Involving today’s young Australians in creating tomorrow’s policy. A new policy paradigm Claudette Yazbek Product Manager

Hi! I’m Claudette. Congressional Fellow | US Senate Technology Policy | DISER Product Manager | Future Friendly

The problem.

This isn’t a fictional future. It’s our reality, today. The Problem 63 % Expressed low levels of confidence in the Australian political system. 57 % Expressed low levels of confidence in Australia’s Federal government. Source: Young Australians’ Confidence in Political Institutions and Their Civic Engagement.

Why is this hard?

What are the next steps Do we have buy-in? How do we make sense of very divergent views? What's o-design? Have we given the people enough notice to attend? What are the outcomes? Are we including a wide range of inputs? A translation gap exists between young Australians, and those tasked with crafting policies, programs and services.

Without action, we risk alienating a generation of Australians hit hardest by housing affordability, mental health and climate change.

03. The vision — 8

Make it easier for government to translate Young Australians' concerns and ideas into policies, programs and improve service delivery. Policy design Co-design Play it back Shared language Make it real

04. The shift —

Co Community Involvement Design Making and testing ideas. Co - Design Better outcomes by including lived experience in the decision-making process. From: Co (minus) Design Involve the community via consultation. But, stop short of bringing their ideas to life to test and iterate. Adapted from The Australian Centre For Social Innovation (TACSI) definition of co-design.

Co Community Involvement Design Making and testing ideas. From: Design (minus) co Make things real. But, without confidence we’re solving for real needs and pains. Co - Design Better outcomes by including lived experience in the decision-making process. Adapted from The Australian Centre For Social Innovation (TACSI) definition of co-design.

Co Community Involvement Design Making and testing ideas. Co + Design Better outcomes by including lived experience in the decision-making process. To: Co (Plus) Design Bring Young Australians into the decision-making process to make and test their ideas. Adapted from The Australian Centre For Social Innovation (TACSI) definition of co-design.

05. What can we do about it? —

Policy design Co-design Play it back Shared language Make it real

Play #1 The Policy Canvas — Problem to solve: Difficulty feeding deliverables into policy proposals and programs.

What it is A quick way to think through the major elements of a policy, such as a clear description of the outcome, benefits for the citizen and the system, potential partners, as well as funding and time constraints. When to use it Early in the policymaking process, after surfacing pains and unmet needs. Outcome Collaborate with citizens to create solutions for identified issues. The Policy Canvas

| Future | Friendly | How it works 1. Individuals write 4-6 opportunities from the pain points identified. 2. Each person shares their ideas. The group votes on which two they will turn into policy canvases. 3. Working in small groups, create a policy canvas for 2 opportunity statements using the supplied template. 4. Each group will choose 1 canvas to share and discuss with everyone.

Mentoring on the Move Policy or Program name The opportunity A known, trusted support person (mentor) providing transport via bus. Citizen & system benefits ● connection and greater access to services ● employment for young Australians ● greater transition successes ● support initial anxiety to access a service for the first time Pain points this addresses Families/young people are not accessing services because of transport and anxiety. Risks and barriers to success ● supervision ● occupational violence ● insurance ● recruitment and skills ● clear boundaries ● scope (not a transport service) ● calendar/time management What’s involved? ● $12 million across FY22-26 (4 years) ● coordinating with other government services (e.g. crisis accommodation) ● youth workers to have a caseload of YP ● clear scope ● supervision and structure ● provide connection to service/mentoring support ● liaise with youth detention service to make connections with young people before being released

Policy design Shared language Co-design Play it back Make it real

Play #2 Make-first mindset — Problem to solve: Co-designing and testing with citizens requires significant time and effort.

What it is A make-first mindset involves trying out small experiments to quickly learn how a policy or program might work, its impact on citizens and surface any risks early. When to use it During the design and implementation phase of the policy lifecycle. Outcome Build confidence and de-risk ideas before seeking funding for a pilot or new program. Make-first mindset

| Future | Friendly | How it works 1. Document the biggest project questions, and any assumptions in a shared space, like Mural. 2. Prioritise riskiest assumptions, and then recruit x5 citizens to test and validate the ideas with. 3. Set up an “observation room” for government workers to join and take notes during the session. 4. Reserve 15 minutes for everyone to playback what they observed, and align on key issues and opportunities for future rounds.

Experiment to run Expected benefits (Assumptions) Recommendations to citizens will need to be in plain, actionable language. Risks or barriers to overcome Varying digital and data literacies of citizens planting seeds. Learning Objective(s) Understand the barriers to implementing a climate adjusted seed sourcing strategy. Learnings, insights and evidence ● People working in revegetation are time-poor. They can’t always commit to learning complex tools. ● A step-by-step, guided experience is highly valued. ● Practitioners desire actionable recommendations, with the option to dive deep into more details (i.e. don’t want to see all the information at once) ● “Hopefully they’re doing all this for us so we don’t have to work it out!” - Project Coordinator Hypothesis If we __________, To ___________, I expect to see ___________. IF we present recommended actions in plain language THEN citizens will feel confident in what they need to do next. project outcome

Policy design Shared language Co-design Play it back Make it real

Play #3 Shareable Narrative — Problem to solve: A lack of executive and community buy-in to make progress.

What it is A single, consistent, visual document that ensures anyone can understand the problem, our vision for a better future, and the supporting evidence in minutes - not hours. When to use it Across all phases of the policy lifecycle. Outcome Create advocacy by sharing up with decision-makers in government, and out with young Australians. Shareable Narrative

| Future | Friendly | How it works 1. Review information from reports, articles, expert interviews, or industry consultations. 2. Populate the 1-page canvas to clearly focus on the message that needs to be heard. 3. Refine and add the voice of the citizen by including verbatim quotes from citizens. 4. Share a version of the 1-pager with any SMEs and citizens you collaborated with to inform them of progress, and bring them along the journey.

Story Canvas What is the one thing someone needs to remember or hear? Women make up less than one-third of Australia’s technology workforce. Increasing gender diversity in the technology workforce could grow Australia’s economy by $11 billion over 20 years. What problem(s) are we solving What is the citizen’s problem? What is our vision What is the change we’re making? Approach and Evidence Who did we speak to? And what citizen stories did we hear that we can include? 12 female identifying founders, venture capitalists and technology leaders. Outcomes and Indicators How will we know if we’re successful in 12 months, 2 years and 5 years? Baseline where diversity breaks down (in what team and what level). Increase number of women entering, and staying, in tech. How will we get there? What steps will we take to get there and with who? Awareness: Provide early-mid career professionals in tech a platform to share their background, challenges networking or reskilling, and how they found their role. Attraction: Strengthen presence on university campuses and conferences. Growth: An industry-led platform to help women navigate funding sources and build their networks. ● Lack of diverse role models, and those who are visible risk online harassment. ● Women are less likely to view their skills as transferable to a tech role ● Retaining and promoting women is equally important as attraction, but overlooked ● Navigating the funding landscape can be resource-intensive Boost female participation in tech. More women designing and developing products and services means better solutions that meet the needs of diverse markets.

From Passive participants in the policymaking process. To Active partners and collaborators.

— Thank you