Plan for Victoria: Co-Designing the State’s Future with Young People

The Plan for Victoria co-design process was a professional, multi-layered design strategy combining youth-led leadership, iterative prototyping, and real-time community feedback.

YLab recruited and trained nine Youth Ambassadors from across Victoria, equipping them with skills in co-design, budgeting, project management, and community facilitation. The Ambassadors co-designed and delivered tailored engagement activities—including art installations, sports events, workshops, and screenings—that resonated locally and made complex policy topics accessible and engaging.

Rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all model, the process was adaptive: Ambassadors tested ideas, gathered feedback, and iterated activities to ensure relevance, safety, and inclusivity. The results were not only seamless but deeply meaningful. Ambassadors synthesized local insights and maintained data integrity, ensuring the authentic voice of their communities was carried forward to the Department of Transport and Planning.

Over 200 young people were engaged across Victoria, and more than 500 hours of coaching supported the Ambassadors’ leadership journey. The project exceeded the brief by delivering not just community insights but long-term leadership outcomes: seven of the nine Ambassadors became new YLab associates, four secured employment, and three went on to lead independent community initiatives.

The design process proved that when young people lead, participation deepens, impact multiplies, and systemic change becomes possible.

This project exemplifies design excellence across functionality, accessibility, aesthetics, quality, and sustainability.

Functionally, the initiative delivered actionable, high-quality insights directly into state-level planning. Its accessibility stood out: by using interactive and creative engagement formats—like sports, art, and community events—the team broke down complex policy themes and removed the intimidation often associated with formal consultation.

The aesthetics of the project were embedded in its spirit: vibrant, youth-led, culturally resonant, and locally grounded. Ambassadors designed events reflecting the textures and tones of their own communities, creating authentic spaces where young people felt confident to engage.

Critically, the project delivered a holistic, fit-for-purpose user experience. Every aspect—from Ambassador training to community events—was designed with empathy and intentionality, ensuring safe, inclusive, and meaningful participation. This wasn’t a token consultation; it was systemic inclusion.

The project sets a new benchmark for good design in Victoria and beyond, demonstrating that elevating lived experience isn’t just a moral imperative—it’s a design strength. By investing in professional design leadership, the project showcased the transformative potential of youth-led approaches, inspiring new standards for participatory policymaking nationally and internationally.

The Plan for Victoria initiative reimagined youth engagement by combining employment, co-design, and creativity into a pioneering model of participatory policymaking.

Where traditional consultations often position young people as passive respondents, this initiative flipped the script: young Victorians became designers, leaders, and decision-shapers. The innovation lay not only in method but in mindset. Youth Ambassadors designed engagement activities rooted in their lived experiences and cultural contexts, crafting events that felt organic, fun, and meaningful to their communities.

From local art installations to community screenings, they transformed policy discussions into approachable, resonant experiences, breaking away from formal or tokenistic consultation. An iterative prototyping process allowed the team to respond in real time to feedback, refining activities to maximize safety, inclusivity, and relevance.

As one Youth Ambassador described, “When everything and everyone came together, it was like a magical moment. What went well was the collaboration—it made everything so easy.”

This initiative offers a benchmark model for embedding youth leadership in long-term state planning, proving that when young people are entrusted with real power and responsibility, they don’t just participate—they transform systems. The model is scalable, adaptable across sectors and geographies, and sets a bold precedent for future innovation in civic engagement.

The Plan for Victoria co-design initiative has delivered profound, multi-level impact.

Socially, it empowered 200+ young people to shape policy on critical issues—housing, sustainability, mental health—ensuring Victoria’s long-term strategy genuinely reflects youth perspectives. The program sparked extraordinary demand: 108 young Victorians applied to become Ambassadors, demonstrating hunger for youth-led change.

Economically, the initiative created immediate employment pathways: seven Ambassadors became YLab associates, four secured jobs, and three launched independent community initiatives, from art spaces to screenings, extending the project’s ripple effects.

From an environmental and systemic lens, the project infused sustainability themes directly into youth-led activities and ensured those priorities reached government decision-makers. Importantly, the Department of Transport and Planning praised the initiative’s “joy, enthusiasm, and beautiful facilitation,” noting how seamlessly young people were brought into a complex project.

By investing in professional design and lived-experience leadership, the project has strengthened Victoria’s reputation as a leader in inclusive, innovative policymaking. It offers a model for national and international replication, proving that authentic youth engagement is not only possible but transformative.

The project’s long-lasting impacts—on individuals, communities, systems, and the broader culture of design—position it as a landmark achievement in advancing Victoria’s creative and civic future.