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CANBERRA: The highly-anticipated annual Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) Youth Advocates program, which took place on 15-16 November 2023, saw 10 Armenian-Australian youth travel  to Canberra from New South Wales and Victoria to advance the interests of the people of Artsakh in Australia’s Federal Parliament.

ANC-AU Youth Advocates, established in 2018, has seen over 50 tertiary-aged Armenian-Australians participate in what is a jam-packed two-day crash course in mastering the art of advocacy with the goal of encouraging more of the community’s youth to consider a future career in the field of politics and its associated disciplines. ANC-AU Youth Advocates also presents a unique networking opportunity, with participants rubbing shoulders with Australia’s elected political and media leaders.

With the Republic of Artsakh ethnically cleansed and under complete occupation by Azerbaijan, this year’s “Mock Advocacy” segment of the program was a clear focus for our participants, who split into groups and visited the offices of Jerome Laxale MP, Paul Fletcher MP, Julian Leeser MP, Peter Khalil MP and Allegra Spender MP, calling for further support from the Australian Government and public for the people of Artsakh.

Melbourne-based participant Vache Kechichian, who is studying a Bachelor of Media and Communications at the University of Monash, said: “Mock Advocacy meetings give us a chance to further explore the current issues that are taking place in Armenia. When you speak about them with parliamentarians and their staff working in the parliament, not only do you get to create awareness about the issue, but you learn more about the current crisis yourself.”

The two-day program commenced in the early hours of 15th November, with an Advocacy Workshop delivered by Ronit Gabriel, public affairs representative of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, followed by a Media Workshop presented by the ANC-AU Advocacy Week international guest of honour, Lindsey Snell, who discussed her incredible journey in the field of media.



The 2023 Youth Advocates also attended Question Time, toured the Australian Parliament’s Federal Press Gallery facilitated by Katina Curtin from the West Australian, participated in a ‘Meet and Greet’ with Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton, engaged in dialogue with Senior Advisor Sam Riordan, who presented the ‘Day in the Life of a Staffer’ segment, and partook in a Mock Parliamentary Debate discussing whether ‘Australia should increase its refugee intake’, chaired by Shadow Minister for Youth and Federal Member for Moncrieff, Angie Bell MP.

To hear from some of our 2023 Youth Advocates and their takeaways from this year’s program, click here or watch below.



The ANC-AU Youth Advocates program is a key component of the organisation's Outreach initiatives with the goal of encouraging more young Armenian-Australians to consider a future career in the field of politics and its associated disciplines.

Like in past years, the 2023 ANC-AU Youth Advocates was sponsored by the ANC-AU Internship Program’s Hagop Kortian Scholarship, which is an annual commitment to the peak public affairs organisation of the Armenian-Australian community in honour of one of the founding forces of Hai Tad in Australia.

“We want to thank the Kortian family for continuing to honour their husband and father, Mr Hagop Kortian, and acknowledge that their support has now seen over 50 young Armenian-Australians pass through this influential program and continue in service to the Armenian Cause,” said ANC-AU Executive Director, Michael Kolokossian.

In 2023, the ANC-AU conducted four outreach initiatives, including Galstaun Government, Junior Advocates, Youth Advocates and the Hagop Kortian Scholarship.

To watch the Highlights Video of the 2023 ANC-AU Outreach initiatives, click here or view below.