Participation

The “right to participate” is set out in Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This right is a key principle of the Convention, meaning it is fundamental to the fulfilment of other rights, particularly for children and young people’s right to have their best interests promoted.  By listening to children and young people, and showing them that what they have to say is important, they learn that their voice matters and that they have rights and responsibilities in the same way that adults do.  They also learn the skills needed to become engaged and active citizens.

Organisations and community groups may shy away from including children and young people in decision-making processes because of:

• Scepticism about children’s capacity (or a belief that they lack capacity) to have meaningful input into decision-making.

• A worry that giving children more control will undermine authority and destabilise particular environments.

• Concern that children and young people’s participation will require too much effort which could be better spent on other priorities.

• Time constraints and difficulty in providing the time needed to appropriately support children and young people’s involvement in the decision-making processes of an organisation.

• Lack of resources.

• Lack of specific skills to meaningfully engage with children and young people including an understanding of what participation means and what it involves.

Effective participation demands a whole-systems approach, combining five key elements:

• Culture: The ethos of an organisation, shared by all staff and service users, which demonstrates a commitment to children and young people’s participation.

• Structure: The planning, development and resourcing for participation is evident in an organisation’s structure.

• Practice: The ways of working, methods for involvement, skills and knowledge that enable children and young people to meaningfully participate.

• Review: The monitoring and evaluation processes that enable an organisation to evidence change effected by children and young people’s participation.

• Process: If participation is to be effective, meaningful and sustainable, it needs to be understood as a process and not a one-off event and requires ongoing commitment in terms of time and resources.

Children and young people’s participation should include developmentally and culturally appropriate information, listening to their experiences and opinions and taking what they say seriously.

Children and young people should be asked whether they want to participate in decision-making processes. There will be occasions when children and young people do not want to be involved.

There are several models that provide a framework to guide meaningful participation and consultation with children and young people. 

For more information please visit Youth Policy

1. Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No 12 (2009) The right of the child to be heard: https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/AdvanceVersions/CRC-C-GC-12.pdf
2. Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No 5 (2003), General measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (art.4, 42 and 44, para.6): https://www.unicef-irc.org/portfolios/general_comments/GC5_en.doc.html
3. Lundy, L. 2007, Voice is not enough: Conceptualising Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. British Educational Research Journal, 33(6), 927-942: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01411920701657033
4. E.Kay M. Tisdall, 2015, Children and young people’s participation from: Routledge International Handbook of Children’s Rights Studies Routledge: https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315769530.ch11
5. Department of Children and Youth Affairs, 2015, National Strategy on Children and Young People’s Participation in Decision-making 2015-2020. Dublin: Government Publications: https://www.dcya.gov.ie/documents/playandrec/20150617NatStratonChildrenandYoungPeoplesParticipationinDecisionMaking2015-2020.pdf
6. Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in collaboration with Ballarat, Brimbank, Maribyrong, Melton and Wyndham City Councils, the Western Metro and Kurunjang Primary School, 2013,  Engaging Children in Decision Making: A guide for consulting children: https://www.melton.vic.gov.au/Services/People/Children/Information-for-families/Engaging-Children-in-Decision-Making-A-Guide-for-Consulting-Children
7. Commissioner for Children and Young People, Victoria, 2016, Tip Sheet: Child Safe Organisations, Empowerment and participation of children: https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/assets/resources/tipsheet-empower-participation-children.pdf
8. Hart, R., UNICEF International Child Development Centre, 1992, Children’s participation: From tokenship to citizenship: https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/childrens_participation.pdf
9. Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace relations for the Australian Council of Australian Governments, 2009, Belonging, Being and Becoming- The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia: https://docs.education.gov.au/node/2632
10. Council of Australian Governments, Protecting Children is Everyone’s Business: National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children, 2009-2020, pg. 16: https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/pac_annual_rpt_0.pdf
11. Sinclair, R. 2006. Participation in practice: Making it meaningful, effective, and sustainable. Children and Society, pg. 106-118: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/chi.817
12. NSW Advocate for Children and Young People, 2015, Understanding and supporting children and young people’s participation: https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/522228/documents/participation-core-document.pdf?__hssc=63901360.14.1545262718916&__hstc=63901360.805c2b3873ea212fb15e1a3e7926b0e0.1515538175910.1543373839031.1545262718916.7&__hsfp=767498453&hsCtaTracking=21203a63-5c00-4b1a-be9d-1c30c27f5c08%7C1d872d56-7702-44e8-acf6-dcdd1c689c51