Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that young Australians have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and are being left behind in our recovery;

(2) notes that young people:

(a) are facing an extraordinary jobs crisis, further noting that:

(i) during the peak of the pandemic 15 per cent of all jobs were filled by young people yet 40 per cent of all jobs lost since March 2020 were held by a young person;

(ii) the youth unemployment rate soared four times the national average to 13.1 per cent in October 2021 and is now higher than pre-pandemic levels; and

(iii) 50 per cent of young Australians have said that getting more reliable work is of most importance to them when it comes to employment;

(b) are struggling with their mental health, with:

(i) more than 50 per cent of young Australians saying their biggest concern with COVID-19 was mental health;

(ii) one in two young Australians reported to not being able to carry out their daily activities during the pandemic due to a decline in wellbeing;

(iii) one third of young Australians reporting high or very high levels of psychological distress; and

(iv) 75 per cent of Australia's young people describing their mental health as worse during the COVID-19 pandemic;

(c) are suffering severe social disruption, as:

(i) many have missed out on once in a lifetime milestones and rites of passage; and

(ii) more feel isolated due to lockdowns with distributions to school attendance, campus life extinguished, and social gatherings restricted or prohibited;

(d) are grappling with disruptions to education and training, and:

(i) many feel their motivation and career plans have been dented; and

(ii) nearly 50 per cent of young Australians reported being worried about their education being disrupted or held back as a result of the changes to schooling; and

(e) feel they do not have a voice in politics, with:

(i) almost 60 per cent of young Australians feeling the biggest barrier to getting involved in politics was 'feeling like they won't be listened to'; and

(ii) 52 per cent of young people feeling they had a say 'none of the time' in public affairs; and

(3) calls on the Government to work with young people and urgently design a comprehensive COVID-19 Youth Recovery Strategy that puts young Australians at the centre of our economic and social recovery and builds our future generations.

We know that COVID has impacted people right across this country. However, I would say that young Australians have been impacted particularly by COVID-19 in a way that has led to severe disruption to their lives. We know that report after report talks about this pandemic really exacerbating many of the generational challenges that young people already face. Measures such as income, superannuation, housing and the environment, and even things such as jobs and insecure work, have been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. Of course, there have been other things that have been quite unique to the COVID pandemic which have affected young people—whether the social disruption that has come along with it or mental health issues around loneliness, so many things have impacted young people. Disruption to study in particular has been something that many young people have spoken to me about.

It is therefore been incredibly disappointing that the federal government 's response has been so lacklustre—and that would be putting it mildly. They announced the Youth Policy Framework, which was handed down a year late. A lot of us had anticipation about this. When we opened it up—two years in the making; one year late—we thought it might actually have some future focused ideas and future focused policies. Instead, it was a shopping list of failed policies that are not even working for young people. Some of them included one-off grants that were no longer available for young people. This was a government with no imagination and no ideas. Importantly, this government had not even bothered to listen to the issues affecting young Australians.

Let's look at a couple of the programs that were lauded in this report. There was the Youth Jobs PaTH program—$250 million of funding—the trial internship work placement. That has consistently failed to meet its targets of 120,000 internship placements over four years. Only 14,000 young people commenced an internship over the three years and only 30 per cent of the participants were even offered a job. This is a failed program. We also have the big $4 billion JobMaker program, which was listed in this youth framework. It was meant to deliver 450,000 jobs. Of course, it failed spectacularly, meeting just one per cent of the target. There are so many examples where the government had the opportunity during this COVID crisis to look at a proper recovery strategy, to meet all the challenges that young people are facing, to talk with young people and engage, but they failed to do it. Instead, they put out glossy brochures—we know they like to do that.

What we need is a proper youth recovery strategy that outlines what these challenges are and how we're going to provide a holistic response from government. It needs to outline how federal and state governments can work together with measurable outcomes, because that is what young people deserve and that is what they are calling for. Many of us came to this place as part of the Raise Our Voice campaign to talk about the concerns that young people have for the future. Reading through those, what was very clear was that they are worried about their future and they want a government to listen and respond.

We do not have this from this government but you will under a Labor government. A Labor government has committed, if elected, to properly put in consultation with young people. We will have a proper engagement strategy with young people and we will ensure that there is an office for youth to respond to the needs of young people and to put proper policies in place to respond to young people. This is what young people are demanding and this is what they need. We must see them as such an important resource if we are going to continue to have economic growth. To continue to succeed as a country, we must invest in our young people and respond to their needs. This coalition government is not doing that, but Labor will. Therefore, I commend this motion to the House.

Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have a passion for representing young families in this place. I don't know if I can still call myself a young Australian. I am young at heart—

Honourable Member:

An honourable member interjecting—

Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I still can? That's excellent. As one of the youngest members in this place, I do feel an obligation to make sure that we are best representing young Australians and young families. I can agree with the member for Kingston that the COVID-19 pandemic has absolutely been extremely challenging for young Australians. We know that they need certainty at a time when they are building their careers and building their families; we need to support them. Of course, the pandemic has been the perfect confluence of circumstances to provide great uncertainty. That is why the Morrison government was so quick to act to support young Australians and young people, so I can't agree with the member for Kingston's characterisation of the number of measures that we have put in place to make sure that young families are supported throughout the pandemic.

JobKeeper and JobSeeker were the lifeblood of the Australian economy when the pandemic first started, and they've now set us on our path to recovery. We're seeing young people play an important role in that, in particular in the hospitality sector. In my electorate of Ryan we have the famous Regatta Hotel and others that were forced to shut down during the pandemic. But having JobKeeper to support the young people who would normally be working behind the bars or at the tables was incredibly important to sustain their efforts. Now, having seen the success of JobSeeker and JobKeeper, we see young Australians getting back into the workforce. As our economy is recovering, more than 30 per cent of the more than one million jobs that were created went to Australians aged 15 to 24.

In June 2021 Australia's rate of youth unemployment dropped 10.2 per cent to the lowest level of youth unemployment since 2009. I will say that again: as we come out of the pandemic we have the lowest level of youth unemployment since 2009, and that is testament to the fact that the Morrison government has supported young people throughout this COVID crisis. An article in the Australian last week said:

The number of Australians taking trade apprenticeships has hit an all-time high as the nation embraces a 'once in a generation' opportunity to train up more skilled workers to fill gaps sparked by border closures.

There were over 217,000 Aussies in trade apprenticeships in July this year, the highest figure since records began, so we have the lowest youth unemployment since 2009 and a record number of young people getting their apprenticeships because of this government's focus on sovereign capability. This is how we provide certainty for young people. We provide—

Opposition members interjecting—

Those on the other side of the chamber are scoffing at the idea of young people improving their skills and getting a job, which is what the Morrison government wants for them. The Morrison government wants young Australians to have the opportunity to go into the trade that they choose, to get education opportunities and to find a job so that they can start to support their family and they can build the life and the career that they want. Labor, on the other hand, would prefer to tell you how to do it: what you should do, what you should study and the conditions of the job into which you should go.

In the last three years Morrison government policies such as HomeBuilder and the Home Guarantee Scheme have helped over 320,000 Australians get into a home. Getting the education and training opportunities that you need, getting a job opportunity and then getting your first home are vital so that you can start the important role of building your family and your career. This is what creates certainty for young people. This is what young people need at a time of incredible uncertainty during the pandemic, and the Morrison government's policies are ensuring that they're getting those opportunities. I'm incredibly proud to be a part of the government that has helped so many of these young Australians to get their first homes, including in my electorate of Ryan where we see considerable construction and that young people have taken up the HomeBuilder opportunity.

In the time that I have left, I want to touch on the topic of mental health, because this is also very important for our young people. We know that if we can get them the support that they need early on we can head off a lifetime of mental health challenges. The Morrison government is funding two important programs that focus on mental health for our youth. First, the government has allocated $60 million annually for the National Schools Chaplaincy Program that has a special antibullying focus at the moment. The chappies are doing fantastic work in their local community, and I pay tribute to them and to our local headspace providers. They're taking the funding provided by the government and bringing practical support to young Australians to help them in their time of need.

Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If there's ever been a worse government for young Australians, I am yet to hear of it. The fact is that the Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison governments have overseen a deterioration in the living standards of young Australians that is unprecedented in Australian history. A number of years ago Jennifer Rayner wrote Generation Less in which she catalogued the ways in which life has become harder for young Australians. Rejecting the common view that things are always tough when you're young and young people in Australia don't know how good they have it, Jennifer Rayner instead goes through the statistics. She starts with getting into work, pointing out that underemployment rates are at record levels. It used to be very rare for young people to leave university and be unable to get a full-time job. But, increasingly now, that's a common experience. We're seeing young people graduating from university, going into part-time work, wanting more hours and being unable to get them.

Then she talks about wage growth. We've seen a fanning out of wages, with wages going up a lot at the top and flatlining at the bottom. Young people have borne the brunt of that. She turns to wealth and points out that wealth accumulation for young Australians has stalled, largely as a function of the collapse in the home ownership rate. In 1981, 60 per cent of the poorest 25- to 34-year-olds owned a home. Now it's only 20 per cent. We're seeing a huge rise in renting among young Australians, and 42 per cent of homeless Australians are under the age of 25.

Jennifer Rayner points out that there's been a significant increase in debt, with HECS-HELP debts going up substantially compared to previous generations. The cost of doing a humanities degree in Australia now is pretty similar to the average cost in the United States—somewhere around $58,000 for a degree. We saw huge increases under the Orwellianly named Job-ready Graduates Package last year, which loaded more debt onto an already over-indebted generation.

Then there's mental health, where we've seen a significant deterioration of mental health over the course of the last decade. We've seen changes since this government came to office, with youth unemployment rising. It's now at 13 per cent, which is a higher level than in Britain, Germany, the United States, Japan, Canada or Korea. Millennials now earn 20 per cent less than their parents did at the same age. We've seen the number of young Australians with disabilities living below the poverty line multiplying by some 300 per cent. Mission Australia's youth survey in 2020 found that 43 per cent of young Australians felt stressed all or most of the time and that many are performing excessive unpaid overtime.

I commend the member for Kingston for bringing this motion forward because it highlights how different things would be under a Labor government. We would set up a dedicated office for youth and give young Australians the focus that they need.

We saw just over the weekend how tough it is in the housing market in particular. If you go back to the early 2000s, according to numbers from the ANZ it took the average household somewhere around five years to save for a deposit. Now that figure has blown out to more than 10 years. It's harder than ever before for young Australians to break into the housing market. Yes, overall interest rates are down, but they don't do you much good if you can't get the deposit in the first place.

In the 2021 youth ambassadors report, young Canberrans focused on a range of these challenges. In particular, they focused on the issue of climate change. As a year 12 student in the ACT said:

"I think the Prime Minister needs to take climate change seriously. This summer was the worst of my life with smoke compromising access to clean air and the ability to go outside. I am terrified."

When I go into schools, I don't hear climate sceptics in the way I hear them from the conservative side in the parliament. Young Australians want action on climate change. It is typically their top policy priority. Yet we have in the coalition the only advanced government that failed to take an increased 2030 commitment to the Glasgow climate change talks. Shame! It is a failure of policy and it's hurting young Australians.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I like the member for Fenner. I respect the member for Fenner. But on this occasion there are a number of points that he raised in his contribution which quite frankly are beyond the pale. Young people have every reason to be optimistic about their future. They've got every reason to be confident and optimistic because of the policies put in place by the Liberals and by the Nationals in government. If the member for Fenner should be so lucky as to be a minister in a future Albanese-Bandt government—

An opposition member inte rjecting

I agree: he may well do some good things. But I do not want to see Labor and the Greens in government, because it will be a coalition. I know members opposite have talked about the coalition that's in government at the moment. Should there be a change of government at the next election there'll be another coalition, but it will be a Labor government dragged along by the nose by the Greens. I know that members opposite do not want that to happen, but the only way that they'll get into government will be on Greens preferences and the only way they'll be able to get into government will be on the back of the Greens—and they will be at the beck and call of the member for Melbourne.

On this motion that has been brought to the House: I appreciate that there are some aspects for youth which are very disturbing and very worrying at the moment. My daughter lives in the member for Higgins' electorate—she has a very good local member. She teaches, and it has been very difficult for teachers to have that face-to-face contact whilst giving students their best opportunities in life. Of course, let's face it: through COVID and through the lockdowns in Victoria and elsewhere, kids have had it tough. There's absolutely no question about that. But the member for Fenner talked about university graduates, and there are so many opportunities for university graduates. Not every year 12 leaver wants to go to university; there are many, certainly across regional Australia, who want to go into a trade and who are going into the trades. They're also absolutely being given such advantages because they've got a Liberal-Nationals government in place looking after their interests through the apprentices program and looking after their interests through increased funding at the right levels through their education.

The member for Fenner talked about home ownership. The HomeBuilder scheme put in place by this government has enabled young people, in many cases for the first time in their own families—their parents rented and their grandparents rented—to have the opportunity to live that great Australian dream of home ownership. I can well recall in the mid-1980s buying my first home with my wife, Catherine, and paying anywhere in the order of 18 to 21 per cent home mortgage rates. Could you imagine if there were interest rates that high on a home repayment now? It would put the anti-vaxxer protests to shame, because there would be 10 times the number of people protesting in the streets. But whilst I appreciate that interest rates, since the dollar was floated in 1938 by then Prime Minister Bob Hawke, are not the purview of the federal government—I acknowledge that—the economic conditions under which the Labor government ran this country in the mid-eighties and around that time saw interest rates at an unaffordable level, and for many Australians, for many young Australians, home ownership was impossible. Well, we've got the HomeBuilder scheme in place and we have other things in place which are enabling home ownership for many people for the first time.

For those young people who do have a bleak outlook on life, there are so many jobs in regional Australia at the moment. We can't fill them. Whether they're in the hospitality sector, in the health sector or in the education sector, in every single area of endeavour in this country today there's a job in regional Australia waiting for that right young person to take that opportunity to avail themselves of that chance of a better future. And for those for whom it's tough, we have significant mental health investment in place right around the nation through headspace and other endeavours to help those young people. So I say that if you're finding it difficult, please reach out and say that you're not okay. There's help available for you.

Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Almost 60 per cent of young Australians feel that the biggest barrier to getting involved in politics is, 'Feeling like they won't be listened to.' And 52 per cent of young people feel that they have a say in public affairs none of the time. There's more than one thing wrong with the conduct of federal politics in this country at the moment, and anyone who has seen politics in parliament over the last few weeks knows how toxic and dire some of the debate has become. But if we don't do something to change the fact that 60 per cent of young Australians feel that they won't be listened to and 52 per cent of young people feel that they have a say none of the time in public affairs then we're not going to be able to change the nature of politics and debate in this country and we're at risk of having another generation of people who see those of us in this place as not representing them. It means that the big challenges that we face in this country and in the world that the young people that I meet across my electorate are engaged in, are passionate about and care about won't be addressed. You can't go to a school in Dunkley and talk to young people without them raising climate change, without them asking me: why do we have a government that has people in that don't think climate change is real; why do we have a government that won't commit to legislating net zero by 2050; and why do we have a government that attacks us when we have the temerity to exercise our democratic rights and go and protest to ask them to act on climate change?

I don't have answers for the students who raise those concerns with me because I don't understand why we have a government that takes those positions either and that doesn't seem to care about the future of the young people and children of this country but only seems to care about whether or not it will get re-elected at the next election. So, is it any wonder that the young people in this country despair and look at politics as being about power, getting and keeping power, rather than doing good things. It has to become about doing good things, and the more we can support our youth to be involved, to have their voices heard, to feel like we care about them and their issues, not just about their vote, the closer we will come to being able to address some of those big issues.

We can't despair, because there are some amazing young people. In the last 18 months alone, while we've been through a global pandemic and lockdown, I've had these young people wanting to come and do work experience and be interns in my office because they want to be part of something that will build a better future. Joseph Levett, Luka Pajic, Eilish Salmon, Monica Galovic, Kate Eadie, Lucy Skelton, Ysobel O’Brien, Patrick Stephenson, Alexander Nancarrow, Giovanni Costanzo, Shahd Alkaabi, just to name a few, need their voices heard.

Do you know who also need their voices heard? The young people who don't have the wherewithal, the confidence or the opportunity to contact their federal member and say, 'Can I do work experience in your office?' They're the young people who need Labor's policy of a dedicated office for youth. They're the young people who need a government that says, 'We know that you are leaving school in circumstances where wages have been stagnant for the longest period in Australia's history and real wages are going backward. We know that you care about the environment and are desperate to see something happen. We know that you're entering a jobs market where, sure, there might be jobs but there are two million Australians already who need either work or more work because casual and insecure work has become the norm in our country. We know that the cost of living has been skyrocketing. We know that, because of COVID, when you've been trying to finish your education you've also dealt with isolation, mental health issues and loneliness. We know all of these things and we know that what you need is a holistic, dedicated approach to harnessing your energy, your capabilities and your opportunities and supporting you to overcome your challenges but also hearing your voices.' And that's what you'll get from a federal Labor government, but not the current one.

Gladys Liu (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no doubt that young Australians have done it tough over the past two years. Whether it's an 18th birthday party, travelling with mates or schoolies week, the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that so many of our young people have missed out on what many Australians regard as significant milestones and rights of passage. Lockdown restrictions have also caused major disruptions to education and training, and resulted in fewer opportunities to find employment in sectors that traditionally employ many young people. It is little surprise that so many young Australians have reported high levels of psychological distress and a worsening of their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mental health and suicide prevention remains one of the Australian government's highest priorities, and young Australians, in particular, continue to be a focus of our investment in mental health. We want them to receive the help, support and care they need, where and when they need it, so that they can reach their full potential. In the 2021-22 budget the government is investing a record $2.3 billion in the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan to lead landmark reform. This is the largest federal government mental health investment in Australia's history.

A key feature of the plan is the investment of $1.4 billion in high-quality and person centred treatment, including $820 million for a national network of mental health centres for adults, youth and children through the Head to Health and headspace programs. Headspace is the government's flagship program for the provision of mental health services to young people aged 12 to 25. With the opening of headspace Syndal, in my electorate of Chisholm, I have seen firsthand the incredible impact of this program at a local level.

On the economic front, too, young Australians have every reason to feel optimistic as we emerge and recover from the pandemic faster than even the most bullish forecasts. The Morrison government's economic recovery plan—which includes our JobMaker hiring credit, the JobTrainer fund, the supporting apprenticeships and trainees wage subsidy, the boosting apprenticeship commencements wage subsidy, the Transition to Work program, Industry Training Hubs, the Youth Jobs PaTH program and many more—has contributed to cushioning the effects of the pandemic. The youth unemployment rate fell by 0.6 per cent over the month, to 17.5 per cent in October 2021, and it's below the 19.2 per cent recorded in March 2020.

Furthermore, whilst Labor talks about the rise in the unemployment rate over the month of October, they've neglected, as usual, to consider the context of the nearly 60,000 youths who entered the Labor market over the month, pushing the youth participation rate up from 64.3 per cent in September to 66.4 per cent in October. Labor can continue to spout misunderstandings of these statistics and spread its negative message. We'll just get on with the job of delivering for Australians. Yes, it has been tough for our young people, as it has been for many Australians, but there is reason for hope. Our economy is resilient, and the Morrison government will continue to back Australians in as we secure our recovery.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've had wonderful opportunities to be around young people in the last few weeks. On Friday night I joined a group of young women who are part of the EViE Project, which is aimed at ending violence and improving equality, at the Blue Mountains Women's Health and Resource Centre. Supported by Zonta Blue Mountains, there were messages of what coercive control looks like illuminated onto the windows of the Springwood hub by illuminart, as part of 16 days of activism against gender based violence. On Sunday I watched kids as young as eight fearlessly racing at the state BMX championships at the Hawkesbury Hornets ground in Mcgraths Hill, and I had the chance to thank Saya and Kai Sakakibara for the inspiration they both provided us during the Olympics. Within my electorate, I have the Macquarie student climate activist group, MESCA, who are determined in their efforts to see action, not words, on reducing emissions. They can see the impact of the Morrison government's failure on them.

Throughout these lockdowns, I've met with a group of young people who just want to see something tangible done to improve the odds for their generation, whether it's around accessing mental health support, like a Hawkesbury headspace; more secure work; better value for their university fees; or a chance to one day own their own home. These are young people who you'd think, on the face of it, had the world at their feet. They are articulate, motivated, damn strong and amazing to be with. But what lies beneath with some of these young people is a sense of alienation from the business that goes on in this very place. They feel they don't have a voice in politics. With almost 60 per cent of young Australians, the biggest barrier to getting involved in politics is feeling like they won't be listened to, and more than half feel that they already have a say in politics none of the time. They don't feel they have a say at all.

For some people, COVID has not just put a pause on their ambitions and their dreams but radically changed their expectations. I've seen that in my own children's generation—those in their late 20s—but, for kids just finishing school and thinking about their next step, the options they have are now severely limited. Nearly 50 per cent of young Australians report being worried about their education having been disrupted or held back as a result of the changes to schooling that COVID has brought. Many feel their motivation and career plans have been dented. The gap year as we know it is on hold. Teachers have told me about the pain of having high achievers, both at school and at uni, lose their motivation to participate in remote learning.

All young people have suffered social disruption severely. They've missed out on once-in-a-lifetime milestones and rites of passage, and they feel isolated due to lockdowns, with their ability to attend school and campus extinguished and social gatherings restricted or prohibited. It has taken its toll, and that's had its impacts on mental health. More than half of young Australians say their biggest concern with COVID was mental health problems, reporting that they were not able to carry out their daily activities during the pandemic due to a decline in wellbeing. A third of students and young people report high or very high levels of psychological distress, and 75 per cent of Australia's young people describe their mental health as worse during the pandemic.

I know we've all been affected by COVID. We've worried about our health or the health of our loved ones. We've missed out on family events and special celebrations. We've lost opportunities to do things and experienced financial impacts. It's been hard on everybody. But, as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare observes, adolescence and young adulthood is a critical time. What happens then can be not just a marker of a life; it can profoundly affect the course of someone's life.

This is a generation that we here in this place have a huge responsibility to. Whether it's about renewable energy, about spending programs, about where mental health funding goes, about investing in education, about TAFE, about housing or about jobs, the effects of so many of the decisions we make will be felt disproportionately by young people. They're the ones who'll have to clean up any failures by this generation of parliamentarians. I believe that many of us are here not to do what makes life easier for ourselves but to make Australia a better place for our kids and grandkids. That's why Labor will put young people at the centre of our policies.

Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians have faced many hurdles throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, none more than the youth of our nation. They've been deeply impacted by COVID-19. With their education disrupted and many transitioning during this time from school to university or the workforce, much uncertainty remains for their future. But we do care. The Morrison government and those on this side—and, I know, on the other side—do care about the future of the youth of our nation. Mental health and suicide prevention has been and always will be one of our priorities. As individuals our mental wellbeing is equally as important as our physical wellbeing. The government is delivering on policy initiatives and funding commitments to ensure that every Australian, especially youth and those who need extra help, have access to mental health services when they need them.

The Morrison government invested record funding in mental health and support services through the 2021-22 budget, with $2.3 billion in the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan, to lead landmark reform in that area. As part of this record investment, we're safeguarding the wellbeing of young Australians aged 12 to 25 by strengthening, enhancing and expanding the headspace network at a cost of $278.6 million over the next four years. I have a headspace in my electorate, in Southport, and have been there many times to visit and congratulate them on the work that they do. What the Morrison government is doing includes an increase in headspace clinics around the country, made possible by this government's mission to expand the national headspace network, establishing 10 new centres and upgrading five satellite services, including one in Coomera, on the Gold Coast. This funding will contribute to a total investment in the national headspace network of $873.2 million over the next four years from 2021-22—quite a significant investment in the youth of our country.

I had the privilege of visiting my local headspace in Southport, as I mentioned, to talk to the staff and talk to those who are accessing those services and to get some feedback on the services. The young people that I spoke to were very happy about the services that were being delivered there and their holistic nature—all kinds of services, including counselling services, for that age group. Southport headspace provides a combination of in-person, online and phone services, and is free for eligible young people aged 12 to 25, funded by the federal government through Medicare, of course. Headspace Southport also runs an early psychosis program to support young people in their recovery and their treatment, and also in their education and employment opportunities. Headspace also provides youth with access to a GP in a calm environment, which was very welcome to those I chatted to at headspace. Sometimes doctors and health professionals can seem daunting and intimidating to young Australians, and headspace creates a kind of funky environment, a fun environment, but also an inclusive environment for those young Australians to feel safe and secure.

In addition to expanding the national headspace network, the Morrison government has introduced and invested in a multitude of existing and newly formed school-based mental health programs to further support young people. There is $154.9 million over seven years from 2016-17 for Beyond Blue's Be You program, which offers educators evidence-based online professional training, tools and resources to support the mental health of their students, which is very helpful as well. There is $2.5 million over four years from 2019-20 for Smiling Mind, to support 600 regional, rural and remote schools to implement mindfulness practices into their curriculums. There was $3 million in 2020 for Raise Foundation to deliver early intervention and mentoring support to year 8 students across Australia at risk of disengagement—a very important age group.

The government recognises that the COVID-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on the mental health of many young Australians, and it acknowledges that restrictions and lockdowns have caused stress to the youth of our nation, and probably disproportionately. That is why our government is investing in the future, in our young people. Our thoughts are with you as you finish high school and go into the New Year, and we wish you all the best.

Debate adjourned.