MEDIA RELEASE
13 November, 2003

Giving youth a real voice

The youth voice is set to become a powerful democratic force through a strategic alliance between two innovative youth projects - the Talkback Classroom forum and the Student Virtual Parliament.

Talkback Classroom is a monthly national forum for senior secondary school students to debate issues with federal parliamentarians and community leaders. It is sponsored by the National Museum of Australia and the Federal Parliamentary Education Office, and is recorded before a student audience in the Museum's Studio and broadcast on ABC Radio National's Life Matters.

The Student Virtual Parliament is a high security online interactive poll that works like an Opinion Market. It harvests and ranks student opinions in a continuous voting process. “The Student Virtual Parliament at www.studentparliament.net gives all students equal opportunity to set the polling agenda by submitting opinions directly into the online forums in the form of concise statements called ‘placards’”, says founder Ralph McKay. “All placards compete continuously for votes from students across the country and are ranked live in transparent leader boards.”

With the linking of the two projects, the Student Virtual Parliament nationwide polls will guide the Talkback Classroom student panellists when they frame questions to put to program guests.

“The alliance means thousands of students across the country can now feel connected to the democratic process. I believe it’s a world first opportunity for young people to experience direct, transparent democracy”, says Dave Arnold, the Manager of Schools Programs at the National Museum.

Currently 180 schools are participating in the Student Virtual Parliament, which is an international initiative from Sydney-based BigPulse.com. Over 25,000 voting passwords have been requested. The number of schools involved is expected to increase dramatically.

Talkback Classroom founder and coordinator Stephen Cutting says, "bringing the two projects together means that young people across Australia can now have a strong voice, heard by the body politic and broadcast nationally.”

The Federal Parliamentary Education Office is assisting in the development of educational material to appear in the Student Virtual Parliament website to educate students about parliamentary process.

The partnership is being launched to coincide with the upcoming Talkback Classroom forum to be held on 26 November 2003 at Parliament House. The forum will feature Shadow Treasurer Mark Latham as the guest interviewee.

Teachers can register their school now for the Student Virtual Parliament at www.studentparliament.net and obtain voting passwords for their students within 24 hours. Further information about Talkback Classroom, including how to apply to be on the student panel, can be found at www.nma.gov.au/schools/events_and_activities/talkback_classroom.