After a struggle with his own mental health in COVID-19 lockdown, Cr Lyon decided to become a catalyst for change.

"The whole reason I joined the youth council is to push for more awareness around mental health and put on the agenda that there are massive waiting queues for youth to go and get a therapist or see a psychologist," he said.

"I'm not pushing my agenda, I'm pushing the agenda of those who are sleeping alone at night and have to worry about the problems of our world lurking over their dreams.

"It means they can't focus on what they want to do in life, they have to focus on the struggles of dealing with anxiety or depression or eating disorders."

Cr Lyon said the youth council's goal is to cut waiting times for mental health support, which he said can be up to three months.

"That's absolutely shocking," he said.

"It only takes one or two weeks for someone to dip and not recover from it.

"I went through a lot of mental health challenges with lockdown and being away from friends, I realised keeping everything in around mental health is a bad option."

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The youth council has updated its terms of reference and it now reports directly to the 'adult' council on issues affecting young people in the region.

Cr Lyon said he hopes it can push for tangible change.

"We're changed the whole dynamic, about a year ago it was really just a youth council where people would talk about ideas, maybe share them with the council and maybe work on some Youth Week activities," he said.

"Youth perspective doesn't have that much light on it, there's not a strong youth platform in Tamworth and this council gives the opportunity for those who want to make change to do that for the benefit of teenagers who are struggling.

"I think over the next couple of years the youth council will ramp up its operations in Tamworth and have more of a voice as well."

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