Hopes & Dreams Regional Tour Project 

Project Timeline:  January – October 2018
Project Status:  Complete
Project Report:  “Hopes and Dreams” Published February 2019

Background

The Hopes and Dreams Regional Tour project was a listening tour of regional South Australia undertaken by the Commissioner and her team. It followed on the from the original listening tour the Commissioner undertook in 2017 to devise her Front and Centre Strategic Agenda (2018-2022). On this 2018 follow up tour the Commissioner visited 10 regional locations over 10 months hearing from children and young people in regional South Australia about what was most important to them.

In her 2017 listening tour, children and young people had talked to the Commissioner about the importance of feeling proud of where they lived, feeling good about what was around them, and how their interest in how visitors perceived them. The Commissioner heard that they didn’t necessarily want to leave their towns when they were older, however, many felt there would be more opportunities available to them if they did.

This led the Commissioner to a devising her Hopes and Dreams Tour. In 2018, she wanted to understand what the hopes and dreams of South Australia’s regional children and young people are, and what they need to realise them?

The Commissioner set an ambitious target of visiting 10 regions in 10 months.  In each region, she held consultations with children and young people to hear individually about their hopes and dreams. This included exploring the concept of hope and talking with them about what they think they need to help realise their dreams.

To ensure these sessions were representative of the diversity of regional views the Commissioner sought the support of local organisations and groups to either encourage attendance at sessions, facilitate access to children and young people, or support the meetings in other ways they felt they could best support decision makers to connect with children and young people.

Project Outputs

A report titled Hopes and Dreams summarising what children and young people living in regional South Australia told the Commissioner on this regional tour was published in February 2019 and distributed to key stakeholders and decision makers for their consideration when devising and planning services. The report contained a recommendation to involve young people wherever possible in the design and delivery of services relevant to their lives and to seek their input when devising services aimed directly at them.