Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today, I am reading speeches written by two young people in my electorate as part of the Raise Our Voice in Parliament campaign. The first one is:

My name is Poppy. I'm 14 years old and my federal electorate is Cunningham.

It is a human right to be confident that drugs and other treatments recommended by medical doctors are tested on groups representative of the entire population.

Women experience many more accidental drug overdoses than men because recommended dosages are based on the average male body.

Women are also at higher risk of unwarned adverse drug reactions because more men are tested than women in clinical drug trials.

Women are at higher risk of serious and even fatal medical issues due to thoughtless exclusion from the drug development process, and are unable to trust prescribed drugs and other treatments.

The Australian government can help correct this injustice by improving the National Health and Medical Research Council's and Therapeutic Goods Administration's approval of clinical trials through implementing more measures to ensure trials are representative of the entire Australian population.

If this is enacted, women will be at a decreased risk of negative health effects from drugs and other treatments because they will be more informed of the correct dosages, possible adverse events, and even have access to drugs made specifically for women's health needs, ensuring safe healthcare for all Australians.

Thank you so much, Poppy, for that thoughtful speech on such an important topic.

My second one is from Audrey:

Hi, I'm Audrey. I am 12 years old, and my electorate is Cunningham.

I am the Business Manager, and founder of Sharkies Sharpening since 2021.

It's a knife sharpening business.

The experience of running a business has enabled me to become more confident, improve my communication with people, build resilience and gain a diverse range of general business skills.

I believe that the government should initiate classes committed to teaching young students about how to start and run a business and the benefits of doing so.

Being able to run a business at a young age is a major life advantage.

Operating a business can improve young Australian's skills like how to treat and serve customers, how to handle money, budget earnings and outgoing costs and eventually profit, at a young age.

This could open up new career opportunities, provide experience, improve life skills and make you generally more employable when leaving school.

Support youth business—teach entrepreneurship early, build brighter futures.

Well done Audrey on such an interesting take on supporting young entrepreneurs. I want to thank everybody who took part in this year's Raise Our Voice in Parliament campaign and acknowledge the work of the Raise Our Voice Australia team.

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