I rise to share the speeches of some young West Australians who took part in the Raise Our Voice campaign, and I thank them all for their brilliant ideas and for their keen interest in our political system.

Sixteen-year-old Penelope writes: 'Misogyny. One word. Seven letters. One girl or more being consistently victimised to misogyny in classrooms every day. One boy spewing out sexist prejudices to her face daily and the other boys egging on, and one teacher blankly facing their computer screen amidst ignoring the blatant aggression in front of them. Too busy with grading work. Too busy to intervene. Too busy to prevent another end to a girl's passion in class. Little did the girl know this was only the beginning of misogyny being normalised in her work environments and her hatred of school environments. One boy is enough to make her energy down to complete school work, too busy arguing how she is not angry because she's on her period but rather at the boy harassing her. Too drained and annoyed to complete her school work. In her teary reflections, she sees an ignorant teacher unable to stand up for her peers. This story happens too much in reality—teachers qualified to teach subjects, just not qualified enough to speak out against sexist bullying and harassment in their own classrooms. In consequence, the fire in a girl's heart loses its flame to learn and grow in an academic setting. When are we able to implement daily check-ups on a teacher's ability to not just be bystanders but rather as upstanders against this disease of bullying? This is the Department of Education's biggest yet most unspoken issue. When will the seven letter word turn into three? Now. Now we must push for daily check-ups on teachers' ability to not just be a bystander, but be a preventer. Let's not make a school setting due to teachers to stop a girl's passion for her education.'

Sixteen-year-old Nick writes: 'My name is Nick. I'm 16 years old. Since age 11, I've felt like I'm on a precipice, the fine line between realising who I am and simply wanting to please, between meeting expectations and denying myself. Since then, my place in the world has never been guaranteed, not by others and certainly not by myself. My mental health slowly declined. I didn't know whether I was meant to please or be myself. I didn't know myself. Then I began to watch all of my friends decline, seized by anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self-harm, suicidality. Maybe no-one fits right. I had to be the strong one. I was strong for everyone until it broke me too. Perfection corrupted me. It was a destructive lifestyle. I'm still trying to piece myself back together. I wish I didn't have to be strong for everyone when I needed to find strength for me. I'm still trying to find that strength. No young person should stand unsupported on the precipice. No young person should feel that everything rests on them. We need more mental health support. We need the strength of the community. We need your understanding. We need acceptance so we don't have to lose ourselves to belong.

Seventeen-year-old Yi-Jin writes: 'Education is the most empowering tool, and it is a right that all children should receive an equitable one. The government have been posting about the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement on their social media as an achievement. However, the goal of 100 per cent funding for all government schools by 2034 is not something to brag about but something the government should be deeply ashamed of. While it is a much-needed step in the right direction, it saddens and frustrates me as a public school student that another eight cohorts will graduate before schools are funded at the level required. In the 15 years since the Gonski review, almost every government school has been underfunded while many independent schools have enjoyed above standard funding. The only difference between most of these students is their socioeconomic backgrounds and postcodes. Government schools are being let down. All students should be given the same chance to succeed. When you have a proper theatre to play in, you perform better. When you have pride in who you are, you compete better. When you feel properly supported, you can dare to explore the possibilities. A quality and equitable education is what every child in Australia deserves. The government needs to fund it not in eight years but now.'

Seventeen-year-old Jessica writes: 'Data shows that, in Australia, one in 40 kids have been bereaved by the death of a biological parent by 17 and that the death of a parent is the most distressing form of trauma. Grieving young people are more likely to experience mental health issues, incarceration, substance abuse and more. These young people don't always know where to get support, facing long waitlists and unaffordable treatment fees. We underestimate how much impact the death of a family member has on day-to-day life, and there is nowhere near enough immediate financial relief for grieving families who lose a loved one unexpectedly—a category I found myself in after losing my father in 2022. I was 13 years old and have since then been disgusted by how your average Aussie reacts when death is brought into the conversation. Our death rate is expected to double by 2070, and funeral costs remain largely unregulated by the government. The prices of coffins and cremations continue to increase alongside burial plots being treated as real estate rather than a public necessity. Introducing price caps on funeral services could help to assist low-income families. Grief and loss education should also be taught as part of the high-school health curriculum, covering coping skills, where to find resources or how to support others who have been bereaved. Public awareness campaigns are needed to help families prepare for a loved one's death and navigate the process afterwards. Australian culture treats death as a taboo. That silence makes grieving harder. Creating a safer and more compassionate environment that speaks more openly about loss is essential so we can support people going through it. I deserve to be able to speak my loved one's name without receiving uncomfortable stares or silencing a room. Bereavement support must be improved, increased and protected, because no-one should face their hardest moments without help.'

Eighteen-year-old Yusur writes: 'Madam Speaker, as a young Iraqi Australian, I have grown up hearing immigration discussed as though some Australians belong more naturally than others. The question of belonging became impossible for me to ignore when I learnt about Ahmed Al-Kateb, a stateless Palestinian detained because no country would accept him. His case showed how a person could be trapped by a system that treated having nowhere to return as a reason to keep him behind fences. The warning in Ahmed's case still lives inside our detention system. In March, the average person held in Australian immigration detention has been there for 451 days. What concerns me is the kind of Australia my generation is being asked to inherit. Anti-immigration politics promote the myth of a monoculture where only one kind of Australian is treated as belonging. When refugees become outsiders, detention becomes easier to defend and suffering easier to ignore. More than 20 years later, Australia has formally recognised the State of Palestine, yet recognition alone has not created safety for Palestinians who remain displaced, stateless or without secure status. A state should not be recognised while its people are still treated as though they belong nowhere. I ask parliament to amend the Migration Act so immigration detention has a time limit. After that limit, community placement should be required unless a court finds detention necessary for safety. Australia's future should reflect the multicultural nation we are today. Recognition should name a state and protect the dignity of its people.'

I thank Yusur, Yi-Jin, Jessica, Nick and Penelope for writing to the Raise Our Voice campaign and for their brilliant ideas, and I wish them all the very best in the years to come.