Spotlight: Community voices in Meander Valley, Tasmania
Meander Valley is a local government area in lutruwita (Tasmania), situated in between Launceston, Devonport and Cradle Mountain.
The Community Voices project, coordinated by the Meander Valley Local Drug Action Team (LDAT), aimed to gain insights, perspectives and ideas from local young people about the topics and issues that are affecting them.
The LDAT is particularly interested in opinions of what could help young people thrive and be happy in Meander Valley.
The challenge
Meander Valley is a large rural area, with limited resources, services and activities available for young people.
“One of the underlying issues for Meander is how spread out the area is geographically. That, doubled with a lack of public transport, creates access issues and isolation for young people,” explained Alison Hugo, Community Wellbeing Officer at Meander Valley Council.
“About five to six years ago there were well established youth services in the area. These were resourced through Tasmanian Health Services, local Council and supported by schools. This meant there were better outreach services and support services, including allied health. There were also youth-led programs and activities on offer.
“But, these resources and funds were not continued, leaving a large gap in service provision. The LDAT program has created an opportunity to start to build a new framework of youth support based on youth need,” said Alison.
“We received a grant from the state government for a Youth Participation Program in 2023/24 to co-design a youth program. This was an opportunity for Meander Valley to start to rebuild community and youth engagement and networks. The LDAT committee was then formed as a natural progression.”
The LDAT is auspiced by Westbury Health Inc. and includes volunteers from Westbury Health Inc., the Westbury community, Deloraine Table Tennis League, and staff from Meander Valley Council and Deloraine High School.
The LDAT has also established a youth committee. This group of young people is informing the next Community Action Plan (CAP) in the LDAT program and making decisions around priority actions and activities.
Their solution
Alison explained that it’s important to consult with your target audience before going on to design a CAP activity.
“It’s vital. Codesigning projects for anyone in the community, especially young people, is important. It’s creating a platform where they feel they can be heard.”
“It gives them permission to have autonomy. They have the trust and respect to make decisions on matters that affect them.”
A Type 1 Community Action Plan (CAP) allows LDATs to engage in community consultation to inform the design of future activities to support their target audience.
The Meander Valley LDAT connected with young people in the community during the delivery of this CAP, used the Community Engagement and Mobilisation LDAT Toolkit to guide their work.
The CAP involved a range of consultation methods and engagement tools including facilitated activities, face-to-face interviews, class group interviews and youth events.
An online survey was the main engagement tool used to capture feedback. The link to the survey was shared on a flyer via various methods including school newsletters and community social media platforms. It was also posted up around the municipality on notice boards and in shop windows.
And the LDAT organised a range of activities to attract young people to increase engagement.
This included a photobooth at the Meander Valley Talent Show, survey distribution through Deloraine High School and Deloraine Table Tennis League, two local Drum Collective sessions, two Dungeons and Dragons sessions and a Westbury Youth Forum and games night.
“We targeted outside the traditional sort of groups with different techniques and strategies. The survey was shared very widely, and reached young people in home schooling, e-schooling and local schools,” said Alison.
Their progress
The LDAT consulted with 111 young people in total, ranging from 10 to 30 years old. Most young people were in the 15 to 19 age group.
The consultation discovered that the main problems and issues that young people identify with in Meander are drug and vape usage, lack of activities, behavioural issues, the lack of mental health services and poor access to public transport.
Young people reported that the things that are missing, or needed improving, included sport and recreational activities, a safe place to hang out, mental health and general health services and better public transport.
In the future, they want more sporting and recreational activities, music, art and theatre, live music events, community events, youth groups and places to hang out.
“Not enough activities and programs to help youth have a sense of community and purpose in this town,” reported one young person on their survey response.
“Nothing to do. In Meander Valley there is very little to, do especially for older children, which then causes problems within the community with kids misbehaving as they are bored,” said another.
“We’re still consulting with the young people on how our next CAP might look and feel. It will likely be a drop in space, potentially an arts program,” said Alison.
“From the consultation, young people told us that the priority for them is somewhere to hang out. That’s what missing for them. Even having a bus in the long term to address the lack of public transport would be great.”
Advice to other LDATs
Alison encourages other LDATs to use the support of the Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF) – not just for help in developing and implementing their CAP, but for support on diversifying funding streams.
“We’re very excited to work with the ADF, because Bethany (ADF Senior Community Development Officer) has given us great advice and support.
“Bethany has been wonderful in supporting the program. We’ve had a couple of face-to-face meetings. If we’re not sure what to do, they are accessible on email or on the phone.
“Our next goal is to work together with local organisations and ADF to apply for a larger funding grant to develop a youth program, supported by a full-time youth worker, that is well resourced for the longer term,” Alison explained.