The new National Youth Council has taken over the work and role of Youth Link Australia, and will now head up that organisation’s programs.  The organisation is ‘a national council of young Australians working to support young people across the country’. It holds no political affiliations, is a not-for-profit and is run by young Australians. The council will shortly be looking for young people aged 18 to 30 to apply to work with the organisation. It is keen to engage young people with proven experience of working with other young people and the capacity to provide independent advice on behalf of young Australians to governments and business.

The council’s vision is to ‘inspire and motivate the next generation of young Australians. Creating a lasting generational change of socially conscious young Australian leaders’.

For more and to find out how to become a member of the council, go to the National Youth Council website. 

The 2026 National Young Writers’ Month program, released in mid-May, features ‘an exciting range of online and offline activities that connect young writers across the country’.

Events include:

• a range of live-streamed online events featuring young writers
• the launch of the hundredth issue of Voiceworks Magazine
• the launch of major writing competitions such as The John Marsden and Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers and The Scribe Nonfiction Prize for Young Writers.

Visit the Express Media website for more information about National Young Writers’ Month. 

The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have invited the world’s youth to submit original and creative videos (up to five minutes in length) focusing on PLURAL+ themes: migration, diversity and social inclusion. Winners in the three age categories (9–12, 13–17 and 18–25) will be flown to New York, with all travel expenses paid, to present their work at the awards ceremony in December.

The deadline for submissions is 15 June 2026.

For more information, go to the Plural+ website, or to their Facebook page.