2025 was the third-hottest year on record, following the record-breaking temperatures of 2023 and 2024, which remain the two hottest years ever recorded. For 50 years young people in Australia have been at the forefront of efforts to secure environmental justice and achieve sustainability. In the last 20 years they have organised and mobilised in numbers never seen before - and in doing so, they have claimed the right to be seen and have a say.
Drawing on more than three years of research into Australian young people's climate action and advocacy, Future Right Now: Young people, climate action and a vibrant democracy deliberately flips the script on the conventional academic text to create an engaging dialogue about climate action across generations. This book was created through a participatory design process with young people driving the narrative, identifying key themes emerging from the research, shaping the content and contributing to the visuals. This book features nine interviews conducted by young people, with researchers working across social, political and intersectional contexts; a prologue by climate activist, Varsha Yajman; and case studies by Duty of Care campaigner, Hannah Vardy. Through their writing, each young author reflects on the New Possibilities project research findings whilst sharing distinct stories, experiences and understandings of what it means to care for people, place, and the future in a time of climate crisis.
The book concludes with a manifesto that encapsulates young people's demands to all those in power. Make no mistake, this book is a good read, and it has purpose: it is a call to leaders, to those in positions of power to be accountable to young people: and ensure we all have a livable future, right now.
About the Author/s
This book is an outcome of the New Possibilities Collective which brings together over forty contributors aged 5 - 77.
Young authors:Harrison Bessant, Riley Brennan, Yehansa Dahanayake, Charlize Holcombe, Anhaar Kareem, Enie Lam, Jean Lewis, Annabelle Smith, Benji Varu, Hannah Vardy, Ellie Winter.
Young illustrators: Ace Ball, Hendrix Ball, Elliana Muul, Harvey Muul, Dylan Soo
Research team: Judith Bessant, Michelle Catanzaro, Philippa Collin, Faith Gordon, Dinusha Soo, Madison Shakespeare, Rob Watts, Varsha Yajman.
Contributors: Raiyanne al Hariri, Cheriz Cacha, Rukudzo Chikweche, Theo Cuddihy-Conlan, James De Fraine-Murphy, Dom Dimacuha, Elizabeth Huggins, Varun Irani, Stewart Jackson, Khushi Mali, Emily Moore, Nargis Rezaie, Maxwell Rooney, Alanna Roy, Nadia Taheri, Ashwin Venkatesh Kumar, Alannah Yeatman, Violeta Zavala Collin& Western Sydney University Design students.
Concept & Editorial Direction: Michelle Catanzaro
Book design: Alicia Ball (proud Darkinjung woman)
Image Direction: Michelle Catanzaro & Alicia Ball
Copy editors: Dinusha Soo, Varsha Yajman, Philippa Collin
First Nations consultation: Madison Shakespeare (Gadigal Saltwater woman)
How to cite this work: New Possibilities Collective (2026), Future Right NOW: Young People, Climate Action and a Vibrant Democracy, ARE Media Books, Sydney. ISBN 978-1761222498
This book is the result of research funded by the Australian Research Council for the project New Possibilities: Student Climate Action and Democratic Renewal (DP230101704)
