It complements existing key documents produced by the Ministry of Youth Affairs. These are:

• Realising the Potential and A Guide to Realising the Potential - Ministry of Youth Affairs Youth Policy Framework publications released in June 1996 - the first describing key issues for young people and the range of current Government policies, programmes and legislation addressing them, organised within the five interrelated themes of family, learning, working, well-being, and citizenship; the second, providing a guide to analysing and developing policy and legislation impacting on young people, putting them at the centre of the analysis;
• 15-25 A Youth Statistical Profile;
• The 1996/97 Estimates and Departmental Forecast Report; and
• the 1995/96 Annual Report.
•   The report is in six main sections:
• The Ministry of Youth Affairs: a description of the role and function of the Ministry, the output structure of the Vote; the organisational structure and staffing, and the key operating principles which allow the Ministry to focus its relatively small team to maximise effectiveness;
• A Youth Profile: a brief statistical summary of the youth population;

• Key Policy Issues for Young People: a description organised under the five themes of Realising the Potential; the major trends for the youth population, including recent policy developments and current Ministry of Youth Affairs project work;
• Strategic Overview Issues in the Youth Sector: a summary of key issues which transcend all the policy work which the Ministry does, and form the alternative perspective which is the basis of the contestable policy advice which the Ministry of Youth Affairs offers the Government;
• Communication and Facilitation: a summary of the initiatives supported by the Ministry to encourage the participation of young people in New Zealand life, and a description of the publications which the Ministry produces for young people; and
• the Conservation Corps and Youth Service Corps: a description and summary of the main achievements of the two youth development programmes for which the Ministry is responsible.

Catherine Gibson

Chief Executive