The 17-year-old was one of seven youths chosen as ambassadors for the organisation, which advocates for the rights of children across Australia and the world.

“I really want to be a voice for young people in Australia,” Kupakwashe said.

The group of young people will collectively present a manifesto to Federal Parliament outlining what they would like to see to improve the treatment of children across a broad range of issues.

Kupakwashe will look at ending violence against children both domestically and internationally.

Other issues include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs, youth health, LGBTQI+ rights, climate change, asylum seeker and refugee rights and youth incarceration.

Kupakwashe said she became interested in her issue through her time in Junior Parliament, where she was in a women’s affairs committee.

The committee looked at measures to end domestic violence, and spoke about a need for more education of future generations about what assault and violence is.

Kupakwashe said this experience “lit the spark” for her in terms of trying to make a change to the issue.

“I’m really inspired by Rosie Batty and really appreciate the work she’s doing,” she said.

The Hunter Christian School student said on a domestic front, she would like to see a national strategy implemented to protect children.

She believes this could be done through prevention and early intervention in schools to teach kids from an early age that domestic violence was not okay.

Internationally, she wanted to see the Australian Government to take a strong stance against the exploitation of children and pressure other governments to do more about issues such as human trafficking, sex trafficking and child soldiers.

“Children need to be protected, particularly in conflict areas,” she said. “No child asked for a war.”

Kupakwashe will meet with the rest of the group regularly over video chat to discuss the project and will head to Canberra later in the year to attend Federal Parliament.