Video Transcript
Kate Ellis National Conversation video message transcript
Hi, I’m Kate Ellis, the Minister for Youth in the Australian
Government.
Today’s young Australians are growing up in a different time to
those of us in Canberra, yet we’re the ones making decisions that
can have a really big influence on your life.
You confront new challenges that my generation and generations
before mine have sometimes taken for granted. Each day you’re
thinking about issues like the environment, like mental health,
safety and alcohol and drug use. And while we’re tackling those
issues in Parliament, you have a very different perspective and
different priorities for our nation, now and into the future - and
that’s a really good thing. That’s why we’re developing a strategy
for young Australians and by young Australians. We want to hear from
you about what we can do to ease the pressures that you’re facing.
Our vision is that all young Australians grow up to be safe,
healthy, happy and resilient, with the opportunity to learn, to work
and to engage in community life. And we want to know what you think.
This Government is serious about engaging with young people. We’re
listening to the views of young people through avenues like the
Australian Youth Forum and the Youth 2020 Summit and now we’re
striking up a National Conversation to give you the chance to be a
part of crafting a National Youth Strategy.
The Prime Minister and I have identified seven core priorities that
we think are integral to addressing the challenge that you face.
These are: supporting you within your family; helping you to shape
your own future at your school, your technical college or your uni;
equipping you with the skills and personal networks that you need to
get a job; mobilising you within your community; making it possible
for you to be safe and confident online; strengthening early
intervention to prevent problems from getting worse and to help
young people get their lives back on track; and establishing clear
cut legal consequences for behaviour that endangers the safety of
your peers and others.
The Prime Minister has already started this conversation. He’s been
online, he’s been out there blogging about the issues that matter
most to young Australians. I’ve been out there talking to young
people at events and I know that today’s young people are determined
to make sure that our country’s future is the best that it can
possibly be.
As part of the conversation we’ll also be talking to parents and to
the community and making sure that we put together a well-rounded
approach for supporting young people. But we know that no one knows
what it’s like to be a young person today like you do.
So that’s why I hope that you can help us out, and most importantly,
help yourselves out by joining in the National Conversation, by
giving us your ideas for this National Youth Strategy. I can’t wait
to see what you come up with.
