The aim of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student Congress is to connect the 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school students across the continent to collectively shape decisions impacting their education.
How the Student Congress Is Being Built
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student Congress has been shaped through a national co-design process with young mob. Over the past year, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people have come together to share what Congress should look like, how it should feel, and what it should stand for.
Through this process, young people laid the foundations for a Congress and from this co-design work, three clear goals emerged. The Congress exists to support young mob to:
• Feel heard: to know their voices matter in decisions about education
• Be connected: to build relationships, solidarity, and community with other young mob
• Take collective action: to work together to influence change in their schools and beyond
With these foundations in place, we are now in the testing phase of the Congress model.
Testing the Congress Model
In 2026, NIYEC is running four pilots to explore how different parts of the Congress can work in practice, locally, online, through media, and through research.
These pilots will help us understand how young people want to connect, lead, and take action, and how a national structure can support place-based hubs in the future.
The four pilots are:
Student News: a youth-led media collective amplifying young mob’s voices nationally
Student-Led Research: young mob redesigning the Learning Our Truth survey and building tools that strengthen student agency
Policy Submissions: supporting and working with young people to shape and influence national education policy
Place-Based Congress Pilot: testing a local model bringing students together across three public high schools in Townsville
We are currently recruiting for Student News
Student News EOI: Open 27th February, Close 5th of April
Student News Pilot
NIYEC is inviting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people aged 12–18 to join the Student News Congress Pilot, running during Term 2, 2026.
We’re bringing together a small online working group of 6-8 young people to design and publish the first-ever Congress Student News Edition, a youth-led national publication that shares the stories, perspectives, and lived experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school students.
This pilot is for you if you’re interested in:
Blak journalism, media, writing, art, design, interviewing or digital content creation
Amplifying the experiences and perspectives of young mob in education
Sharing stories about what matters most to high school students today
What you’ll do:
Meet online once a week throughout Term 2
Work collaboratively as a news collective
Co-create the style, format, and design of the first Congress Student News Edition
Collect, write, design, or contribute stories for publication
RECENT POSTS
Supported by the Foundation for Young Australians and the Australian Government Office for Youth