Miss Burgess Hannon, aged 17, who is studying at The Riverina Anglican College, has been taking part in virtual Parliamentary committee meetings and debates this week.

The Parliament is aimed at letting young people in years 10, 11 and 12 experience what goes into making laws and policy decisions, as well as speaking out on issues that are important to them.

"It's sitting week for the Youth Parliament of NSW ... this is a program I applied to at the start of last year and it was quite a difficult selection process, but I was selected to represent Wagga as the Youth Member of Parliament," Miss Burgess Hannon said.

"There were many reasons why I applied. I'd always aspired towards it, seeing it in the paper and on the news from a young age.

"I'm really passionate about health, especially, and I have an interest in medicine."

Miss Burgess Hannon said the Youth Parliament contained a lot of different committees, such as women's affairs, environment and health and medical research.

"I felt really passionate about bringing more healthcare services to rural and regional NSW, so I felt that Youth Parliament was a place that could speak about those concerns and hopefully bring more accessibility to people in regional NSW," she said.

"I find it's really difficult to get a doctor's appointment in rural NSW due to the waiting lists."

The YMCA NSW Youth Parliament describes itself as an empowerment and advocacy program that provides a platform for young people to have their voices heard through legislative debate and decision making.

"Since its beginning in 2002, approximately six pieces of Youth Parliament youth legislation have been passed into NSW law, including the recent Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme," the program stated.

Miss Burgess Hannon said the Youth Parliament had been postponed twice due to COVID-19 and was originally meant to be held in Sydney but was now being run online via Zoom teleconferencing.

"So far we have been listening to debates from nine different committees," she said.

"It imitates a real Parliament in the way that it is structured but there are no political parties."

"It has been really great to interact with young people from at least 60 other electorates and meet with members of Parliament."

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