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Session 1: Opening Plenary

Thursday, April 23, 2026
9:00 AM - 10:10 AM

Speaker

Miss Ava Haine
Youth Advocacy Officer
Every Child Central Queensland

Youth Presentation

9:50 AM - 10:10 AM

Biography

YHC 2026
Presentations

Welcome to Country

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Biography

YHC 2026
Presentations

Government Welcome

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Biography

Dr Cristyn Davies
Senior Research Fellow
University of Sydney

AAAH Welcome

9:20 AM - 9:30 AM

Biography

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Janice Rodrigues
Youth Representative to the United Nations

Youth Presentation

9:30 AM - 9:50 AM

Biography

Janice (she/her) is Australia’s 2026 Youth Representative to the United Nations. She is a youth and community engagement practitioner, organiser, and racial and gender justice advocate from New South Wales. Drawing on her lived experience as a young woman from South West Sydney, she brings a deep understanding of how place, culture, and access shape opportunity, and is committed to centring the voices of those most often excluded from power and policy conversations. Janice currently works as a Youth & Community Engagement Officer at Multicultural NSW, where she facilitates and manages the Multicultural Youth Network (MYN), leading youth engagement initiatives and supporting culturally responsive programs that strengthen leadership and participation among young people from multicultural communities. Prior to this, she spent three years as a Youth Program Coordinator at the Western Sydney Migrant Resource Centre, supporting newly arrived refugee and migrant young people through community-led and culturally responsive programs. Janice brings governance experience as an Advisory Board Member for Multicultural NSW and Management Committee Member at CuriousWorks, a Western Sydney-based arts organisation. An experienced public speaker and media contributor, Janice has appeared on ABC and holds a Bachelor of Politics and International Relations from the University of Sydney. As Youth Representative, she is committed to ensuring young people are treated as leaders and collaborators, and that youth perspectives meaningfully shape domestic policy and Australia’s global engagement.
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