When Telstra Foundation set out to create the Australian Youth Digital Index (AYDI), we knew the project needed more than data. It needed real voices, lived experience, and accountability to the young people at the heart of Australia’s digital landscape. We’re so grateful to our Youth Advisory Council (YAC), who contribute this youth perspective, guiding decisions, challenging assumptions, and grounding every insight in what young people are actually experiencing online.
In engaging our YAC, we are mindful of our youth participation principles:
Let young people lead
From the outset, YAC members are co-drivers of the Index research, elevating emerging issues that typical research methods can overlook. Their leadership ensures the Index reflects less about what adults think young people need, and more about what young people themselves say is essential for a thriving digital life.
Make it meaningful
Our YAC members are working on something real that we know will be used by educators, not-for-profits and policymakers around the country. Telstra’s Australian Youth Digital Index is a major national project and by engaging with the YAC throughout the research we ensure their work is not merely symbolic, but directly shapes the content and lens of the final report.
Respect their time & lived experience
The Council brings expertise that no adult-led working group can replicate: lived experience navigating digital worlds in real time.
Their input is valuable to us, and we compensate them for that expertise, while respecting their schedules and ensuring every meeting has a purpose.
Keep it open
Throughout the project, we engaged in regular, transparent conversations.
What are we learning? What doesn’t make sense? What biases might we be bringing in?
Together with researchers and the Telstra Foundation team, YAC members interrogated the data, questioned interpretations, and offered their own explanations for the patterns emerging.
Meet them where they’re at
We designed flexible ways for members to contribute, in projects, online sessions, written reflections, and peer-to-peer conversations. This allowed every member to participate in ways that suited their lives, pressures, and digital habits.
Create community
The Council is a supportive, safe space grounded in trust, and our YAC members value the connections they make with other young people throughout the year. By creating a community, we aim to enable candid and authentic discussions – and we think you can see this through the powerful YAC projects included in the report. Members continue to share openly about their digital experiences, frustrations, optimism, and the inequities they witness in their own communities.
Grow together
In 2024, the Council collaborated with researchers and the Expert Advisory Group to co-design the pilot AYDI. In 2025, the YAC used these results to launch special projects such as the Sleep Challenge and Digital Skills project featured in this year’s AYDI report.
Members built skills in data interpretation, digital skills, public speaking and storytelling, and insights into how policy can have a direct impact on the lives of ordinary people (the social media controls were a big topic of conversation!). At the same time, the Telstra Foundation gained a richer understanding of technology’s role in young people’s lives. This mutual learning strengthens the final product. We like to think we are setting a new benchmark for youth-centred research in Australia.
Champion every voice
Our YAC is as diverse as the young people they represent, ensuring they bring a broad spectrum of voices into the national conversation.
Through their insights and reflections, our YAC help ensure the Index is not just a research report but a tool for change, helping to build better digital futures for young people across the country.
