Ms Mary Cunningham:

In order to ensure it is as effective as possible and meets the needs of all the key stakeholders, including the Department, it has to be co-created. It probably does not matter what it is called, but a reference group seems an unusual choice compared with, say, and advisory group. It certainly merits a meaningful conversation about what its expectations are and what ours are in terms of the work. With the National Youth Work Advisory Committee, previously, there was a subcommittee structure that did a lot of heavy lifting. There were things that happened that would have been very different had the National Youth Work Advisory Committee not informed it. I refer, for example, to the roll-out of the National Quality Standards Framework for Youth Work, which was developed in partnership. It took longer because it does, but rather than you getting a document tabled for people to comment on you actually begin to build it up from the ground. By the time it came to be piloted, there was massive buy-in. That is really what you want to be securing. Whatever the decisions, whatever the implementation looks like there is very significant buy-in and commitment from the sector and from others to making it work.