We’re looking for new parent representatives to sit on our steering committee, could you be the next parent rep for your state?
About Parents Voice
Formerly known as the Parents’ Jury, Parents’ Voice was established in August 2004 and represents a network of more than 8,000 parents advocating for improved food and physical activity environments for Australian children. Parents’ Voice are supported by Diabetes Victoria and VicHealth.
Why we Exist
Evidence shows that healthy food and physical activity habits formed in childhood can result in positive health outcomes for children later in life, including the reduced risk of developing chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and 13 different types of cancer. It can also contribute to improved social, cognitive and physical development.
Key barriers to achieving healthy food and physical activity environments for kids include; unhealthy food marketing, unsupportive systems and lack of government regulation. Parents’ Voice, along with our parent members, advocate for the removal of these barriers at a local, state and national level.
Our Key Priority Areas
Over the next three years, we will be focusing our advocacy efforts and campaign work on the following three priority areas:
- Reducing the amount of unhealthy food marketing directed at children;
- Increasing access to healthy food and drinks in setting such as schools, and;
- Improving children’s access to physical activity
We will also be putting in a concerted effort to ensure that all our work is completed with a focus on diversity and equity.
All work is overseen and approved by the Parents’ Voice Steering Committee and the Parents’ Voice staff.
About the Steering Committee
So, what is the Parents’ Voice Steering Committee? And what do they do?
The Steering committee is comprised of three categories of members:
- Funding Bodies – those that contribute to Parents’ Voice’s funding
- Parent representatives – consisting of a hand selected group of parent members from across Australia
- Experts/Advisors – As needed experts and advisors from organisations that partake in close partnerships with Parents’ Voice may also be involved.
The steering committee has been established to provide feedback and guidance on Parents’ Voice’s annual plans, proposals, campaigns, communications, and advocacy efforts.
This year marks an exciting new beginning for the Parents’ Voice Steering Committee, as a core function of 2022 is to review, renew and revitalise our governance structures. As such, new parent representative roles have become available.
About our Parent Representatives
We always endeavour to ensure that our work is informed and driven by parents. As such, our Steering Committee is comprised mainly of parent representatives who volunteer their time to support and guide our work. Our parent representatives are based around Australia and bring a wealth of lived experience to their role. They are the backbone of everything that we do and drive our change internally.
Each member is appointed for a term of two years, but representatives can serve multiple terms. We meet quarterly over Zoom and regularly communicate over email.
Opportunities to get involved beyond the committee are also regularly offered, including media, blog and advocacy opportunities.
Here’s what a couple of our parent representatives had to say about their experiences:
“Being a part of the Parents Voice steering committee means that I am able to directly contribute to making the world a better place for Australian families. What I’ve learnt is that advocacy doesn’t feel so isolating when you’re part of a fantastic team with some of Australia’s smartest and hardest working advocates.” – Kristy Schirmer, SA Parent Rep
“I like to volunteer with organisations that have similar values to my own, so it’s a pleasure to be involved with Parents’ Voice. Highlights of my involvement over the years include sharing my family’s experiences (here and here), presenting the Fame and Shame Awards, and advocating for healthy changes to children’s environments by contributing to government submissions (e.g. National Preventive Health Strategy submission) and media pieces. At times and when I’ve been able to, I’ve contributed a lot…at other times when life has been busier, I’ve contributed less. It’s very flexible and extremely rewarding.” – Rebecca Zosel, VIC Parent Rep
How YOU can get involved – Apply to be a parent representative today!
Are you interested in becoming one our parent representatives? Then we encourage you to complete and submit an expression of interest (EOI) form.
The EOI form will take no longer than 5 minutes to complete, how quick! All we require is that you are a parent residing in Australia and that you can commit to being an active committee member between 2022-2024.
We want to ensure that we are representing the diverse voices of our parent community. Therefore, we will be giving priority and additional support (as required) to applicants who are from and/or have kids from diverse backgrounds.
Round 2 Notes: After completing a first round of applications we identified some representative gaps, so in round 2 we’ll be prioritising the following applicants:
- Individuals who identify as male, non-binary, transgender or intersex
- Individuals who identify and/or have children that identify as being from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origins
These applicants will be given priority, but everyone is still welcome to submit their interest even if they do not identify as being a part of either of these two priority groups.
If you have any questions or require any additional assistance with submitting your EOI or would like to provide feedback on the EOI process, please contact our team at hello@parentsvoice.org.au.
You can complete your EOI form here and don’t forget to submit before the extended deadline, which closes 5pm AEDT Wednesday 23 February 2022.
We look forward to hearing from you,
The Parents’ Voice Team
