Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Early Childhood Education, Childcare and Youth and Minister for Sport. Would the minister explain to the House the significance of International Youth Day and how the government is responding to the challenges facing young Australians?

Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education, Childcare and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kingston for her question. Can I also take this opportunity to acknowledge members of the Australian Youth Forum steering committee who join us in the gallery today. We thank them for their hard work.

While I would like to take this opportunity to outline the importance of International Youth Day and this sector of policy, can I first, with some indulgence, just make some comments on why today is also a very sad day, with the news of the passing of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who was the founder and honorary chairperson of the Special Olympics. Eunice founded the Special Olympics in 1968 from her belief in and passion for sport. She understood the power of sport and the rewards that participating in sport could bring to those with an intellectual disability. I am sure that I join with all members of the House, and particularly the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services, in giving our condolences to her husband, her five children and her 19 grandchildren, as well as those at Special Olympics Australia, who are grieving a lot today.

On a happier note, it is International Youth Day and it is another opportunity for us to acknowledge that, if we are to govern in the long-term interest and prepare this nation for the challenges of the future, youth policy is particularly important. We recognise this. That is why we have acted for young people with issues like the youth compact and in areas like the economy, jobs, training, health and homelessness, just to name a few—because we get that investing in young people is part of our core business as a government.

Today I was pleased to release a snapshot of some issues which are of particular relevance to young people, issues which have not traditionally got the attention within our parliaments that they warrant. I would like to briefly share with the House a couple of the findings in the report that I released today, the first ever State of Australia’s young people. Specifically the report revealed that one in four young Australians aged 16 to 24 have a mental health disorder, with young people, especially girls, now highlighting self-harm and unhealthy body image as huge emerging issues amongst their generation. It may be very difficult for us to get a grasp on what sort of psychological distress must accompany this behaviour, but what we do know is that 25,000 Australians are admitted to hospital every year after conducting self-harm. We also know that the level of hospitalisation rates for intentional self-harm amongst young Australians increased by 43 per cent between 1996 and 2006, with this increase particularly noticeable amongst young women, with a 51 per cent increase.

This is our young Australia. These are some of the real statistics that we have to pay attention to. They are so lost, so isolated, so frustrated that they take to slashing their own flesh or engaging in other forms of self harm and mutilation. These are calls to arms, if ever there were, that governments need to take very seriously the specific issues out there impacting upon young people. Amongst the other findings, we saw that more than a quarter of year 8 Australian students today report that they know somebody who has been cyberbullied, which was another reason why this government recently announced a $3 million pilot to address cyberbullying in our schools. Our report found that teenagers aged 15 to 19 years had the highest hospitalisation rates for acute intoxication from alcohol amongst all age groups, which is another important reason why this government is so committed to our binge-drinking strategy.

It is not all doom and gloom. We have a remarkable generation of young people, but I think what these findings show is that it is important that governments make sure that they pay special attention to the new and emerging issues which may not have affected me and may not have affected other members of this House but which are playing a huge role in the lives of young Australians today. We on this side commit to being a government for all Australians, which means that we recommit on International Youth Day to addressing these important issues.