The youth activist rocking the boats
“I would never want to sit around and be complaining about something when I’m not doing anything to try and change it,” says Josie Bryce.
For eighteen-year-old Josie, adolescent worries such as starting university and working a part-time job are trumped by the shadow of the climate crisis over her future.
With the lingering fear of bushfires in the summer yet to come, she isn’t the only one living in worry. In response to the crisis, Josie is just one of the many young people bringing the heat to Australian governments and industries, demanding conservation and sustainability. Josie describes herself as a School Strike 4 Climate (SS4C) activist and, more recently, a Rising Tide protester, calling on more young people to join the cause.
Josie’s journey
Josie learnt from the age of seven about the environmental and economic benefits of the energy superpower transition for a country abundant with solar, wind and minerals.
She expresses the real frustration of witnessing a decade of inaction from decision makers. “I just don’t get how you can have a country with such potential for sustainable energy and natural resources, but you’re still not utilising that.”
Josie’s activism journey began with a passion for the planet fostered in primary school, where she participated in School Strike 4 Climate rallies. Involving groups across Australia, School Strike is organised by kids for kids.
“It began with wanting a piece of the action, and then I stayed because I realised this is really fulfilling,” Josie describes. From making protest posters on Canva to writing risk assessments and speaking to hundreds of protesters at the March 2023 rally, Josie experienced firsthand just how personalised and expansive volunteer activism can be.
Reflecting on how SS4C not only provides her with a sense of self but also a sense of community, Josie explains that there’s no reason to be intimidated: “Everyone else is also just a high schooler balancing school and activism.”
Her experience with SS4C rallies led her to a volunteer marshalling role at Rising Tide 2025, escalating her activism from the schoolyard to protest situations with the potential for drastic outcomes.
Changing the tide of politics
Rising Tide’s annual People’s Blockade serves as a lifeboat for young people reclaiming their power amongst tumultuous political waters. Attracting 8,000 protesters last year to gather at the Port of Newcastle, the largest coal port in the world, Rising Tide is built on a mass movement. In their most recent call to end planned fossil fuel projects, Rising Tide demands proactive systems from the Labor government. The organisation proposes a 78% tax on existing operations, so that profits can be used to fund the transition to a renewable industry and mend the already existing harms of climate change.
Other major fossil fuel exporting countries, such as Norway, typically share between 75% and 90% of fossil fuel profits. Australia shares only 27%. With mining companies getting away with paying no tax on gas exports. The money Norway makes goes into the nation’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, which pays for its annual budget and secures wealth for future generations. Rising Tides’ demands are informed by logical policies that have worked for decades.
Their demonstration centres around protesters kayaking into the coal port for as long as the organisation can maintain. This often reaches forty-eight hours, whereby at least one kayak is out on the water, forcing the immobility of the coal ships.
“We’re never letting them go through because there’s always at least one random person,” says Josie. When just one kayak with one soul is able to halt the operations of a multi-million dollar industry, it’s easy to wonder why the prioritisation of humanity over capital isn’t valued in our greater politics.
Outside of kayak shifts, Rising Tide is well known for its “protestival” vibe, says Josie, referencing its family-friendly atmosphere.
Picture this: a weekend filled with charity chai tents, beach swims and late-night concerts, plus a team of 200 passionate organisers who have designed a perfect entry way for beginner climate activists in Australia. As peaceful as that scene is, the severity of the issue remains a reeling undercurrent. Josie thinks back on the experience: “You’re like, that’s so cool, I’m watching Lime Cordiale play by the beach, but at that very moment, people are planning to get arrested the next morning.”
Josie herself has participated in extreme forms of demonstration, such as her planned arrest at the blockade in 2024, alongside 15 other minors. This was her way of feeling less like she was shouting into the void of impending doom and more like she had a chance to change the tide of politics.
The organisers are aware that disrupting a coal port for a weekend isn’t going to significantly reduce the country’s carbon output, but they do understand the currency of attention. To put it bluntly, in a world of clickbait and virality, arrests like Josie’s trigger media attention. Rising Tide is acutely aware of that, as is everyone who takes part.
But as Josie found out, the actual experience of being arrested was quite confronting. She watched her underage friend be picked up by her life jacket and thrown onto the floor of a police boat. The intimidation tactics did not stop there — following gruelling individual interviews at the police station, the underage protesters were all informed that sharing details of the arrest could risk additional charges, a claim that was later rejected by Rising Tide’s legal team as false.
“That was such a scary thirty minutes where I was like, I’m not allowed to say anything, or they’ll handcuff me on the spot,” Josie recalls. “When you think about what your perspective of law enforcement is as a kid and then actually dealing with it and being like they’re just allowed to lie to you.”
Despite the arrests and unfair treatment by police, the protesters never lost sight of the value of their sacrifices. This is evident by the small wins, such as blocking and turning around three coal ships in 2025, which maintain the spirit of the movement. Josie explains, “The second people start getting pessimistic about the situation is when you lose the numbers and when you lose the impact you might have had.”
Passion is the most renewable resource
Climate action can often feel like a tireless long game, with no end in sight.
Five months after the 2025 People’s Blockade, the Albanese government continues to resist the Greens’ and independents such as David Pocock’s call for a 25% tax on gas exports, a policy that would fund the transition to renewable resources. This is within Labor’s control, and could be announced tonight in the 2026-27 budget.
Meaningful action on climate change is not only important. It is possible.
Not all of us can travel to Newcastle and spend a weekend paddling out for the planet. Luckily, we don’t have to. “If you can do it, you should, but if you can’t, advocacy is really awesome,” Josie says.
“It’s ok to start small,” Josie advises. Whether it’s shaping the narrative in a classroom discussion, moving a friend to action through thoughtful conversation, or finding digital communities that help amplify climate demands, these are the foundational layers of a movement. Josie adds that it’s important to take risks if you can. “While you’re young, you have so much freedom to dedicate your time to activism.”
Josie emphasises that youth activism is just like any other hobby or sport; you can schedule it, plan for it, and make it fit into your daily life. “I hope people listen and have a bit more optimism and faith in all these amazing solutions around the world that have already been discovered,” Josie expresses.
Read books about climate activism, watch movies (Josie has a few recommendations below), and talk to experts. When we understand the nature of the problem, we are more empowered to develop applicable solutions.
Hope glimmers on our horizon, and Josie is especially excited about the youth movement: “Young people have such a fire within them, and they can get so passionate and so angry about these issues, and I hope they hold onto that.”
So whether you’re a kayaker, a striker or a curious mind, check out your local School Strike 4 Climate group and the Rising Tide regional hubs to find out how you can get involved.
Josie’s documentary recommendations
