How To meet your MP during COVID-19

Politicians Need to Hear from You 

Young people in Victoria have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Politicians are currently making important decisions about the recovery that will affect the rest of our lives. We want representatives to hear your stories, ideas and solutions for the recovery. 

The Recovery Plan 

YACVic has worked with young people to create a detailed set of solutions that are urgently needed to support young people during the recovery from the pandemic. We want politicians to hear young people’s experiences of the pandemic and commit to the recommendations in the COVID-19 Recovery Plan for Young People. 

These are the steps you can follow to prepare, request a meeting and meet with your representative in the Parliament of Victoria. 

Step 1: Prepare 

You should prepare for your meeting and decide what you want to say and why. Write down some notes about the story you want to tell and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on your life. This might include losing your job, experiencing worse mental health or struggling to pay rent. You can talk about something that is happening now or something that you expect to happen over the next few years.  

You should select a recommendation from the Recovery Plan that would make a positive difference for your life to discuss with your representative. You can think about how you will ask your representative to commit to that recommendation. 

Step 2: Request a Meeting

The next step is to request a meeting with one or more representatives. There are three different types of representative you can meet. You can meet with your local member who sits in the lower house or Legislative Assembly. There will be one local member that represents the local area that you live in called your electorate. You can also meet with your representative in the upper house, the Legislative Council. Members of the upper house represent a larger area called a ‘Region’ and there are five members for each region. You can also meet with a Minister or Parliamentary Secretary. These are local members or members of the upper house who have a special role in Parliament looking after a particular issue. You might want to meet with the Minister for Education or the Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs if what you want to talk about is relevant to their role. 

I am writing to request a meeting with you to discuss my experience of COVID-19 and a recovery for young people. 

I would like to discuss with you [add some detail about what you want to talk about]. I want to talk with you about how the Victorian Government can implement a long-term plan to support young people who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.  

Could you please advise a suitable time to meet [suggest dates or days or times that you are available] over [Zoom or Microsoft Teams]?  

I can be contacted on [mobile number] or via reply email to arrange a suitable time. 

Kind regards 

[your name] 

Step 3: Nail that Meeting 

Now it’s time to go along and meet with your local representative! You can use the following structure as a guide of what to do in the meeting.