Young Premier's day in the Uni life

Community Engagement

The University of Adelaide has been a founding sponsor of the National Youth Week initiative "If I were Premier for a Day" competition in 2004 and 2005.

The competition provides an opportunity for young people to share their dreams about what is important to them in South Australia, and is funded by the Australian Government as a National Youth Week activity in South Australia.

This year, the University of Adelaide expanded its role by having overall winner Renata Petrakis and finalists Victoria Dootson and Antonietta Antonino present their entries at a lunchtime seminar hosted by the University's Australian Institute for Social Research (AISR).

Renata's paper was on the topic of improving education funding, while Victoria and Antonietta discussed solar energy and attracting people to
live in South Australia respectively. All three engaged in a lively debate with key academics associated with AISR.

"The University of Adelaide sees the Premier for a Day competition as just one way in which it can support the South Australian Government's strategic objective of increasing political participation," said AISR Executive Director Associate Professor John Spoehr. "This process helps young people understand the importance of social research and the way that it challenges society and helps to shape our future."

Story by Howard Salkow