Listening is safety: CREATE CEO Imogen Edeson on why youth participation matters
Nov 2025
Written by Kelly Royds
“All I really need is someone to believe in me
Give us a chance to succeed and do it easily
I want my brothers and sisters with me living peacefully
I need space, everyone want a piece of me.”
– (Song created at NT Youth Advisory Group, This Matters to Us, 2025 p. 42)
If there is one organisation in Australia that consistently listens to and advocates alongside children and young people in care, it’s CREATE Foundation.
Many of you reading this have likely supported young people to engage with CREATE, may have been CREATE Youth Consultants in the past yourselves, or follow the powerful storytelling and advocacy that comes out of this organisation.
What I value most about CREATE is how it continues to offer real, often unfiltered insights into the care experience of young people in Australia. Their video series and podcasts are often where I turn when seeking to integrate authentic young people’s experiences of care in training and learning contexts.
That’s why I wanted to take a moment to connect with CREATE CEO Imogen Edeson about what we can learn from their latest report, This Matters to Us. The report wraps up a year of Youth Advisory Groups and highlights national themes and priorities that every professional working with children and young people can learn from and take into their practice.
For those who haven’t read it yet, what is the This Matters to Us report — and why does it matter?
Imogen: “We held 100 Youth Advisory Groups across the country last year, engaging with hundreds of young people. What’s unique about this model is that it genuinely is young-person led. Young people come together on their own terms, and CREATE simply provides the scaffolding: the support, the enabling space, and deep listening.”
“There’s immense wisdom and expertise in what young people know and feel about their lives and the systems that have impacted them. Everyone with an interest in child wellbeing can learn from what they’re telling us, about where systems help and where they harm.”
The report calls young people ‘connected, courageous change-makers’. What does that mean to you?
Imogen: “Young people are powerful knowledge-holders about all the places where systems may have helped or failed them. Their voices are a unique form of evidence about what works and what doesn’t. They’ve had to become expert system navigators.”
“They are powerful, creative co-designers that we can bring into the collective effort to reform systems and make things better. They cut right through status-quo thinking, call out biases and challenge assumptions, and we need that, especially in adult-centred systems meant to serve them.”
Listening is one of the strongest themes in the report. What does being listened to really look and feel like for young people?
Imogen: “It’s critical for safety. We know from evidence that we must listen to children’s own accounts of what safety looks and feels like to them. Children have the right to be involved in decisions about their lives; it’s a right recognised in international frameworks.”
“Young people can really challenge assumptions and reveal blind spots, in our practice, our thinking and our systems, that may not be apparent to the adults around them. Their voices are a critical source of evidence, and we can apply that evidence to the design, implementation and monitoring of reform. They are creative design partners that can shape new ways of working.”
“Young people tell us that listening has to move beyond tokenism. It needs to happen on their terms at times, in places, and in ways that make them feel safe. They should have choice and agency about what they talk about and how.”
“We also need to be aware of our biases as adults, because we might not even be asking the right questions. Real listening means showing up with humility and attending to psychological and emotional safety.”
You mentioned that genuine listening also means acting on what you hear.
Imogen: “Yes. Fundamental to genuine listening is acting on what you’ve heard and being accountable back to young people. Failing to act or follow up erodes trust and confidence. There’s emotional labour involved when young people share their stories, so it has to be worth it.”
“It’s a responsibility — in listening, we must respond and act. Sometimes adults aren’t empowered to make the changes young people ask for, but they can still explain why. That transparency builds trust.”
What happens when we get it right — when listening and acting go hand in hand?
Imogen: “When listening happens well, young people feel safe, empowered, and that their voices matter. Programs are stronger and organisations are stronger when they find ways to orient to young voices. It helps formulate better practice and better systems — but it requires courage and commitment to follow through.”
The report also features the voices of First Nations children and young people. What stood out to you?
Imogen: “If we asked First Nations young people what a care system designed by them looks like, I suspect it would look less like a system and more like a community. We have powerful models in the community-controlled sector that show how to employ kinship systems and collective relationships so that children can thrive.”
“First Nations young people tell us they want to go home, to be reunified with family, to live with siblings and Aboriginal carers. They long for connection with culture and want access to culturally informed and culturally safe services.”
“We have to be aware that child protection systems in Australia have been borne out of colonialism, paternalistic systems and historical and current injustice. Ultimately, power, control, resources and choice need to be in the hands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities — that’s what self-determination requires.”
The report lists ten national advocacy priorities. Which stand out most to you?
Imogen: “Everything young people say is pertinent, but I’m struck by how deeply they understand what they need. They speak compellingly about how their lives have been shaped by trauma and their care experiences, and what supports their healing and recovery — things like mental and physical health care, housing stability, opportunities beyond care.”
“And they need adults to believe in them, so they can believe in themselves. At the heart of it all, they want relationships prioritised above all else.”
How is CREATE putting these insights into action over the next year?
Imogen: “Our National Experience to Action Board (Youth) has already shared this report with all state and Commonwealth ministers, calling for a Youth Parliament in Canberra so they can yarn directly with decision-makers.”
“We’ll keep running Youth Advisory Groups and empowerment programs like Speak Up and CREATE Your Future. We’ll keep bringing young people’s voices to Government and sector leaders through things like policy roundtables, design workshops and submissions. And next year, we’ll bring young voices centre stage at our Voices in Action Conference on Larrakia Country in Darwin, where young people will design and deliver the program, and adults will come to listen, reflect on their practice and learn.”
System change takes time. How do you and your team stay motivated and grounded in the hard parts of this work?
Imogen: “Sometimes we need patience. System change is long and hard, but we hold on to our passion and radical imagination for what’s possible. I’m deeply nourished by engaging directly with kids and young people — their wisdom and creativity are inspiring.”
“It’s also emotional work. Some stories are profoundly harrowing, and it’s painful to hear them, but there’s value in the hearing. At CREATE we support one another through a warm, compassionate culture so we can keep showing up in full presence with open hearts.”
“We should be moved by these hard things. They remind us of our shared humanity and the collective responsibility we have to make things better for all children.”
If readers take away one message from this report, what should it be?
Imogen: “There’s always a way to listen. Kids know things that adults don’t. If we care deeply about child wellbeing — and we all do – then we need to listen deeply with curiosity, respect, and playfulness. And we need to act on what children and young people tell us.
Read the full This Matters to Us report on the CREATE Foundation website.
