Empowering the future discusses in brief how the SA Country Fire Service (CFS) has identified the importance of engaging with its young members, to ensure that the organisation becomes a service that is adept to the current and changing requirements and needs of the volunteer workforce within the emergency management sector.

The CFS Youth Advisory Council (YAC) is a mix of young volunteers aged between 16 to 30 from across South Australia who share a passion for volunteering within the emergency services. The YAC plays a pivotal role in promoting youth and the benefits of young volunteers within the CFS, as well as providing youth with a positive strategic voice in higher level decision-making processes.  

The presentation will explore and discuss the background to the development and operation of the YAC, learnings and the role it has played in representing the interest of young people within a volunteer organisation now and into the future.

Change is in the air for the South Australian emergency services sector. This is an opportune time for individuals and young people like the YAC to positively contribute to the future development and operation of the emergency services sector within the state and the nation.

Ideally participants will feel empowered to consider the importance of actively engaging with their organisation's young members in order to continue building a resilient and diverse future emergency service across the AFAC-representative states and territories.

Presenters will comprise of current young members from the YAC, including first-term serving members and members who assisted in the formation of the council in 2008.