Civic life and participation

Do you care about your community and would you like to make a difference?

Join one of our leadership programs or a committee and have a say in the decisions made by council, run your own project or music event and develop your confidence and leadership skills.

Amped Up Events Committee

Are you aged 16 – 24 and interested in music and creative events? Join the Amped Up Freeza committee!

The Amped Up events committee is a group of young people who work together to plan and organise all-ages live music events in Merri-bek.

You will have the opportunity to run festivals and events, gain hands-on music industry experience & connect with and have fun with like-minded people. You will learn skills in event management, audio & lighting, risk assessment, budgets, booking artists & performers, marketing and promotion & managing events on the day.

Events you’ll be supported to run might include live music events, festivals, markets, art or photography exhibitions, dance showcases & more.

This program is a part of FReeZA, which is an innovative youth development program initiated by the Victorian Government. You can find out more about this program on the Youth Central Victoria website. 

  • Previous events organised by Merri-bek's Amped Up group include the 

    • Oxygen Stage at the annual Sydney Road Street Party
    • Move On Be Strong
    • Faraway stables
    • halloween parties
    • Oxygen movie nights
    • Flicks and Kicks at Harmony Park
    • DJ events in schools
    • Oxygen's Christmas parties
    • Amped Up goes Acoustic
    • The Push Start Competition's local and regional finals.

    Our team has also assisted at

    • Recognise Festival
    • Brunswick Better Block Party
    •  Splashfest featuring Camp Cope
    • It Starts with Us
    • R We Ok?

  • Being a member of the Amped Up team requires a significant level of commitment. In exchange for this committment, each member gets the opportunity to develop event management skills and connections with the music industry with support and guidance from the Merri-bek Youth team.

    Members of Amped Up meet up weekly at Oxygen Youth Space (4/8 Gaffney Street, Coburg North) At these weekly meetings you will get to develop your skills in an extensive range of areas including:

    • choosing and contacting performers
    • designing promotional material, such as flyers and social media posts
    • sound and production
    • photography and design
    • managing budgets
    • organising sound engineers and other suppliers
    • organising risk management procedures
    • stage management
    • running an event's front of house (such as selling tickets, handing out programs and recruiting for new members)

    Members of Amped Up also run events on the day, including managing performers, suppliers and crew and solving any problems that arise. 

    You can find out about us and our upcoming gigs at the Amped Up Facebook page and on Instagram through our @ampedupfreeza account.

     

  • Our team for Amped Up meets regularly every Wednesday  from 4.30pm to 6pm in the Studio at the Oxygen Youth Space.

  • There is a significant level of commitment involved with being a member of Amped Up, but in exchange you get invaluable experience in the live music industry. If you are considering joining the team, you will need to commit to attending:

    • At least 80% of weekly meetings (these meetings stop over the school holiday periods)
    • All Freeza events and training opportunities

     

     

  • Amped Up are always looking for new members. If you are between 14 and 24 and interested in the arts and supporting the community, we'd love to meet you!

    If you're interested in Amped Up, we're here to help answer any questions or give you more insight into what being a part of the team is like and what our members do.

    If you think this is the right team for you, you can register by emailing Steve shuf@merri-bek.vic.gov.au or by calling us at 1800 699 688.

     

     

  • We love supporting local artists (soloists, electronic artists, hip-hoppers, rappers, djs's and bands alike) by giving them the opportunity to showcase their skills at our events. 

    Along with our annual Push Start Battle of the Bands event, we are always planning new opportunities for Merri-bek artists to perform at Amped Up events. 

    If you are interested in performing please email Adelaide at ajones@merri-bek.vic.gov.au or call 1800 699 688.

     

     

Merri-bek Youth Ambassadors 

Applications are now open!

Interested in creating change in your local community? Then apply for a role as a Merri-bek Youth Ambassador!

As a Merri-bek Youth Ambassador, you will work with a group of passionate young people to represent the voices of young people in Merri-bek.  The program runs for a total of 18 months, with weekly meetings and workshops designed to build your skills, confidence & networks, so you can create positive change in your community!

Merri-bek Advisory Committees and Reference Groups

Applications to join Merri-bek City Council’s Advisory Committees and Reference Groups have now closed. You can find out more about these groupson our Advisory Committee and Reference Group page.


Resources for Schools

The resources on this page have been compiled by Merri-bek Youth as part of our commitment to fostering Lifelong Learning and Participation in our community.

VCE Vocational Major

To support local education providers in delivering the VCE Vocational Major curriculum Merri-bek Youth has curated a suite of project ideas that can be run in collaboration with Merri-bek City Council.

To find out what projects are on offer, please read through our VCE Vocational Major - Council Projects 2025 (PDF 511KB)