This book documents and celebrates young people's active participation in social, political and civic life and describes the many ways in which they are leading needed social change. At the same time, it critically examines the barriers to this participation and questions the degree to which the voice of young people is genuinely valued in Australia. Young people are often characterised as disengaged and apathetic. But this book challenges that view while providing a set of needed sign-posts for change at the level of core social institutions and processes.