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Youth Advisory Group - In conversation with Gabe Francis

As part of our regular Youth Advisory Group Q&A series, we are excited to introduce you to Gabe Francis.

Tell us a bit about you! Where are you from, what do you do, and what are some of your passions/interests?

Hi, my name’s Gabe. I grew up in Lennox Head in Northern NSW and moved to Sydney a few years ago to study playwriting. In 2022, I worked with council to design and facilitate a year of drama classes for first-generation migrant families in Wentworth Point. Since then, the project has become a small business, Playroom Drama Education, that provides drama incursion programs for schools across Sydney.

When I’m not writing or running workshops, I love getting down to the beach and am an active member of the surf club.

What is your connection to rural and regional Australia?

I lived in Lennox Head until I was 18 and it’s still the place I enjoy spending time the most. My understanding of community and connection to the natural world comes from growing up in a small coastal town. The Northern Rivers is known for the creativity of the region, and those influences obviously inspired my interest in drama and writing now and the enjoyment I get facilitating creative spaces for others.

What is one issue facing young people that you would like to highlight to our readers?

We all understand there is a pressure on young people in rural towns to move to the city when they finish school. This is something we’ve talked about a lot in the YAG. The reasons for this are various, relating to access to work and education opportunities as well as young people’s perceptions of rural versus city life. I think the challenge worth highlighting is the gap this creates in rural communities between young people and people 15-20 years older who are often starting families and in a totally different stage of life.

The lack of direct mentorship and role models makes it hard for young people to make choices about the next stage of life because many of the potential pathways are invisible. The first steps out of high school can feel like walking into a room with the lights off.

A young man sitting under an umbrella at the beach

YAG member Gabe Francis

You have been a member of our Youth Advisory Group for six months now. What has been the highlight of the process so far?

The other members of the group are great! It’s been awesome to meet them and be part of a team that’s excited about the potential of projects for young people. I also feel very lucky to be able to read all the applications that come through. For these kinds of projects, there isn’t a university degree or TAFE course that everyone does before pitching to VFFF. Everyone comes from different backgrounds. This makes it hard to get a sense of the cohort of people who are thinking and working on these kinds of initiatives.

From my perspective, the BTF application process assembles a makeshift cohort. As Youth Advisory Group members, we get to observe all the people and projects for rural and remote youth, the connections between them, and the great ideas being envisioned and enacted right now.