JEREMY JONES, HOST: So one of the major reasons for creating the ban was to protect young people from the harms of social media use, bullying, social anxiety, inappropriate material, just some of the reasons behind the ban. Federal Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health, Emma McBride, is with you now, and so thanks for your time this morning. Are we expecting teething problems today? How is today going to play out?
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Jeremy, this is a world first and this is the Australian Government protecting young people from online harms. And it's about social media companies, big tech, taking responsibility for social harms. We heard from Will, the 15-year-old from Rockhampton, talking about cyberbullying and mental health and Alana also talking about cyberbullying. And we know that over the last 20 years, distress amongst young people has doubled. And in the past, 1 in 5 young people experienced distress, which is the level of a mental health challenge in a 12-month period. That's now doubled. And social media is one of the drivers of that. And with my responsibilities for mental health and suicide prevention, it's something that I know this will be a big adjustment for young people. Experts have said that, but we're making sure that there's wraparound support available and also information for parents as well.
JONES: Some of the concerns that we've heard, I guess, in the country, you've got kids going off to boarding school and possible isolation, that their media accounts are taken away. They can't connect back with their friends from home or parents like they can on social media. How would this play out?
MCBRIDE: I appreciate, having grown up in a regional community myself and visiting many more regional remote parts across Australia, that young people do connect online. And as Will said, he said, we're not shutting down phones completely and nor are we cutting off the internet, that they'll still be able to connect through messaging service or other ways. And this is really a pause or a delay. It's to allow young people another 36 months to develop their identity offline to also to become more digitally literate and part of this package is support for foundations like the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, which are helping young people develop their digital literacy. More time for young people to develop their identity offline and more support for them to develop their digital literacy. When they do then access social media, they're much better equipped.
JONES: Hearing that, I'm just so impressed by the young people in our region, how they can articulate things and the impact on them. But also they talk about how clever they are when it comes to things like social media and making accounts and being able to get around the bands. What does success look like for these?
MCBRIDE: For us and for me, with my responsibilities for mental health and suicide prevention, it's more young people being protected, fewer young people being exposed to predatory algorithms and popularity metrics and young people having more time to be able to develop digital literacy skills and be better equipped when they are online. And also I think it's important to mention because Alana was talking about parents or caregivers and them being given more resources or support. The eSafety Commission, so esafety.gov.au, has webinars for parents or caregivers that they can register for. The next one is coming up on the 15th of December. They're half an hour sessions designed for parents and caregivers to better support them and their young people through this transition.
JONES: And when it comes to digital literacy and learning this, what is in place then for kids to learn? Obviously, more time to learn it, but they'll need that experience. Is that something they would get from schools?
MCBRIDE: There are support services available, and particularly through youth mental health services, services, so through eHeadspace or through ReachOut or batyr, all very expert youth mental health providers to be able to assist young people through the transition, some of them sort of coming off social media, and to make sure that they have the skills to be able to understand when they see something online, to be able to have those critical analytical skills. And that's why we're investing, as I mentioned, in foundations like the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, to make sure people have support to be able to become more digitally literate and also support as they adjust coming off social media.
JONES: There have been links made to, sort of, how the law is in place for things like underage drinking. And with underage drinking, there are kind of big rules in place and penalties for venues that do let people drink underage, although we do know that it happens and we will know that kids will try and get around it. What are the penalties on the tech companies?
MCBRIDE: It's important to remind your listeners, particularly parents and caregivers, that this is putting the responsibility for big tech on social harm and fines up to $50 million can be enforced. And the eSafety Commissioner the department, are watching this very closely, whether it's a social media platform that young people then start migrating to because the one that they've used before is now restricted, are watching it really closely. And we know that this is something that is developing global momentum. There's other countries around the world that are now looking to Australia and the impact of this. So is something where Australia is leading the world in what will be one of the biggest changes for young people to protect them online.
JONES: You're listening to ABC Capricornia. My name's Jeremy Jones. It is about 20 past 7. You're hearing from the Federal Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and Assistant for Rural and Regional Health, Emma McBride. And today you're in Gladstone. What's going on in town?
MCBRIDE: I'm really pleased to share with your listeners that the Gladstone Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will be officially open today, joining the one that opened in Rockhampton back in 2023. And what we've seen since the clinic opened in Rockhampton, that 29,000 local people have been able to go to the urgent care clinic for urgent but not life-threatening support. And that's reducing pressure off the local hospital emergency department, which had 52% of presentations which were non-urgent or semi-urgent. So a really big improvement in access to free urgent care, walk-in without an appointment for local people.
JONES: So practically, how does that look?
MCBRIDE: What it means is that someone would be able to walk in. They don't need to make an appointment. They'll be able to be seen by a specialist GP and a nurse at the time. Also, all urgent care clinics have to have access to pathology and medical imaging so they can get the diagnosis, the treatment and the care in the one spot at the one time. And we're seeing across the country about 1 in 4 people walking in are parents with children under 15, seeing it as a really trusted alternative to an emergency department. And also more than 1 in 4 people walking in are walking outside of what would be normal clinic hours because these clinics are open extended hours across the whole of the week. And we know that emergencies, particularly with young children, don't happen in business hours.
JONES: Well, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Emma McBride, thanks for your time this morning.
MCBRIDE: Good to be with you, Jeremy.