The group will be made up of people between the age of 12 and 25 and give them a platform to express “feedback, suggestions and opinions” on anything that affects their lives.

The Shellharbour council is one of the last councils on the South Coast to introduce a youth-based committee, although there was a Shellharbour youth and junior council in existence some 20 years ago.

The move also came not long after council scrapped a policy that 

prohibited people under the age of 18 from speaking at ordinary council meetings.

Youth and Family Support Worker from Albion Park Community Care said it was a “great idea” to source ideas directly from local youth.

“Having an environment that they are comfortable and happy to be in will mean they’re not ashamed to talk about the things they want.

“They can take on more responsibility and will care about the decisions, rather than us just making those decisions for them,’’ she said.

Youth volunteer at Albion Park Rail community centre Aaron Dunster said a local youth-based group would help to better allocate resources.

“It’s always nice to have a good idea but the practicality comes down to how the idea is used,” he said. 

Twenty-year-old volunteer youth worker Zachary Traeger said he would be interested in joining a youth council because he felt youth needed a louder voice.

“You can keep telling them what to do, but you need to give young people the chance to voice what they want and how to go about it.”

Throughout May and June the council will invite school students, Tafe and youth services to form a working party to develop a Youth Council model. A final report is anticipated to go back to council  by September this year and the Youth Council established early next year.