Australian Youth Affairs Coalition

Question

1. What evidence did the Government rely on to justify putting the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition's funding to open tender despite AYAC being the only established national youth peak body currently operating at scale? 2. Was the decision to competitively tender AYAC's funding driven by any concerns regarding AYAC's advocacy positions, public commentary or policy engagement with Government? 3. Did any Minister, Ministerial office or departmental representative raise concerns regarding AYAC's criticism, advocacy activities or policy positions prior to the tender process being announced? 4. If the Government publicly committed in 2022 to restoring a national youth peak body, why has it now created funding instability that places the existence of that peak body at risk? 5. Does the Government accept that announcing a short-notice competitive tender for AYAC's core funding has undermined confidence and stability across the youth sector? 6. Was any consideration given to the reputational damage caused by placing the national youth peak body into funding uncertainty after less than a single parliamentary term of restored support? 7. Has the Department identified any alternative organisation with equivalent national membership, youth engagement capability and policy infrastructure currently comparable to AYAC? 8. Did the Department consider the risk that destabilising AYAC could effectively return Australia to the post-2013 situation where young people lacked a properly funded national representative body? 9. Has the Government received representations from youth organisations, stakeholders or advocates expressing concern about the handling of AYAC's funding arrangements and, if so, how many? 10. Does the Government accept that treating the national youth peak body as a short-term contestable grant rather than critical democratic infrastructure undermines meaningful youth participation in public policy development?

Answer

Please see the attached PDF.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• SQ26-000335.pdf (opens in a new tab)