As my role as Chair of the Northern Territory Youth Council (NTYC), I recently travelled to Brisbane to attend the St John Ambulance National Conference. This conference dubbed 'blending the colours' is an annual occurrence bringing together members of the Australian Youth Council (AYC), National Cadet Officers Group as well as State/ Territory Superintendents, CEO's, Commissioners and general members from around the organisation. This year the conference was hosted by Queensland at Conrad Jupiter's on the Gold Coast from the 17th until the 21st of June.

As Chair of the NTYC the Wednesday was spent in meetings with other youth council chairs from around Australia. These meetings revolved around the AYC's key themes and messages for 2009, being flexible volunteering, career pathways and community development. It was very interesting to hear about some of the ideas and possible opportunities other youth council members had in helping the community. The afternoon session was a practical activity where the members were split into groups. When in groups each member was designated a role and given a topic which we then had to discuss, investigate and then resolve. After this was complete we were required as a group to pitch the idea to the CEO. These topics included the length restrictions placed on cadets for public duties, the need for a promotional vehicle and the use and purchase of Segways. These mock scenarios were a great activity as it helped to give all members the skills and knowledge needed when presenting ideas or a proposed activity to another individual.

I was given the opportunity while in the Gold Coast to attend two other events, being the Women's Empowering Breakfast and the official opening of the conference. The main youth highlight for the official openi ng was the awarding of the Cadet Knowledge of the Order Prize within each state and territory. Special congratulations to the Alice Springs Cadet Division who were the winners from the Northern Territory with their play 'One Order of St John- hold the pickles'. The other highlight for me was the key note speaker at the event, Father Chris Riley. Father Chris is the founder of Youth of the Streets and Boys Town. He spoke of his experiences working with youth and St John Ambulance. His enthusiasm and genuine care for what he does, as well as the importance of organisations like St John Ambulance were noticeable throughout his speech.

Overall the opportunity to attend National Conference was incredible and I am looking forward to next year's conference to be held 22-27 June in Melbourne.