Introduction by Croakey: What would be the impacts upon young peoples’ health, now and into the future, if a Coalition Government increases access to vapes as a result of its plan for funding its election promises?
This being late-breaking news, there will not be much time for considering this question ahead of the election.
Many other pressing issues affecting young people and their futures have also not had sufficient attention this election campaign, writes Julie Edwards, CEO of Jesuit Social Services.
In the article below, she reviews key policy concerns, urging action on poverty, climate change and violence against children, and calls for investment in preventing cycles of disadvantage and trauma.
“It is a national shame that Australia is locking up children as young as 10, detaining them in police cells and adult justice facilities and using spit hoods and solitary confinement, with First Nations children significantly over-represented,” she writes.
Julie Edwards writes:
Young people are the future of Australia. How we protect their wellbeing today will determine economic prosperity, public health, social cohesion and the sustainability of our society well into the future.
Despite this, many young people are being failed by systems and structures that should protect them.
This is evidenced by the high numbers of young people in contact with youth justice and child protection systems, exposed to violence and abuse, disengaged from education and employment, and experiencing mental health or substance abuse challenges.
Further, more must be done to protect our young peoples’ future by addressing critical issues like climate change and housing, with a focus on those most vulnerable to their impacts.
Disappointingly, during this election campaign, these issues that affect the lives of young people and their futures have largely been missing from the policies and promises announced by our political leaders.
Jesuit Social Services is calling on Australians to keep young people – their future – front of mind when casting their vote this week.
In our recently published Federal Election platform, we reiterated National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds’ calls in her 2024 report to elevate the rights and wellbeing of children and young people as a Cabinet priority.
This should involve the appointment of a federal Minister for Children to provide leadership and accountability across a range of portfolios and systems that have the potential to prevent childhood trauma and/or respond effectively to it.
There are clear next steps that the incoming Government should take to protect and invest in our young people.
We urge everyone to take the time to look at how your local candidates and parties are proposing to support young people to live fulfilling lives, free from harm.
As an organisation with nearly 50 years of direct service delivery experience, Jesuit Social Services knows that children and young people who are protected from harm, and supported to participate in education, work and social activities, are more likely to live safe and healthy lives, and to contribute positively to their communities as they grow older.
National shame
The absence of this protection and support has a serious impact on children and can manifest in behaviours that negatively impact their families and communities.
When we look into some of the most concerning issues our communities face – perpetration of family violence and child sexual abuse, mental ill-health, substance abuse, crime, disengagement from education and employment – we often discover person who as a child experienced adult- and system-perpetrated harm early in their life.
We can disrupt this cycle of harm and disadvantage if we intervene early and effectively but, if not, these patterns can persist across generations with a serious cost to us all.
For example, we know that the younger a child is when they first have contact with the criminal justice system, the more likely they are to have prolonged justice system contact into adulthood.
It’s in all of our interests to disrupt this trajectory, and do all we can to support young people to lead healthy, fulfilling, crime free and productive lives.
Over the past year, the front pages of our newspapers have been dominated by young people doing the ‘wrong thing’ who become entangled in the justice system. State and Territory governments have been swift to call for harsher laws and been willing to deprive young people of their rights. In some cases this has attracted international criticism.
When young people act out, often due to childhood abuse or neglect trauma they far too often are dismissed as ‘trouble’. Instead, we should be asking how we can support them to get back on the right track.
Early intervention, diversion and restorative justice programs – like the ones we have been running for decades – are based on evidence and work to prevent repeat offending.
It is a national shame that Australia is locking up children as young as 10, detaining them in police cells and adult justice facilities and using spit hoods and solitary confinement, with First Nations children significantly over-represented.
We know that these children are often in fact victim survivors of violence and abuse themselves. For example, according to recent Victorian Youth Parole Board data, 62 percent of young people in custody have been victims of childhood abuse, trauma or neglect, and 47 percent have experienced family violence.
We need greater investment in targeted early intervention programs for young people at risk, and there are significant opportunities to engage earlier with men and boys in particular, to disrupt intergenerational cycles of violence and set young people on a path to living safer, more secure lives.
While our justice systems fall under the remit of state and territory governments, it is time for the Federal Government to provide leadership in setting the standards. A firm commitment to driving a national approach to child criminal justice reform that provides flexibility for place-based and local solutions would be a good place to start.
Invest in the foundations
Along with these pressing concerns, there are some big problems that our young people will one day inherit, threatening the wellbeing and prosperity of the society. Understandably, election campaigning so far has focused on cost of living and housing – which is affecting us all.
But the reality is there are too many Australians who grow up in poverty, with 761,000 young people across Australia currently living in poverty. Census data shows that 50 to 75 percent of Aboriginal households in remote areas of the Northern Territory live below the poverty line.
We need to be smart and invest in the foundations for a good life in those areas. Access to safe, stable housing makes it much more likely that people facing interconnected challenges can access the services that support them to make progress in other areas of their life.
Arguably the most pressing issue facing our nation poses the most serious and increasing threat to our young people – climate change.
According to UNICEF, 1.4 million young people in Australia experience a climate disaster in an average year, and we know that those experiencing disadvantage are the hardest hit and most at risk – that’s young people in remote areas, low-income families, and First Nations communities.
Ahead of this weekend’s election, Jesuit Social Services is calling for a national commitment to breaking cycles of disadvantage and abuse to create lasting social and economic benefits for all Australians.
We need evidence-informed strategies and programs focused on prevention and early intervention — approaches that support families, strengthen communities and give every child a fair shot at a safe and healthy life.
See Croakey’s archive of articles on the social determinants of health
