Mental health and climate change have become the top concerns of young Australians, according to a 2019 youth survey released recently by the Australian agency Mission Australia, the Australian website reported.
The researchers reportedly surveyed more than 25000 young people between the ages of 15 and 19. When asked about Australia`s most important questions, mental health issues ranked first, accounting for 36.2 percent, followed by environmental problems (34.2 percent) and fairness and discrimination (24.8 percent). It is understood that some Australian girls say climate change is more dangerous than gender discrimination and poverty.
Only 7.2 percent of respondents said they felt they had always had a say in public affairs, according to the data. By contrast, 45.2 percent of respondents said they had a say with friends and 44.2 percent said they had a say with their family.
In response, Australian youth affairs alliance said it is not surprising that mental health and environmental issues have become the two issues of greatest concern to respondents. Chairman Acheson said: "many older Australians do not understand the daily stress and anxiety of young people. For many people, the concerns are related to climate change."
Although australian government increased funding for adolescent mental health services in 2018, acheson said that addressing mental health problems is not a "one-stop shop ".
"We need to make sure that we start addressing some of the really big issues that teenagers are concerned about, and climate change is one of them," he said. "the survey asked the government, `does government really want to support young people to keep them mentally healthy?` if so, climate change must be one of the top priorities for government."
