What we're doing about young people's health

Consultation and engagement

The Australian Government has an Office for Youth that works with young people about what matters most to you. This office:

• listens to young people and their advocates
• improves government policies that affect young people
• has developed a strategy to meaningfully engage with young people.

We are a working partner on the Office for Youth’s Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Youth Advisory Group.

See the Office for Youth website for information on the:

• Youth Steering Committee
• Youth Advisory Groups
• Youth Engagement Strategy.

Open consultations

We publish all open consultations in the Consultation Hub.

Policy work

We have a national plan to ensure all Australian children and young people, from all backgrounds and all walks of life:

• can fulfil their potential
• are healthy, safe and thriving.

We implement the plan and monitor its progress to identify gaps and improve policy for children and young people.

We also worked with the: 

• Department of Social Services to develop Safe and supported: the national framework for protecting Australia’s children 2021–2031
• Department of Social Services and the Department of Education on the Early Years Strategy – with flow-on benefits for adolescents and young adults
• state and territory health departments on the National clinical assessment framework for children in out of home care – to improve the health of these children and young people.

Initiatives and programs

We fund initiatives and programs to improve the health of young people. 

Research and data

We fund research about young people’s health. This includes the

• National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – summary statistics on key mental health issues
• Zero Childhood Cancer Personalised Medicine Program – helping improve survival outcomes for children aged 0 to18
• Models of care for children and young people who are transgender, gender diverse or intersex – to improve their physical and mental health. 

Who we work with

We work with: 

• Department of Education’s Office for Youth – through its Mental Health and Suicide Prevention – Youth Advisory Group 
• Department of Social Services – to implement the relevant frameworks
• Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth – by funding them to provide advice on policies for children and young people
• Australian Association for Adolescent Health – by funding them to provide advice on policies for adolescents and young people
• research institutes – by funding them to research topics such as childhood cancers and treatments among many others
• Department of Social Services and other Commonwealth agencies such as the Attorney General’s Department to implement the National Plan to end Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032.