The Commonwealth Youth Parliament (CYP) is one of the CPA’s most popular programmes and brings together participants aged 18-29 representing the nine CPA Regions – Africa; Asia; Australia; British Islands and Mediterranean; Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic; Canada; India; Pacific; South-East Asia.
The week long Commonwealth Youth Parliament provides a key development opportunity for young people from the Commonwealth with ambitions of public office and is designed to demonstrate to potential future young Parliamentarians the fundamentals behind the processes of Parliament.
The CYP gives participants a Pan-Commonwealth experience and a hugely valuable networking opportunity with other participants from across the Commonwealth as well as with current Members of Parliament from different jurisdictions who act as mentors throughout the week. The CYP offers participants an opportunity to experience one of the key institutions which underpin democracy and good governance.
In November 2022, Vivienne represented Australia as a member of the 11thCommonwealth Youth Parliament held in Trinidad and Tobago. Delegates were required to fund their own travel and trip expenses. Mosman Rotary made a contribution [$500] to offset some of the cost and member, Martin Fallows, assisted with the travel arrangements.
Vivienne is a student of politics and former youth climate activist. She is incredibly passionate about engaging young people in democracy to help create this better future that entails more diverse representation and greater accessibility to democracy. Her interest in how parliament and policymaking works has motivated her in previous work for the office of Zali Steggall MP and the Australian Electoral Commission.