How youth reference groups can contribute to amplify research findings to public discussions and potentially improve policy making

This article examines how Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) can amplify youth voices in public discourse and policy making, drawing on a case study of young Australians collaborating with academic researchers to analyse survey and interview data for the Australian Youth Barometer. At its core was a Youth Reference Group (YRG), which moved beyond tokenistic consultation by engaging directly in data analysis and knowledge production. In 2022, the YRG co-analysed survey data (n=505) and interviews (n=30), interrogating the finding that nearly half of young people felt they were 'missing out on being young'. The process produced a co-authored report combining statistical evidence, lived experience and critical reflection, which attracted significant national and international media coverage. The article applies the Quality Use of Research Evidence (QURE) Framework to assess enablers and constraints of youth engagement as evidence users. Youth researchers brought valuable lived experience, curiosity and commitment, but needed support in data and media literacy, access to academic literature and sustained time investment. Power-sharing between academic and youth researchers was facilitated but limited by institutional timelines, funding and differing skillsets. Organisational supports, collaborative infrastructures and media strategies enhanced dissemination, yet inequitable remuneration and limited diversity risked reproducing exclusions. Using the QURE Framework as a lens, the article argues that quality evidence use in YPAR can promote young people as active interpreters and users of evidence, supported by enabling ecosystems of resources, skills and collaboration. It provides an approach to improved authentic youth partnership in knowledge production and more inclusive policy making.