State and federal governments have been asleep at the wheel in relation to youth policy. National Youth Week is the time where governments should begin to act for 4 million young Australians.
Five things a Government should do during Youth Week:
- Appoint a Federal Youth Minister
- Extend state care to 21 years
- Review court policies to address Indigenous incarceration rates
- Establish youth and parent mediation centres
- Fund work experience scholarships to long term young unemployed
Australia has over 4 million young people.
Though we are a rich country, Australia’s youth problems are over represented in the areas of mental health, unemployment and poverty levels.
While youth is a time of emerging independence, for many it is also a time fuelled with anxiety and uncertainty.
Many young people struggle with life challenging issues such as wrestling with sexual and emotional identity, strained relationships with parents, lack of income, and surviving in the swirling sea of social media.
So during National Youth Week what should a Government do for young people?
Here are five things a government should announce that would support our young people to transition successfully in to young adulthood.
- Appoint a Federal Youth Minister to advise and lead on all matters concerning youth policy and responses
Australia is one of the few western countries not to have a Minister of Youth. Most western countries have seen direct benefit from a specific Minister for Youth who can advise on implications and initiative’s that would support young people in our communities.
Australian governments are out of step with the rest of the world and should announce a specific Federal Youth Minister. Such a role can bring a specific lens to a government’s cabinet on the many policy and laws that affect directly or indirectly our young people. From educational, income and employment policy to addressing issues of the day from youth radicalisation to youth suicide.
We are the lesser in this country for not having one.
- Extend care for those leaving state care to 21 years
Nationally, over 44,000 children are in out-of-home care nationally and an estimated 3,000 young people are required to leave care each year prior to their 18th birthday.
50% of those who are terminated from state care at 18 years will either be homeless, unemployed, a new parent or in a correctional facility within their first 12 months of leaving care. Whilst they are terminated at 17 in a state care system, the average age of a young person leaving a family home in Australia is 24 years.
In the UK, USA and most of Europe they have long recognised the poor outcomes of terminating state care at 18 years. They have changed their systems to having state care extended through to 21 years. The outcomes have been dramatically positive with a halving of youth homelessness rates and a doubling of tertiary education participation with this group.
No state government in Australia extends its responsibilities past 17 years for children in state care.
It is time governments both state and federal announce that they will extend care for all young people in out-of-home care, until 21 years of age. Giving young people in state care the extended care option will provide them with the platform to make the right start in life and enjoy a better long-term life outcome.
- Given 49% of all young people in sentenced detention are indigenous, announce a change to court policy to address Indigenous incarceration rates
Nationally, about one-half (49%) of all young people in sentenced detention on an average day were Indigenous. It’s no wonder our incarceration rates of indigenous young people brings us world attention.
Young indigenous people are incarcerated at a rate of 15 times more than non-indigenous young people.
COAG now needs to bring special attention to this statistic and set itself the task of within three years having the incarceration rates of indigenous young person back to rates that resemble non indigenous Australia.
This week every state government running juvenile detention centres should be announcing a new judicial policy that directly contributes to closing this gap within three years.
- Establish youth and parent mediation centres to enable the smooth transition of adolescence and prevent family conflict and breakdown
Adolescence is often seen as the most challenging time in families. The fast development of the young person increases the potential for conflict and family breakdown in any family home.
Whilst the young person struggles, so does the parent in trying to figure out how to parent through this phase
Governments should be recognising the need for support in this time.
The establishment of mediation or meeting centres to bring parent and young person together to resolve issues may be one of the great prevention acts to homelessness, youth suicide and family breakdown.
- Fund work experience scholarships to long term young unemployed and lift youth allowance to poverty levels
The growth of the long term young unemployed is on the increase. We have over 260,000 young people neither in school, training or working in Australia. Due to their age they will not have a significant work history, if any.
It is our job to give the necessary lift up to young people to ensure they can participate in work. With youth unemployment at 20% levels in some communities, it is time to prioritise employment placement and employment engagement with this group.
Funding work experience scholarships for those under 25 years who have been out of work for over 6 months will provide real work opportunities to get hundreds of thousands of young people back up and going again.
Meanwhile the current Youth Allowance system sits at $433.20 per fortnight for a single person over 18 years old, with no children.
Youth Allowance rates have not been lifted for decades and thousands of young people now live in active poverty. While we lift our young into work governments should announce a rise of $50 per week to the Youth Allowance rate.
