Bulahdelah Central School student, Carl Williams was selected from 150 applications to participate in the 2014 National Indigenous Youth Leadership Academy’s (NIYLAs) National Gathering which was held in Arcadia with the programme fully supervised by trained FYA and NIYLA staff.

NIYLA is an initiative of the Foundation of Young Australians (FYA).
NIYLA aims to mobilise Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young people from across Australia to lead positive change at a local and national level.
NIYLA achieves this by empowering participants to create youth-led national campaigns that address a variety of social issues.

The campaign that Carl’s group selected was called, “Unity in the Community” which is a Youth Led Campaign trying to make a difference in Australia by targeting specific areas of calamity or ruins in today’s society.
Aim of the campaign was to change the culture we have created towards the GLBTI community in ways by assessing the problems of ostracizing and using their labels in derogatory ways.
Twelve Aboriginal and Torres Strait 15-18 year olds from all aspects of Australia used resources including NIYLA, FYA, Facebook and youtube throughout the campaign.
When Myall Coast News ask Carl what he personally wanted to achieve, he told us, “I mainly wanted to engage people in acknowledging how we treat Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Trans Genders and Intersexes.”
At only sixteen years of age, Carl sees his future in a leadership role and wants to go to university to undertake a Degree in Behavioural Counselling Science.
It was a pleasure speaking with Carl Williams who displays such maturity and sensitivity for someone so young. All the very best for the future, Carl. The world is at your feet!