National Youth Week is an annual, week-long celebration of young people (aged 12–25) throughout Australia.

Youth Week is an opportunity for young people to express their ideas and views, act on issues that affect their lives and create and enjoy activities and events.

It gives the wider community the opportunity to listen to young people and acknowledge and celebrate the positive contributions and achievements made by young people.

The week-long celebrations is also a chance to promote a community focus on issues of concern to young people.

This week, The Courier helps celebrate the city’s energetic and bright young people by highlighting just a small percentage of our leaders of the future.

These are young people who have already packed so much into their short lives, whether it be in the arts sector, community service like fundraising for the needy, or promoting multiculturalism.

Ballarat’s younger sector makes up a fifth of the city’s population. Many of these people are already forging a promising future, with 20 per cent of them involved in some form of volunteer work. Others are involved in such worthwhile causes as the Australian Youth Climate Coalition.

Sadly, however, many young people in the region feel a disconnect with the community.

If we don’t listen to the voices and opinions of these wonderful young people, there is the real possibility Ballarat will lose them to other regional areas or cities.

And this would be a real shame, because they have much to offer as our future leaders.

Ballarat, as a whole, needs to make sure our younger generation feel included, part of the community.

Their contribution to the community, big and small, must be celebrated and acknowledged. Because most of our young generation are quiet achievers who go about their commitments without seeking accolades.

National Youth Week gives Ballarat that very opportunity to reflect and celebrate what our younger generation do for the community and, indeed, they have to offer for the coming decades.

With such a diversity among the current 12-25-year-olds, Ballarat is truly fortunate that this city is safe in their hands.