Young People Strengthening Their Community

Dorset is situated in North Eastern Tasmania, Australia. It is a Municipal area made up of a superb natural environment with clean air and beautiful scenery, ranging from coastal beaches to patchwork farmlands and temperate rain forests on the surrounding hills and mountains. The area is known for its prolific production of potatoes and forestry activities. At the time of the 2001 Census, there were 454,841 people living in Tasmania. 6,967 people lived in the Dorset local government area; they formed 1.5 % of the state’s population. The Municipality is made up of 12 small towns and the main service centre is Scottsdale with a population of 1922 people. Although the natural environment is spectacular the geographic isolation of the community poses its own challenges – especially for young people. Some of the challenges that existed before I started working in the area included the lack of access to public transport, little youth specific information in terms of health and well being, limited access to sport and recreation opportunities (unless you played football and netball) and little organised entertainment or activities outside the school setting. Young People in the Community Young people are defined by the Australian and Tasmanian Governments as those aged from 12 to 25 years. At the time of the 2001 Census Dorset had 1,178 young people. They formed 17 % of the total population of Dorset and 52 % of them were under 17