It’s happening again! Junket, our annual ~unconference~ that brings together Australia’s best and brightest young minds to learn, innovate, inspire and create solutions that will have a positive impact on our lives, is back for another year.

For two days, we’ll gather at QT Hotel (shout out to our hosts Visit Canberra), to chat about some of the problems facing young people at home and abroad, and how we can create practical solutions for them. We’ll also just have a heap of fun with some of the most exciting, creative young minds in the country.

So Who’s Coming?

We have a stellar line up attending Junket this year, including Logie award-winning actress Miranda Tapsell and her podcasting partner in crime, actress Nakkiah Lui. Also coming along will be radio host Alex Dyson, video editor Huw Parkinson (who creates those incredible Insiders videos that go viral every week), and musician and novelist Holly Throsby.  

Joining them will be our favourite pop artist Frida Las Vegas; former Matilda and current LGBTIQ+ activist Sally Shipard; GetUp’s Sally Rugg, who has been leading the fight for marriage equality for years; comedian and viral video star Tanya Hennessy; Poet, rapper and author Omar Musa; “Black Comedy” star Ian Zaro and design entrepreneur Allen Liao. 

But that’s not all. We’ve got a bunch of Young Australian of the Year nominees, awesome activists, authors, entrepreneurs, poets, actors, economists, musicians, journalists, scientists, CEOs, social workers and entertainers and DJs coming along, and they’ve all got a heap of great ideas!  

What Will They Be Talking About?

All of our delegates will be coming to Canberra with something to say about the issues affecting young people today, and some ideas on how to solve our big problems. We’re going to hear from people about everything from housing affordability to LGBTIQ+ issues, feminism, drug legalisation, indigenous issues, mental health, decolonising space and much more. 

This year we’ll be focusing on creating real solutions for real problems. These will be jumping-off points for different people from different backgrounds and industries to start conversations.

Because Junket is an “unconference”, there will be no set agenda or program decided in advance. It also means there will be no public audience.

As soon as we arrive in Canberra, our delegates will be encouraged to pitch a specific idea, problem or issue they want to talk about, and the types of people they need to make the conversation a good one.

The Junket program itself will be action-packed, with delegates choosing between up to ten different conversations happening simultaneously, throughout the day, with everyone encouraged to contribute to the conversation.

Junkee will have a team of writers, videographers and social media pros there to report on the conversations as they happen — and we’ve invited a few other media to cover proceedings too. This is just the beginning, though: the most important part of Junket happens in its aftermath.

Westpac, Qantas, Visit Canberra and the Australian Of The Year Awards are proud partners of Junket 2017, and are all pitching in with a little help to try to make some of our great ideas a reality.

In conjunction with The Cusp, Westpac will be hosting Stop, Collaborate & Listen, a skills exchange in which attendees will be given the opportunity to join forces with other Junket delegates and share their expertise to bring real-world solutions to life.

We’ll be hosting a meditation session thanks to the Qantas Dreamliner, as well as a secret session we’re not allowed to spill the details on just yet… but we can tell you it will be huge. Stay tuned.

If you want to get involved, jump on Twitter and check out the #Junket hashtag to contribute and keep the conversation going. The whole thing is happening in sunny Canberra from October 29 – 31. See you there!