Author and futurist Dr Peter Ellyard speaks at first Leadership WA forum

25/8/99
Some of Western Australia's up and coming leaders took a look into the future this morning at the first of a series of Leadership WA forums.
A crowd of 200 leadership trainees and trainers packed out the atrium of East Perth's Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Centre to hear author and futurist Dr Peter Ellyard.
Dr Ellyard, who was introduced by Youth Minister Mike Board, gave the leadership enthusiasts a glimpse of life as he saw it in the new millennium and challenged them to transform themselves into leaders for the 21st century.
Mr Board said that it was a mark of the importance of the Leadership WA program that Dr Ellyard, Australia's leading futurist, had accepted an invitation to address the forum.
"The future challenges us all and we all share the responsibility of preparing ourselves as best we can to accept that challenge," the Minister said.
"What Australia and the world need more than anything, now and in the future, are people who can step forward and offer true leadership skills.
"Leaders are people who bring the best out in others and themselves. Many young Western Australians are already showing leadership potential and Leadership WA will give that promise an opportunity to flourish."
Leadership WA was established through the Office of Youth Affairs to promote and manage a range of leadership courses for young Western Australians and their adult leaders.
The program was launched by the Minister in May and later this year it will be established in Murray House on the Heathcote hospital site at Applecross.
Leadership WA has started its first nationally accredited course that covers a broad range of leadership issues addressing the needs of individuals and community groups. This is the first time the course has been offered anywhere in Australia.
At the forum, the Minister presented Certificates II and IV of Leadership to 12 young people and adult leaders who passed an assessment of their knowledge and skills.
Leadership Western Australia will work with people throughout the State to promote leadership, good citizenship and a positive image of WA youth and will establish partnerships with community groups that already offer a range of leadership training programs.
It will target secondary students, TAFE and university students, youth groups and youth leaders, young people already in the workforce, sporting clubs and individuals interested in improving their leadership skills.
Mr Board said Leadership WA aimed to become the peak organisation in the State for the development of leadership skills and intended to offer these opportunities to young people throughout WA.
"Later this year it is expected that programs will be delivered in the Great Southern and Goldfields regions and then in the Mid-West, Gascoyne, Kimberley and Pilbara soon after," he said.
"Leadership is important to everyone, everywhere in society. People often seek out others with the qualities they admire and follow their example. It can inspire their confidence to undertake challenges, which they may previously have thought impossible.
"The more people we can equip with leadership qualities and inspire these qualities in future generations, the better our society will become."
Further information on Leadership Western Australia can been obtained from the Office of Youth Affairs on (08) 9476 2000.
Media contacts: Jody Robb, Minister's office, (08) 9222 9211

Jan Watt, Office of Youth Affairs, (08) 9476 2000