	{"id":120331,"date":"2026-03-06T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=120331"},"modified":"2026-03-06T00:27:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T13:27:23","slug":"input-sought-on-future-for-youth-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/input-sought-on-future-for-youth-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Input sought on future for youth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>THE City of Ballarat is inviting residents to have a say on two key strategic plans that are hoped to guide brighter futures for the area&#8217;s youngest residents.<\/p>\n<p>Community consultation for the city&#8217;s 2027\u20132030 Family and Children&#8217;s Strategy has opened and closes Sunday 30 March, while community consultation for the city&#8217;s 2027\u20132030 Youth Strategy opened this week (2 March) and will close Sunday 31 May.<\/p>\n<p>Children and young people aged 0 to 25 make up 31 per cent of Ballarat&#8217;s population and ensuring their voices are heard is considered vital to shaping the services, programs and facilities they rely on.<\/p>\n<p>City of Ballarat mayor Cr Tracey Hargreaves highlighted the important role that children and young people play in contributing to<\/p>\n<p>future priorities.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s important for us to hear from families, children and young people about the things that matter most to them growing up in Ballarat,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Community feedback helps Council support a consistent and connected approach from birth to 25 years so that everyone can reach their full potential in a welcoming and safe environment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Feedback gathered during the consultations will inform future actions that the council will deliver in partnership with several community organisations.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s expected to help improve outcomes for children and young people through enhanced services, events, spaces, and programs that support families across Ballarat.<\/p>\n<p>Both strategies are guided by the Nest Framework, Australia&#8217;s first evidence\u2013based model for child and youth wellbeing with more details through the council&#8217;s MySay page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE City of Ballarat is inviting residents to have a say on two key strategic plans that are hoped to guide brighter futures for the area&#8217;s youngest residents. Community consultation for the city&#8217;s 2027\u20132030 Family and Children&#8217;s Strategy has opened and closes Sunday 30 March, while community consultation for the city&#8217;s 2027\u20132030 Youth Strategy opened [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/input-sought-on-future-for-youth-2\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":244,"featured_media":120333,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-120331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Input sought on future for youth - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Have your say on the Ballarat Youth Strategy. 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Help shape future services and programs for local families and children through 2030.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/input-sought-on-future-for-youth-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-05T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/03\/05-feb-2026-63.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Evie Lamb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Evie Lamb\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/input-sought-on-future-for-youth-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/input-sought-on-future-for-youth-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Evie Lamb\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3e7d21b2c6dfc298cf678c776c4e5166\"},\"headline\":\"Input sought on future for youth\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-05T17:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/input-sought-on-future-for-youth-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":252,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/input-sought-on-future-for-youth-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/05-feb-2026-63.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/input-sought-on-future-for-youth-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/input-sought-on-future-for-youth-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Input sought on future for youth - Ballarat Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/input-sought-on-future-for-youth-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/input-sought-on-future-for-youth-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/05-feb-2026-63.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-05T17:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Have your say on the Ballarat Youth Strategy. 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