Reflections from SXSW Sydney 2025
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Setting the Scene
At SXSW Sydney 2025, a vital conversation on youth activism and institutional change explored how young people are shaping civic life while facing systems slow to evolve.
The session Power Gap: Converting Youth Activism Into Political Change brought together:
- Yasmin Poole, activist, speaker and writer
- Jess Miller, City of Sydney Councillor
- Sarah Ramantanis, Young Australians in International Affairs
- Curated by Nageen Ahmed, Rotation Cubed
Each offered a distinct perspective on what it means to move from passion to policy, from advocacy to architecture.
The Paradox of Participation
We live in a time when youth voices are visible, yet decision-making remains distant.
- Consultation often replaces genuine power sharing.
- Local government, though closest to community, is still bound by top down control.
- Innovation is celebrated rhetorically, but institutional authority changes little.
The discussion revealed how governance systems lag behind the agility of movements, creating frustration and fatigue among young changemakers who are repeatedly heard but rarely heeded.
The Cost of Continuity
Sustained activism carries emotional weight.
- Participants spoke about the fatigue of constant resistance and the toll of being acknowledged without real impact.
- Social media accelerates outrage but not organisation, creating short bursts of attention rather than lasting change.
- Real accountability requires civic literacy, understanding laws, budgets and rights to act with precision, not just passion.
Resilience, they agreed, is not only emotional, it is also institutional literacy and shared responsibility.
From Passion to Architecture
Transformative change needs both courage and design.
Key takeaways from the session:
- Courage without structure leads to burnout.
- Structure without courage becomes bureaucratic comfort.
- True transformation embeds participation into governance itself, not as an afterthought but as a foundation.
Movements must learn governance, and governance must learn movement. Only then can participation evolve from symbolism into sustained power.
Closing Reflection
The real power gap is not only generational but systemic. Culture may shift narratives, yet governance defines reality. Until institutions learn to evolve with the integrity and agility of collective action, young people will continue to innovate outside traditional power structures, and in doing so, redefine what power can look like.
Grateful to the voices behind this powerful conversation:
@Yasmin Poole (activist, speaker, writer), @Jess Miller (City of Sydney), @Sarah Ramantanis (Young Australians in International Affairs), curated by @Nageen Ahmed (Rotation Cubed)
Tags: SXSWSydney, YouthLeadership, SocialChange, Governance, SystemsThinking, PublicLeadership