The first Youth Parliament in Australia was held in the Victorian Houses of Parliament in 1939 and consisted of representatives of every youth organisation in Victoria. It was followed by a national Parliament - organised in 1941 and held in what is now the Old Parliament House. The 1941 National Youth Parliament presented a set of bills to the Prime Minister of the day and is now considered the precursor to the National Union of Students. This led to the formation of a New South Wales Youth Parliament which lapsed in the early 1950s, and the Queensland Youth Parliament (also composed of representatives of Youth Organisations) which ran from 1950 - 1953.
The first Australian YMCA Youth Parliament Program was held in Brisbane in 1963. One hundred and sixteen young people from all states spent two weeks in preparation for and presentation of the 1963 Youth Parliament in the Legislative Council of the Queensland Parliament.
The first Youth Parliament on a State level in Australia was held in Victoria in 1986. Since then a number of bills debated in Victorian YP have been passed (albeit in slightly different form) by the Parliament of Victoria, most notably as Acts to equalise the status of homosexual couples.
The first Tasmanian Youth Parliament was held in 1988, since then many young Tasmanians have had the opportunity to express their views and opinions on issues of state importance.
The Western Australian Youth Parliament was founded in 1993 and has been held once annually since. In 2010 the Curriculum Council of Western Australia recognised the YP program as an Endorsed Program. This means that it is able to contribute to secondary students' attainment of their WA Certificate of Education (WACE). On successful completion of the WA YP program, registered students will have 5 points recorded on their educational transcript. This is equivalent to passing one unit of secondary study (ie. successfully studying one subject for one semester, such as 2A MAT).
In 1995 the South Australian YMCA put forward the idea of developing and presenting a Youth Parliament for young adults from around South Australia. This resulted in South Australia’s first Youth Parliament held in the Legislative Council, Parliament House in 1995. The program is constantly evolving so that it can best represent and serve the youth of South Australia.
Also in 1995 the Queensland Youth Parliament came into existence, and has been one of the most successful, in terms of number of participants, in the history of Australian Youth Parliaments.
In 2002, NSW successfully held its first ever Youth Parliament and 2012 will see it convene for its eleventh consecutive year. The YMCA NSW Youth Parliament is managed by the YMCA of Sydney and run by a volunteer taskforce of past participants.
At South Australian Youth Parliament in 2003, a team presented their bill about a Plastic Bag Levy Act. Members of Parliament took this idea on board and brought it to the attention of Parliament and it has now been made law. This has also happened with other issues including youth industrial relations and uniform age of consent in other states.
Completing the tour of Australian states and territories, this, the ACT YP, was first convened in 2012.