Youth events and activities

This is a 10 week program specifically designed for Aboriginal young people, 12 - 17 years old.

Held every Tuesday of term 2, 3.30pm - 5.30pm, from 20 April 2021 at the Rockingham Youth Centre.

• Learn from role models and Elders
• Have fun and meet other young people
• Cooking with bush tucker
• Traditional sports and games
• Learn local history and language
• Cultural tour of Rockingham
• Art, dance and much more.

Bookings essential – For further information, please contact the Rockingham Youth Centre on 9591 0836 or email youthcentre@rockingham.wa.gov.au.

The Rockingham Couch Surf for Youth Homelessness Matters Day will be held at the Rockingham Youth Centre on Friday 16 April 2021 from 1pm – 4pm.

The event is hosted annually around National Youth Week and Youth Homelessness Matters Day and is presented in association with headspace Rockingham, with support from Vicinity Rockingham Centre.

The free event is for young people aged 12 – 24 years and aims to raise awareness of the issue of youth homelessness.

The event will feature couch surfing races, free food, music, entertainment, resources and support for young people.

Participants will also be able to bring donations of toiletries to support the Share the Dignity project.  

For further information, please contact the Rockingham Youth Centre on 9591 0836 or email youthcentre@rockingham.wa.gov.au.

Young business owners, creatives, aspiring start-up founders, side hustlers and entrepreneurs are invited to network, connect and upskill with our Young Entrepreneurs Program.

This year-round program includes Young Entrepreneurs Bootcamps, Business Development Sprints, workshops, networking events, pitch nights and access to the our Young Entrepreneurs League.

The Young Entrepreneurs Program is for young people aged 12 – 25 who live, work or study in the City of Rockingham. It is powered by the team at Skills of Modern Age and Spacecube’s Plus Eight Academy.

Young Entrepreneurs Leap Bootcamp

The Young Entrepreneurs Leap Bootcamp is the perfect opportunity for young people to explore their curiosity and grow their entrepreneurial skill sets. In this one-day bootcamp, participants will learn about the fundamentals of the Lean Start-up approach to launch a successful business.

Bootcamp participants will:

• learn business skills and gain the right mindset
• empower themselves with all the tools needed to build a successful business
• learn different approaches to problem solving, product and/or service development
• explore themes such as lean canvas, customer-centricity, design-thinking and rapid prototyping
• learn how to effectively pitch and communicate your ideas to teams, and the community
• make friends and build their business networks.

This is not just a standard bootcamp! At the end, you will be motivated, inspired and ready to be a young entrepreneur who shares their ideas with the rest of the world.

The next Young Entrepreneurs Leap Bootcamp will be held in July 2021. Keep an eye on the City's Facebook page for updates. 

Young Entrepreneurs Start-up Sprint

Have an idea? A problem that you or some of your mates have been wanting to solve? Want to turn a great idea into your dream job?

Explore new ideas and the best learning techniques that have come straight from the Valley with this six-week program designed for young entrepreneurs who are seeking support to identify their target market, build a business and increase revenue.  The final session will include a pitch evening where you will have the opportunity to pitch your start-up ideas to family, friends and potential investors.

The sprint will run over a six weeks on Monday evenings via a mixture of online and face-to-face sessions. The next sprint is planned for January 2021.

Young Entrepreneurs League

The Young Entrepreneurs League is a local entrepreneurial network for young people. The league provides opportunities for young people to network and build business relationships that are essential for established businesses and start-ups to thrive.

Starting in February 2021, league members will have access to free weekly co-working, collaboration and upskilling hours at the new Rockingham Youth Centre.

The league will also be available through an online platform so young people can continue to network, collaborate and support one another through their entrepreneurial journey between face-to-face catch ups.

League members who attend Leap Bootcamp or Start-up Sprint will also be invited to join the Plus Eight Alumni Network with a variety of benefits including:

• coaching and mentoring opportunities from established start-up founders and business owners across Australia
• support to raise funds including access to pitching events and introductions to investors
• discounted accounting and legal services from alumni members
• social and networking events
• peer-to-peer programs
• opportunities to give back and mentor new young entrepreneurs.

League memberships will open in November 2020. Contact the City via customer@rockingham.wa.gov.au if you would like information on how to register. 

While young people are limited in the activities they can participate in due to COVID-19, the City is delivering the following program for young people to connect to their community and learn new skills from home.

Peak Performance Online Youth Life Skills Course

We have partnered with David Castelanelli to bring young people this eight-week self-paced life skills course.

Course topics include:

• modern goal setting
• social media distractions
• 10x productivity
• sleeps, breaks and naps
• mentorship and networking
• social media branding and resilience
• reset for the future.

David is a leading success mentor and coach for young adults. He was formerly the WA Youth Ambassador in 2018 and also a finalist in the 2019 WA Youth Awards. 

David has been voted as one of Australia's Top 100 Young Leaders and is currently appointed to the Minister's Youth Advisory Council (MYAC).

This self-paced program is free for young people aged 15–25. Contact the City on customer@rockingham.wa.gov.au for more information and to secure your course place.

The City hosts a free Youth Life Skills Retreat during each school holiday period. Each retreat has a focus on practical life skills that foster confidence, prepare young people for adulthood and give them strategies to achieve their goals. This can include topics like budgeting, car maintenance, goal setting, moving out of home and confidence building activities.

Retreats are delivered across older and younger age groups to cater for the different needs each has.

The next Youth Life Skills Retreat will be on Wednesday 7 April 2021 at the Rockingham Youth Centre. The session will include guided meditation, goals setting and vision board making. Registrations are essential via youthcentre@rockingham.wa.gov.au or call 9595 0836.

We are now recruiting for our Rockingham Youth Reference Group. 

Membership is open to young people aged 12 – 24 who either live, attend school or work in the City of Rockingham and are interested in:

• consultation for the City
• event and volunteering opportunities
• personal/professional development 
• advocacy
• social change.

If this sounds like something that might interest you, or you would like more information, please contact the Rockingham Youth Centre on 9591 0836, or email youthcentre@rockingham.wa.gov.au. Applications close at 5pm on Friday 30 April 2021.

Junior Council forms the first tier of the City of Rockingham leadership pathway for young people. The program offers two representative students from each primary school in the Rockingham area, and students attending alternative education programs, the opportunity to learn about advocacy and decision making at a local level. 

Throughout the year, Junior Council delegates will learn about local government decision-making processes, debating, and most importantly, what it means to represent and advocate in their community. Junior Council is run in a similar way as the City’s Ordinary Council Meetings with Junior Councillors being asked to table motions, debate them and vote on recommendations that are presented to Council each month. Past Junior Councils have been integral in initiating key projects such as: the development of footpaths in residential areas; installation of recreational equipment in parks; waste services initiatives and other youth motivated developments within the City.

The Junior Council meets once a month from July to November each year. Students are nominated by their school principal to join the program. 

The Rockingham Youth Employment Network was established in April 2018 and meets every three months. Participants provide guidance and support to the City’s annual Shape Your Future Youth Careers Expo, address local barriers young people have in gaining employment, educate and support local business to employ local young people and advocate for improved support services.

There are over 60 active members in the network including:

• Locally based jobactive service providers
• Not-for-profit support service providers
• Secondary schools
• Registered Training Organisations
• South Metro TAFE
• Rockingham Jobs and Skills Centre
• Murdoch University
• Rockingham Kwinana Chamber of Commerce
• Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA
• Department of Education
• Department of Training and Workforce Development
• Department of Education, Skills and Employment.

If you would like to be involved with the network, please contact the City via customer@rockingham.wa.gov.au or call 9528 0333.

The Shape Your Future Youth Careers Expo will take place on Friday 28 May 2021 from 10am-1pm at the Gary Holland Community Centre, 19 Kent Street, Rockingham.

The expo will provide a one-stop shop for job seekers and young people aiming to find career pathways that would suit their skills and interests based on four key opportunity areas:

• Employment support services
• Employment opportunities from local businesses
• Apprenticeships – Service providers and companies with apprenticeship prospects
• Training – TAFE and Registered Training Organisations in the region.

The event will include:

• Local businesses/employers – up to 30 stallholders offering local employment opportunities
• Local jobs and service providers and relevant training organisations – up to 30 stallholders who can support and educate young people
• Employability workshops over the course of the event delivered by the Rockingham Jobs and Skills Centre
• A drop-in resume check-up service
• At least two amusements that provide a learning or upskilling opportunity i.e. barista training, PCYC driving simulator
• A live jobs board with at least 150 genuine employment opportunities/roles
• A passport activity to engage young people with stallholders
• A 30-minute low sensory session prior to official event opening.

Stallholder registrations will commence in January 2021. Young people will be able to register to attend the event in March 2021.