West Arnhem Youth Leadership Summit
Young Voices, Strong Futures
The West Arnhem Youth Leadership Summit was developed to elevate the voices of young people across the region. The Summit brings together students from across West Arnhem to explore leadership, identity, and action in their communities.
During the program, participants identify the most pressing issues facing their communities and work collaboratively to propose solutions - offering valuable insights to local services and decision-makers.
A West Arnhem Land Leadership Journey
The West Arnhem Youth Leadership Summit (WAYLS)commenced in 2023 and continues as an ongoing initiative, it was created for First Nations young people from communities across West Arnhem Land.
Born out of a need to elevate youth voices, WAYLS brings together young people from schools across languages and Country to explore leadership, identity, and action for their communities. Students identify the pressing needs in their communities - and work together to find solutions.
It provides immersive opportunities for First Nations students to collaborate across community lines, develop action plans, and present their ideas in an expo-style format to elders , elected members, service providers and invested organisations as well as presenting to Local Authority meetings in their own community, help guide service providers and other organisation to the needs of community.
National Award Winner
West Arnhem Regional Council is proud to announce that its leading youth initiative, the West Arnhem Youth Leadership Summit, has been named a Category Winner in the 2025 National Awards for Local Government.
Acknowledgements
Council acknowledges the invaluable support of the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA), the Department of Education and Local West Arnhem schools, Amanda Marshall and her team at Youth Engagement Project for the content design and facilitation, community leaders, and most importantly, the young people themselves in making the West Arnhem Youth Leadership Summit a success.