In a timely coincidence with the federal election campaign, more than 200 of the nation's youth leaders have been meeting in Adelaide to put their concerns on record.
But perhaps more importantly, they are trying to work out ways of ensuring their voices are heard.
And they have turned to some high-profile campaigners for advice -- including the man who spoke for former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, John McTernan.
As Karen Ashford reports, issues such as asylum seekers and Aboriginal justice dominated their fears about what is wrong with politics that they would like to see made right.
"The situation is lethal. Instead of (us) being equal, they're locking up my people."
It is a rapper's plea to address Indigenous jail rates, but it could just as easily apply to asylum seekers.
Between them, they are the two hot topics dominating the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition conference.
Indigenous advocates are pushing for a concept called justice reinvestment to become a campaign issue.
They hope politicians will see sense in taking money away from prisons and putting it into prevention programs.
Musician Kobie Duncan is no angel -- he has had trouble with the law himself -- but he says an after-school program called Kool Kids put him on the right path.
He says it shows justice reinvestment is money well-spent.
"Selling drugs, stealing from people, stealing cars, searching through houses, and just stuff like that is what I was taught from people in my community. So I was thinking that that was right, that's the thing to do, 'That's what I'm going to grow up and do.' But programs like Kool Kids helped me see that there's better things out there."
Indigenous youth worker Siobhan Bryson says almost half of New South Wales' youth detainees are Aboriginal and they each cost $650 a day.
She argues extending justice-reinvestment programs like the one that helped Kobie Duncan will save not only money, but lives.
"It's the human cost to individuals, families and communities that go way beyond the monetary costs. And, in turn, the value to be gained from implementing justice reinvestment is far greater than the cost savings."
But communicating the youth leaders' agenda effectively is a big challenge amidst so many issues competing to win hearts and headlines.
John McTernan is the spin doctor who made headlines happen for former Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
He says courting the mainstream media is not necessarily the best way to go.
"Mainstream media, the function, to a great extent, is aggregating eyeballs to sell them to advertisers. I'm not saying that's a dishonourable thing to do -- it's a trade in which I've made my living in the past and I'll make my living in the future in journalism. The point is, it's not the only form of communication that we have. Go back to the slide that said 77 per cent of people have been influenced by their friends. When was the last time any of you in this room changed your mind on an issue, genuinely changed your mind? Now, you won't be surprised I never change my mind, because I'm always right. (laughter) But if I was ever to change my mind, it would be because of discussion with friends and family."
John McTernan advises not to think big but to think small, using grassroots channels like social media to build networks that support agendas.
He says Julia Gillard's much-maligned appearance on a Mummy bloggers webpage was actually a smart move.
He says it delivered her message to three million followers who had already established trust with the site.
And Mr McTernan cites Indigenous issues as a realm ripe with possibilities for change.
"Have we got a very deep-seated problem with health or life expectancy or self-determination? Yes, we have. Do we have really, really good people working on this? Yes. Do we discuss it enough? I suspect not. If I'm honest, of all the issues in Australian politics that are not discussed, I think this is a single biggest one. But, again, go back to where we were on refugees. If people believe a problem is too big to solve, they quite humanly shut down and move into something else. And what we want is a sense that, no, we are making progress, we can make progress, and we can see how to make progress, but let's speed it up, let's talk to each other to change our mindsets. We change our minds in conversation. And the one thing about mass media? Mass media is one to many, it's not deliberative. Social media is many to many, it is deliberative. It's a huge space for progressives. It's a huge space for change."
The conference heard that moving with the times is not solely about using new media, but ensuring the agenda being pursued remains relevant.
The national director of the advocacy organisation Get Up, Sam McLean, says Indigenous affairs and asylum seekers are two issues that have been years in the making.
But he says the messages that might have worked at the beginning of campaigns may not be as relevant today.
"There's been a set piece on policy that the refugee movement has advocated for 10 years, of onshore processing, of not limiting maritime arrivals. And, in the 10 years that we've been advocating that policy, conditions have changed dramatically, and we haven't changed what we've been asking for. We haven't changed or adapted our policies to match the problems that we now face, which is more than a thousand deaths at sea and 130 times more arrivals than there were five years ago. So I think one failure of the movement has been to not adapt to changing circumstances in policy. And the other has been -- and this is, I think, a classic failure -- to talk to ourselves far more than we talk to others."
The human-rights organisation Amnesty International has many years of campaigning effectiveness to its name.
Its media and public-affairs coordinator, Sarah Saleh, had some advice for those hoping to change the world.
"Even when you feel exhausted, underappreciated, it's really important to remember that everything you do, big or small, really counts, as clichéd as that sounds. But it is really like what John (McTernan) was saying before. So it's not always easy, it's not glamorous, and you can't romanticise activism, I think, so, most importantly, you just have to work behind the scenes and get the job done."
