ASRC’s New Youth Action Project (YAP)

Young people are a key component to any social change movement – not only because we have an endless supply of energy and determination to fight for justice and equality – but also because it’s our future that we’re fighting for.

Youth Action Project (YAP)

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) is launching the Youth Action Project (YAP). YAP will bring people under the age of 30, from high schoolers to young professionals, together to take action on issues that affect refugees and people who seek asylum.

YAP is a platform from which any change-making venture can spring from: monthly meetups will provide networking and upskilling opportunities to young people in the YAP Network; a Youth Leadership Conference will bring young leaders from across the country together to collaborate and build capacity to make change in the refugee and asylum space; and a project to give media training to refugees and former refugees who wish to be advocates, which will empower them to be at the forefront of shaping Australia’s refugee policies.

YAP Network

YAP will be made up of and supported by its YAP Network. The YAP Network will connect these young people to build relationships, collaborate and support each other and each other’s projects. The network will be leveraged for snap rallies, mass ring-ins to federal MP offices and call outs for support on various projects that other young people in the network are involved in.

The first step is to join the YAP Network via the online form. You will be contacted within the week and invited to attend the next Melbourne monthly meetup. You will receive a monthly email update, gain access to YAP Network’s Facebook group and get texts when we have a quick call to action for the YAP Network.

The online form is here.

Our Youth Organiser

YAP will be run by the ASRC’s new Youth Organiser coordinator, Dana Affleck. Dana will be organising and engaging young people to support the rights of refugees and people who seek asylum.

Dana became involved in the sector after visiting detention centres in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney. Dana has worked on the national tour of the documentary Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea; on a criminal and civil trial involving asylum seekers and refugees; was a member of the refugee pod in Young Liberty for Law Reform (of Liberty Victoria); founded Road to Refuge in 2012 and remains its director; and is one of the coordinators of the Behind the Wire project.

Join the YAP Network and you’ll hear from the YAP team soon.