The team at the Youth Pride Network were recently recognised at the WA Youth Awards picking up The Y Collective Action Award.
he Youth Pride Network (YPN) is a peer-led LGBTIQA+ youth systemic advocacy organisation working to improve the lives of all young LGBTIQA+ people across Western Australia.
Established in 2017, the YPN formed in response to the marriage equality plebiscite in order to give a voice to queer young people, and currently operates with a committee of 15 young people between the ages of 12 – 25 and three extraordinarily dedicated staff members.
The YPN operates across three key pillars – advocacy, education, and community. They work towards a future where LGBTIQA+ young people don’t have to face systemic discrimination and aim to ensure the future generation of leaders are empowered in their advocacy.
Other winners on the big night include Isabella Choate, who was named the WA Young Person of the Year 2023 and was also awarded the ECU Community Leadership Award.
Isabella is a lived experience advocate working across youth, disability, mental ill-health, and LGBTIQA+ areas. They are passionate about celebrating intersectional community and creating opportunities for young people to have a voice.
To support this, they created a lived experience newsletter to support young people into lived experience roles. Isabella sits on several councils, including; CYDA Youth Council, the Victorian Department of Health Lived Experience Steering Group, is supporting CoMHWA to establish a lived experience leadership course, and is co-chair of the NMHS Mental Health Advisory Council. In their day job, they work at YDAN and in their spare time, they host accessible events for members of the disability community to come together and be unapologetically disabled.
Dillian Cumming was the recipient of the Commissioner for Children and Young People’ Participate Award.
Dillian is an active ally and advocate for LGBTIQA+, First Nations and transgender young people. The proud Whadjuk Ballardong person has been involved with various advocacy groups for several years. Dillian has been the youngest serving member on multiple advisory and working groups such as Pride Yarns with Mob, which has helped with research on the Walkern Katatdjin project. The national research project aims to understand and promote the mental health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQA+ young people.
The 2023 WA Youth Awards recognises young West Australians aged 10 to 25 years for the contribution they make to the social, cultural and economic life of Western Australia. Now in its 24th year, the Awards also recognise the work that the youth sector delivers to support young people.
A full list of the award winner is available at the YACWA website.
OIP Staff
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