ABOUT US
Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network Australia (MYAN) is an advocacy non-profit body that provides advice to the government and capacity building to those who work with young people.
Since our formal inception in 2007, we have been working in partnership with young people, government and civil society to promote the rights and interests of young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds and ensure these are recognised in policy and practice.
We facilitate national connections between young people, academics, policy makers and practitioners, provide policy expertise, provide youth leadership opportunities and develop capacity building resources.
WHY WE EXIST
This group of young people have enormous potential to be active participants in Australian society, but often face particular challenges in accessing the support and opportunities they are entitled to. Their particular experiences and needs are distinct from adults and many of their Australian-born counterparts, and often go unrecognised within the broader youth and settlement sectors.
OUR STRUCTURE
MYAN has a staff team based in Melbourne, Victoria, a National Youth Ambassadors Network and a State/Territory Advisory Network. We facilitate a nationally coordinated approach to policy and advocacy on multicultural youth issues through our affiliated state/territory organisations and networks.
VIC – Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY)
TAS – Multicultural Youth Tasmania (MYT)/MRC Tasmania
WA – MYAN WA/Youth Affairs Council of WA
NT – MYAN NT/Melaleuca Refugee Centre
QLD – Multicultural Youth QLD (MyQ)/ Access Community Services Ltd
NSW – Multicultural Youth Affairs Network NSW (MYAN NSW)
ACT – MYAN ACT/Youth Coalition of ACT
OUR VISION
Young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds are supported, valued and thriving in Australia.
OUR PURPOSE
Be the leading national voice, with international influence, promoting the rights and interests of young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds in Australia.
OUR FOUR PILLARS
OUR OBJECTIVES
OUR NATIONAL GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE
MYAN Australia is auspiced by the Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) and overseen by a National Governance Committee.
NATIONAL GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE
VIC – Carmel Guerra (Chair)
TAS – Catherine Doran
WA – Sandy McKiernan
NT – Kwame Selormey
QLD – Kenny Duke
NSW – Annukina Warda
ACT – Justin Barker
State and Territory Advisory Network
VIC – Duré de Winter and Linette Harriot
TAS – Jal David and Sera Lalagavesi
WA – Olivia Knowles and Fatema Shalemie
NT – Erin Plumb
QLD – Naome Rusera
NSW – Vanessa Chavez
ACT – Zakia Patel
Staff
National Manager – Rana Ebrahimi
Youth Leadership and Advocacy Officer – Martika Shakoor
National Policy and Advocacy Lead – Shannon White
Communication & Engagement Officer – Ali Saha
Project Support Officers – Sen Toyotoshi and Kate Yeung
Website Officer – Vicky Lee
Policy Officer (Volunteer) – Hemavarni Doma
SECTOR DEVELOPMENT
MYAN undertakes a range of sector development activities to build the capacity of policy makers and service providers to best meet the needs of young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds. These include training and professional development, webinars, conference presentations, national teleconferences and national consultations.
The National Youth Settlement Framework (NYSF) continues to be the benchmark for good practice with young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds and in youth settlement and integration.
MYAN maintains broad stakeholder networks and relationships across Australia’s youth, settlement and multicultural sectors, recognising that various sectors all play a critical role in facilitating successful settlement outcomes for young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds.
YOUTH LEADERSHIP & ENGAGEMENT
MYAN supports the development of young people’s leadership skills and networks to create change in their communities and engage in advocacy to influence the national and international agenda. We do this through our national Youth Ambassador’s Network (YAN), our bi-annual national multicultural youth summit, FUSE, supporting young people to engage in advocacy opportunities with government and in national conferences and consultations, and hosting the International Refugee Youth Leadership Scholarship.
INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT
MYAN shares its expertise in the international arena on youth policy and programming for young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds. This has included engagement with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) headquarters in Geneva, the Compact on Young People in Humanitarian Action and in the Asia-Pacific region through the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN).
