Mr BAYLEY (Clark) – I rise tonight to talk about a fabulous little organisation I was introduced to last year when I joined you all in this House. I have been looking for a chance to talk about it ever since and a visit to the Winter Feast on Sunday gives me the chance, and also, an opportunity to give a good wrap for the feast organisation organisers too.
YLOT is the acronym for Young Leaders of Tasmania. YLOT is a community not-for-profit organisation that is making a daily difference to the lives of young Tasmanians. Anchored in the values of treat all people fairly, embrace uniqueness and diversity, and encourage lifelong learning, YLOT facilitates peer-to-peer engagements by matching students living with a disability with other students in the school setting. Commencing with its flagship All Abilities program, YLOT matches a student participating in grade 6 or above from a mainstream school with a student enrolled in a support school. For a full year, young leaders from the mainstream schools are resourced and supported to regularly visit the support school to deliver mentoring and friendship to a dedicated buddy. As described by YLOT, this delivers a win-win. Support school students receive direct engagement and association with a developing young student from the mainstream school while the mainstream student has direct experience of someone living with a disability. Everybody grows.
YLOT is changing lives. It is changing community perception of disability, encouraging inclusion and acceptance, increasing workforce participation in the disability sector, increasing personal growth and leadership amongst young Tasmanians, and providing peer‑to‑peer interactions.
Since a successful pilot program in 2017, the All Abilities Program has gone from strength to strength and expanded to other regions across the state. In 2018, YLOT was recognised in the Tasmanian Community Achievement Awards, making the semifinals and attracting plenty of attention. YLOT has since expanded its program offerings with a school holidays buddy program and a social buddies program, which offer an opportunity for adolescents living with a disability to stay connected with peers and form friendships with others.
I acknowledge the work of Keren Franks, the founder of YLOT and its current CEO. Keren is the mother of Bella, a young Tasmanian living with a severe disability who was, at the time she founded YLOT, going through the Tasmanian school system. Keren saw the mutual benefit of establishing the opportunity to bring students living with very different life experiences together to support and learn from each other, to establish friendships and to build understanding.
Credit where credit is due: I acknowledge an increased funding commitment from the Rockliff Government for the work of YLOT. Funding has been increased to $310,000 a year for the next five years for YLOT to expand its program statewide, spreading the benefits of buddying diverse students together and giving them the opportunity to share life experiences and grow together. This increased funding is clearly a recognition of the success of the program and the commitment of the people behind it. I am sure more funding would be welcome, but this gives the chance to expand somewhat and to spread the success.
YLOT does not just engage in the school setting; it also organises extracurricular activities that bring the two cohorts together in a new forum with different inputs and experiences.
This brings me to the Winter Feast. On Sunday I was invited to YLOT’s media launch for its Winter Feast sensory session. Full credit to Mona, Darklab and the Winter Feast, which since 2019 has opened its doors an hour before the official Sunday public opening for YLOT and others to organise access free from the chaos and crush that comes with the popularity of the feast.
This is a really important initiative for participants with a variety of special needs. Some are unable to cope with crowds and noise; others need the time and space that comes with a near‑empty venue. I was privileged to witness the joy and excitement of YLOT participants having full and unfettered access to the festival and its fires, food and festivities. Family groups and friends hovered around smokey fires with a skewer and bag of marshmallows, toasting and treating as the evening darkened and the red lights glowed. The Winter Feast withheld igniting its famous flamethrowers, and ensured the space was peaceful but still poignant as ever.
The Winter Feast sensory sessions happen at 3.00 p.m. on the two Sundays the feast is on. Register to access – it is open to everybody. To its credit, the Winter Feast this year also established a dedicated quiet area that allows for a time‑out space for people who need it. Drawing on expert advice, the Winter Feast is taking accessibility and all abilities seriously and providing opportunities. Congratulations and thanks to Mona, Darklab and the Winter Feast for creating all‑access opportunities for people with special needs and challenging circumstances. I salute their commitment to providing the opportunity for all Tasmanians to experience their show. Thank you also for the annual support they provide to YLOT and the people they engage with and facilitate.
Congratulations and thank you to Keren, the board, and all of YLOT for the work you do to build understanding, inclusion and cross‑community engagement that builds individual capacity by giving young people with disability access to social role‑modelling, skill development activities and the opportunity to learn from a peer buddy of a similar age. Best wishes for your expansion, and I look forward to observing and supporting your work over coming years.
