FECCA has a Youth Advisory Committee consisting of a committed and energetic group of young people from different States/Territories. Click here to view the FECCA Youth Advisory Committee Terms of Reference (reviewed March 2016).

FECCA has a focus on education and employment opportunities for CALD youth, considering education as an important stepping stone towards securing meaningful and sustainable employment. FECCA conducted an online youth survey in 2013 to identify and assess the most pressing issues faced by CALD youth. As many as 59% of CALD youth contended that it is difficult to obtain a job in Australia. Furthermore, 83% of participants believed that obtaining an education qualification was more important for them as opposed to working to gain experience. Most respondents viewed their lack of Australian experience as an important barrier to entering the job market.

Racism is a key concern across all of FECCA’s policy areas. Cyber-racism is of particular concern for FECCA’s work in youth policy as young people from CALD backgrounds are more prone to be targeted and subjected to cyberbullying based on their cultural and religious backgrounds because of their engagement in various online platforms and social media. The FECCA Youth Advisory Committee is working collaboratively with the Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPI) to address the issues of racism in cyber-space. On 8 November 2014, the OPHI with the participation of FECCA Youth Advisory Committee, launched ‘Fight Against Hate software‘ to report and remove online materials that amount to cyberbullying. This is an extremely useful tool to assist in identifying the prevalence of online hate and factor this evidence into the development of workable anti-racism strategies.