2023 Youth Council formed

THE 12 newest members of the City of Greater Geelong’s Youth Council have been inducted and will gather for their first meeting later this month.

Irene Mulilo was elected to the junior Mayor position from a field of eight candidates with Aleena Eftikhari to serve as deputy on the advisory committee.

The dozen Youth Council members, aged between 12 and 17 years old, are made up of three representatives from each of the four council wards.

Georgie Tigani 17, Anastasia Keller (16) and Simoné De Koning (16) are representing Kardinia alongside Ali Agha Walizada (15), Aleena Eftikhari (16) and Ashton Stonehouse (15) who the are representatives for Windermere.

Rebekah Zutt (16), Ruen Roach (16) and Irene Mulilo (17) are the junior councillors for Brownbill and Maximilian Thompson (12), Kirrily McConachy (17) and Leyla Cefai (12) are representing Bellarine.

Over their 2023 term, the group will learn about the machinery of the civic and democratic process at a local government level and use their positions to lobby their peers on youth specific issues, including through their agenda setting quarterly reports.

“I applaud our new Youth Council members for taking up the challenge to address issues that affect their lives, develop new skills and learn more about civic processes.” Geelong mayor Trent Sullivan said.

“Recognising these 12 young people is the first formal step in their journey of understanding about the democratic process as they have been elected by their peers to represent the views of young people.”