Youth Research Qualitative Report - District Council of Mount Barker

I want to go to uni at Flinders and there’s not many busses that go there, you’d have to go to
the city then out there. (Young woman, 16yrs)
Services and facilities associated with education are also limited. Many young people have poor
internet access, and while the local library caters very well for adults and small children (story time,
toy library and school holiday activities), it is poorly designed for young people. Many participants
travelled to the Stirling library because it catered better to their needs and was more comfortable to
hang out in.
So you’ve got good access to schooling, good access to library. Do you use the local library
All
Sometimes/ Not much/ we use Stirling library
How come you use Stirling and not ours
Female 1:
Female 2:
Male 1:
Female 1:
That one’s bigger.
So much bigger and it’s like so much nicer.
They’ve got cool lounges and that sort of thing.
Yeah it’s so funky and they’ve also got games in there as well.
Okay, so what kind of games
Female 1:
Female 2:
Female 1:
They have the X-box and stuff and they also have like couches so you can just
sit and read.
And the front of it too looks so much more inviting.
And you look out into the nice trees and the nice park.
(Young men and women, 13-16yrs)
Extracurricular education is also very poor for young people. Many spoke of wanting to engage in
community education but found it hard to access in this area either because it didn’t exist or
because classes were only available at times young people cannot attend.
I want to do photography, but there’s nothing around to do with photography. (Young
Woman, 16 yrs)
When asked when they were most likely to attend community education the majority of young
people said ‘School nights’.
Many participants noted limited access to cultural venues and institutions (such as museums and
galleries) in the area. While they acknowledged these institutions were available in Adelaide, many
14
Needs assessment of young people in the Mt Barker Council District – November 2009