Youth Across Government

Jobs and the economy

  • The Government has delivered a $77 billion Nation Building for Recovery plan to stimulate the economy by supporting jobs today by investing in nation building infrastructure for tomorrow. This includes:
    • short-term stimulus through cash payments to support the 1.5 million Australians working in retail; and the trebling of the first home owners bonus to support the housing industry.
    • medium-term infrastructure including schools infrastructure, building 20,000 units and repairing 50,000 units of social housing; and local government infrastructure investments through national partnership with local government.
    • long-term infrastructure including rail, roads and port infrastructure, large-scale building programs in hospitals, universities and TAFEs, and a $43 billion high-speed National Broadband Network that will deliver superfast broadband to 90 per cent of homes, schools and workplaces.
  • The Government has also introduced the $650 million Jobs and Training Compact to help support local jobs and training through community projects in regions hardest hit by the economic downturn.

Education and training

  • The Government’s Education Revolution doubles the investment in Australian schools to $62.1 billion from 2009-2012 to achieve the Government’s target of lifting Year 12 or equivalent attainment from 75 to 90 per cent by 2015. This includes:
    • an investment of $14.7 billion to construct state-of-the-art libraries, multi-purpose halls and/or general upgrades in all our 7500 primary schools, together with state-of-the-art science centres and language centres in 500 of our secondary schools.
    • a $2 billion commitment to ensure students in years 9 to 12 have a one-to-one student to computer ratio, which will see an additional 790,000 computers provided by 2011.
    • a commitment of $2.5 billion over the next decade to roll out state-of-the-art trades training centres for the benefit of Australian secondary students, with $435 million already allocated to 138 projects involving 432 secondary schools across Australia.
    • an investment of $550 million through the Improving Teacher Quality National Partnership to help attract the best and brightest into teaching, and to help retain quality teachers and leaders in schools for the first time.
    • a new National Curriculum Authority to develop a National Curriculum in the key areas of English, Maths, Science and History and languages to assist national labour-force mobility, as well as a new $62.4 million commitment to boost Asian language education in Australian schools.
  • The Government has provided $4.4 billion for a 50 per cent Education Tax Refund on eligible educational expenses from 1 July 2008, which will benefit 2.7 million children from 1.3 million Australian families.
  • The Government will help eligible income support recipients to undertake approved training through a new temporary training supplement of $41.60 per fortnight. The supplement will assist those who have not completed Year 12 or who are upgrading their qualification by providing extra income support while they are undertaking training.
  • The $277 million Compact with Young Australians will guarantee training places for every young person under 25 who wishes to up-skill and ensure young people participate full-time in study, training or employment, until age 17.
  • The National Partnership on Youth Attainment and Transitions will reform the Australian Government’s $618 million investment in youth career and transitions programs to give young Australians the support they need to re-engage with education or training to participate more productively in the workforce in the future.
  • A $500 million investment under the Better Universities Renewal Fund will help universities rebuild their campus infrastructure.
  • The Government will invest $491 million over four years to uncap the number of public university places from 2012, allowing universities to offer a place to all eligible students.
  • The Government will invest $206 million over two years in university performance funding, to drive institution-led solutions to improve teaching quality, participation, student engagement and completion rates.
  • $325 million over four years will be invested to reward institutions for attracting and retaining low socio-economic status students.

Environment and climate change

  • The Government is making significant investments to assist the transition to a low pollution future. Initiatives announced in the 2009–10 Budget include:
    • Investing $4.5 billion as part of the Clean Energy Initiative designed to assist Australia’s transition to a low-pollution economy, improve our competitiveness and help us build jobs of the future.
    • A National Energy Efficiency Initiative will provide a $100 million grant in 2009–10 to create an energy network in one demonstration project that integrates a smart grid with smart meters in homes.
  • The Government, in cooperation with the states and territories, has developed a National Strategy on Energy Efficiency to assist households and business prepare for the introduction of the emissions trading scheme.
  • The Government’s Energy Efficient Homes Initiative provides funding of $3.9 billion to improve the energy efficiency and comfort of Australian homes through the installation of insulation and increased rebates for solar and heat pump hot water systems.
  • The Government has announced a Clean Sustainable Skills Package with four components:
    • 30,000 places under a National Green Skills Agreement to embed sustainability in training as a matter of high priority and national importance.
    • a 10,000 member National Green Corps to provide environmental work experience and training for out-of-work Australians aged 18 to 24 years.
    • 4,000 training places for insulation installers.
    • 6,000 new local green jobs to contribute to environmental sustainability in priority local economies.
  • The Government is investing $2.25 billion over five years in the Caring for our Country program, which will bring an integrated approach to the conservation and rehabilitation of the environment.

Civic engagement, democracy and law

  • In April 2008, the Government brought together 1,000 Australians to discuss ideas and options for Australia’s future. The Australia 2020 Summit report to the Prime Minister identified important ideas and themes, and the Government moved quickly on a number of them. They included a major review of the Australian tax system, and a broad reform program with States and Territories in areas such as health and education. In addition, the Government has committed to nine new practical initiatives arising from the Summit.
  • In its first eighteen months the Government has held 12 Community Cabinet meetings across Australia including one in a remote Indigenous community. More than 5,800 people have attended, with members of the public having around 770 one-on-one meetings with ministers.
  • To improve transparency, the Government has introduced legislation to make it easier to obtain documents under Freedom of Information laws by removing the power to issue conclusive certificates. Further major reforms, including the creation of the Office of the Information Commissioner, have been announced.
  • The Government is delivering a broad program of electoral reform to enhance the integrity of our electoral system. Actions taken include the introduction of legislation to reduce the disclosure threshold for political donations to $1000 and remove tax deductibility for political donations.

Health

  • $3.5 million over four years will be provided to tackle eating disorders, including $500,000 to the Butterfly Foundation to establish a National Eating Disorders Collaboration.
  • $28.4 million over three years for youth diversionary services in the Northern Territory. This will offer a range of safe and healthy activities for Indigenous youth.
  • The Government has committed $275.2 million over five years, from 2007–08, to establish GP Super Clinics in 31 localities across Australia.
  • As part of the $1.6 billion National Partnership on Hospitals and Health Workforce with the States and Territories, commencing on 1 July 2009, the Government is providing $750 million in 2008–09 to relieve pressure on public hospital emergency departments.
  • The Government has committed $490 million over five years for the Medicare Teen Dental Plan – 258 203 teenagers had received a dental check up under this initiative by 30 December 2008.
  • Additional funding of $35.6 million over three years from July 2009 was committed for headspace, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation to continue its vital work on youth mental health.
  • The Australian Government has committed $9.8 million to the National STI Prevention Program to address a worrying rise in Chlamydia, HIV/AIDS, and syphilis infections. The national campaign that aims to reduce the rate of sexually transmitted infections among Australians, especially young people and Indigenous people.

Violence and Safety

  • The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family, Community, Housing and Youth has agreed to conduct an inquiry into the impact of violence on young Australians. The Committee will undertake the inquiry later this year and will be encouraging all interested parties to participate in the inquiry process.
  • While often seen as the perpetrators of public violence, the reality is that young people are overwhelmingly the victims:
    • Incidents of assault have almost doubled since 1995, with male and females aged between 15 and 24 having the highest rate of being victims of assault
    • The 2008 Mission Australia National Survey of over 45,000 young people also found that personal safety was rated as a major concern by almost one in four respondents aged between 11 and 24
  • On 2 August 2009, the Minister for Education, Julia Gillard and Minister for Youth, Kate Ellis announced a $3 million national pilot project aimed at addressing cyber-bullying in Australian schools.
    • At least 150 schools across Australia will be involved in the pilot program which will be developed and conducted by the Alannah and Madeline Foundation (AMF). It will help confront safety issues in e-communications, including cyber-bullying and examine the effectiveness of existing cyber-safety programs in schools.
  • Violence and safety was a priority topic for discussion at the inaugural Australian Youth Forum (AYF) event – youTHINK – on 20 February 2009
    • The most common themes to emerge from the youTHINK discussion on ‘Violence and Safety’ were; substance misuse, such as the effects of binge drinking; education on the consequences of violent behaviour; the relationship between young people and the police; the role of mixed media; availability of suitable youth spaces and services; lack of activities for young people and boredom; the important role of families and good parenting; and the lack of public transport available.
    • Ideas from youTHINK on how to address violence and safety in the community will be fed into the House of Representatives Inquiry into the Impact of Violence on Young Australians.
  • The Australian Government has made an initial investment of $42 million to implement a number of new initiatives, which will progress the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and Children.
  • The Government agreed with the States and Territories on 30 April 2009 to a National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009 2020—a national approach to protecting children, to drive a substantial and sustained reduction in child abuse and neglect.

Community, Housing and Indigenous Affairs

  • In the 2009-10 Budget, the Australian Government announced $1.3 billion to underpin the Australian Government’s urgent reform agenda to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
  • In July 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG):
    • asked the Working Group on Indigenous Reform to prepare a national strategy to improve food security for Indigenous people living in remote Australia before the end of 2009
    • adopted a National Integrated Strategy for Closing the Gap
    • agreed to a Closing the Gap: National Indigenous Education statement
    • signed a Closing the Gap: National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Public Internet Access.
  • COAG also agreed to a Closing the Gap; National Urban and Regional Service Delivery Strategy to address Indigenous disadvantage in urban and regional locations.
  • From 1 July 2009, the Government will also increase the Transition to Independent Living Allowance (TILA) for young people leaving care from $1,000 to $1,500 at a cost of $5.3 million over four years.
  • $15.7 million to extend a program to help 380,000 young carers to balance the demands of caring with their education.
  • The Government’s Secure and Sustainable Pension Reform also delivers a new, permanent Carer Supplement to help around 500,000 carers across Australia meet the significant financial challenges they face.
  • The Australian Government is investing $48 million over the next two years to continue to support young people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, through the Reconnect program. Reconnect operates across Australia and provides support to a broad range of young people, including Indigenous, newly arrived and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
  • Introduced and extended the First Home Owners’ Boost to support first home buyers entering the housing market.
  • Introduced first home savings accounts, which offer low tax breaks to help struggling first home savers reach the first hurdle – saving a deposit big enough to buy a first home.

Young people in rural and regional areas

  • The Government has committed $11.2 million over three years to continue to provide access to Youth Allowance for children of eligible primary producers and small businesses in drought declared regions.
  • $7.6 million in 2009-10 has been provided to continue social and emotional counselling services to support families in drought affected local communities. Support will be provided by 25 Family Support Drought Response Teams, as part of the Family Relationship Services Program.
  • The Government has committed $15.3 million over three years to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to assist regional communities to create local broadband material to complement the roll-out of the National Broadband Network.
  • $26 million will extend the existing Drought Assistance for Schools program for 12 months. This program provides grants of up to $10,000 per school per annum to assist the operation of government and non government schools in Exceptional Circumstances declared areas. The extension of this program until 30 June 2010 will assist rural families experiencing financial hardship as a result of the drought to meet ongoing education expenses.
  • $10.1 million over two years to extend the Distance Education Allowance Supplement of $1,061 per annum per student until 30 June 2010, the Additional Boarding Allowance of $1,000 per annum per student and the consequential ABSTUDY Boarders’ rate for School Fees Allowance until 31 December 2010. The extension of these measures, which are specifically targeted at geographically isolated families, will help ensure that current levels of financial assistance are maintained for rural families who may be experiencing financial hardship as a result of living in drought affected areas.

Government engagement directly with youth and youth sector

Office for Youth

The Office for Youth was established in September 2008 to coordinate the Australian Government’s significant investment and effort for young people across government. The Office for Youth leads the Australian Government’s commitment to working for and with young people, acknowledging that young people are valuable participants in Australian society and are crucial to our nation’s economic and social prosperity.

The Office for Youth is one way the Australian Government continues to build on its commitment to young people. The Office ensures there is a coordinated approach to youth affairs across government.

Australian Youth Forum

The Australian Government has established the Australian Youth Forum (AYF) to ensure that young people are empowered to have a strong voice in public discussion, and that the Australian Government has a framework to listen to, and act on, the issues and concerns of young Australians.

Following nationwide consultations on the AYF model and the official launch of the AYF in October 2008, the focus has been on working with the AYF Youth Engagement Steering Committee to develop the direction of the youth engagement activities of the AYF.

A number of direct youth engagement events have been held including two national youTHINK events and four outreach events, engaging around 2000 young people in direct discussions with Australian Government.

The AYF website has received over 1.2 million hits since it was launched in October 2008, with young people contributing their ideas on a number of important issues such as human rights, binge drinking, body image, global poverty, violence and safety, contributing to our democracy and youth at work.

The ideas received from young people via the AYF have already contributed to relevant work by the Australian Government including:

  • the development of the Australian Government’s second green paper on electoral reform
  • the inquiry by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family, Housing, Community and Youth, into the impact of violence on young Australians
  • to the National Human Rights Consultation.

As part of the AYF, the Australian Government has funded the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition as a new national youth sector peak organisation for the next four years as part of the AYF.

Further information can be found at Australian Youth Forum.

National Youth Week

National Youth Week is the largest single celebration of young people on the Australian calendar and has run annually since 2000 as a joint initiative of Australian, State, Territory and Local Governments. The overall aim of National Youth Week is to celebrate and recognise the value of all young Australians to their communities.

National Youth Week showcases young peoples’ talents, contributions and achievements; promotes a positive image of young people; acknowledges the common interests of young people as well as their diverse backgrounds and circumstances; and enables young people to express their ideas.

National Youth Week was launched by the Minister for Youth, Kate Ellis, on 28 March in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Reddacliff Place in Brisbane. The theme for this year’s National Youth Week was ‘Make a Move’ and focused on celebrating the value and contribution of all young Australians within their communities.

The launch was screened live across Australia on Video Hits and featured performances from top bands The Butterfly Effect, Evermore and Bob Evans. Celebrity supporters included Margot Robbie (Neighbours actor), Dan Adams (Make Poverty History organiser), Jacqui Alexander (young fashion designer) and Sermsah Bin Saad (So You Think You Can Dance contestant). National Youth Week was also proudly supported by national sponsors the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Sports Commission, beyondblue, Department of Health and Ageing, the Butterfly Foundation and Ted’s Camera House.

This year hundreds of local events were held around the country including many organised by young people. They ranged from community projects, conferences, cultural events, dance parties, debates, exhibitions, festivals, forums and sporting activities. National Youth Week 2009 ran from 28 March to 5 April and National Youth Week 2010 will be held 10-18 April 2010.

Progressing the Youth 2020 Summit recommendations

  • Australia's Future in the World: Track2 for Access to Essential Medicines
    This idea has taken off and is now happening on the world stage through the World Health Organisation Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property, which was adopted on 24 May 2008.

  • Productivity Agenda: Paid Parental Leave Program
    This was one of the top ten recommendations from the Australia 2020 Youth Summit and in the 2009-10 Budget, the Australian Government announced $731 million over five years to implement a paid parental leave scheme for eligible working parents.

  • Infrastructure: Data Infrastructure to Support 2020 Economy
    This was one of the top 40 recommendations from the Australian 2020 Youth Summit and in the 2009-10 Budget the Australian Government announced the establishment of a company to invest up to $43 billion in a National Broadband Network.

  • Australian Governance: Vote for a Better Vote: Our Democracy Depends on it
    In response to this recommendation, the Australian Government used the inaugural AYF youTHINK event to canvass the views of young Australians on the issue of ‘Contributing to our democracy’. The outcomes of this discussion were provided to the then Special Minister for State, Senator John Faulkner to inform the development of the Australian Government’s second green paper into electoral reform. The second green paper is due for release later in 2009.

  • Australian Governance: Bill of Rights
    The Australian Government has recently undertaken National Human Rights Consultations and the independent committee is due to report the findings of the consultations to the Australian Government later in 2009. To ensure that young Australians were provided with the opportunity to provide their ideas to the consultations, the AYF website hosted a discussion board on human rights and a submission to the Consultation Committee was made by the AYF on behalf of the AYF website users.

  • Health: Mental Healthcare
    This was one of the top 40 recommendations from the Australian 2020 Youth Summit. The Australian Government recognises the complexity of this issue and the significant effect mental health issues have on young Australians. In response to concerns relating to negative body image, the Australian Government has established the National Advisory Group on Body Image to address the issues of negative body image through the development of a National Strategy that will include a voluntary Industry Code of Conduct.

Australian Government - Youth Related websites (external links)