Creating A Youth Advisory Council

How does one of Australia’s most recognisable organisations connect with its next generation?

Australia Post partnered with YLab to explore that question by listening directly to young people. Together, they developed a Youth Advisory Council, creating space for people under 25 to share their perspectives on work, careers and what they wanted from a future employer. Alongside co-designed learning sessions for retail staff, the initiative brought young voices into conversations that could shape how Australia Post attracts, supports and engages younger generations.

Our role was to tell the story of that collaboration. We wanted to move beyond explaining the programme and show the people behind it: the young participants contributing their experiences, the staff reconsidering their approaches, and the conversations turning ideas into action.

We approached the project with a grounded, documentary sensibility, allowing the story to emerge through real conversations and first-hand experiences.

The resulting film connects the purpose of the Youth Advisory Council with the practical changes it helped inspire. Through the voices of young participants and Australia Post staff, it shows how listening can influence the way an organisation communicates, works and presents itself to future employees.

One example was TikTok activity shaped by the council’s input, helping Australia Post reach younger audiences through content that generated interest and job applications. Alongside the learning sessions, this gave the story a tangible progression: young people shared their perspectives, staff engaged with those ideas, and the organisation began putting them into action.

For Australia Post, the film provided a way to share that journey across its teams. For YLab, it captured the value of its collaborative process through the experiences of the people involved. At its heart, the project tells a story about giving young people a meaningful voice; and showing what can happen when that voice informs real decisions.