles Sturt School of Teacher Education, said it was an honour to be highlighted alongside some of the industry's best and brightest.
"As someone who has worked in and around education in numerous capacities, I understand the importance of leadership and innovation in all educational environments," he said. "My contemporaries on this list have shown themselves to be leaders in this crucial field, and I am truly honoured to be mentioned among them."
