PARLIAMENT HOUSE was filled with the voices of WA’s future leaders this week as 59 young people representing the state’s electorates presented and debated eight bills for the 2024 Y WA Youth Parliament.
The bills were drafted when participants were divided into eight committees aligned with government portfolios, with half drafted into a government and the others assigned to the opposition.
They researched their chosen policy area and drafted legislation with a youth perspective at its heart.
Mt Hawthorn student Drew Davison is representing the Kalamunda electorate and says he was looking at the Policing Reform Omnibus Bill which covered “many areas of the justice system”.
The proposed bill “reforms bail laws, so that non-violent offenders are more able to be released on bail, reducing the impact on lower socio-economic communities,” Mr Davison said.
The month-long process of drafting the bill would ensure people were treated humanely at every stage of the justice system, as well as putting a greater emphasis into rehabilitations and care of WA’s vulnerable populations.
Once the debate is over, the bills will be sent to relevant state ministers as well as the WA premier, Opposition leader, WA governor, and lord mayor of Perth.
by SIENNA DALY
Perth Voice Interactive 
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