Australia’s Youth Meets Parliament Week and National Youth Forum held, and 2025 National Youth Survey published.
Between 23rd and 27th March, members of the Office For Youth’s ‘Youth Steering Committee’ and ‘Youth Advisory’ groups met with Members of parliament and other Australian government officials.
Members of the groups had the opportunity to ask questions about policies and programmes affecting young people across the country and discuss different topics, such as international relations and social media restrictions. Other events included workshops led by departments and agencies, and a networking breakfast with members of parliament. Notably, there was also a First Nations Youth Day, where first nations members across all advisory groups had a tour of the Aboriginal Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, undertook workshops and met with the new National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People.
As part of the Youth Meets Parliament Week, the Office For Youth held its third National Youth Forum where members took part in a ‘policy hackathon’- working in small groups to discuss and come up with ideas and solutions for key challenges young people are facing around mental health, the National Environmental Science Program, and arts and culture. There was also a panel where members shared their insights to help young people develop their advocacy skills.
National Youth Survey
The events followed the publication of the The Office for Youth’s 2025 National Youth Survey Summary Report, a report summarising data from 2,333 young people across Australia about the issues that are important to them – and how the Government could improve their inclusion of young people in decision making. The report was co-created by the Office For Youth’s Youth Steering Committee, a group of 14 young people aged between 12 and 25 from every state and territory in Australia. They work with Minister for Youth, Senator the Hon Dr Jess Walsh, to ‘design and implement the youth engagement strategy’ and provide advice on government policies and programes that impact young people.
Key findings
Here are some of the key findings from the summary report that shaped the conversations at the National Youth Forum:
- 98% of young people think it’s important that the Australian Government considers their views when making decisions.
- The issues young people identified as most significant to them are cost of living (47%), mental health (28%), climate change (23%), housing affordability (22%), education and training (19%).
- 67% of young people report having a reasonable to strong understanding of how Australian Government decisions are made.
- Most young people had a neutral perception of the Australian Government at 46%, with 30% having a positive view and 24% having a negative view.
- 73% of young people want to hear about what the Australian Government is doing for them through social media.
- 33% of young people don’t engaged with the Australian Government because they think they won’t be listened to.
- The way young people would like to be engaged in government decision-making is fairly evenly split: 40% at a school/TAFE/university event, 38% by filling out a survey, 36% on social media, 35% at face to face events and 33% youth organisations.
First Nations young people also recommended the Government consider additional aspects when engaging with them – to respect cultural duality, empower our voices, meaningfully acknowledge country, and hear from our diverse perspectives.
Learn more
References
- Australian Government Department for Education (2026) ‘Young people gather for Youth Meets Parliament Week’. Available at: https://www.education.gov.au/newsroom/articles/young-people-gather-youth-meets-parliament-week (Accessed: 02 April 2026).
- Australian Government Office for Youth (2026) ‘2025 National Youth Survey Summary Report’. Available at: https://www.youth.gov.au/download/354/2025-national-youth-survey-summary-report/910/document/pdf (Accessed: 02 April 2026).
- Australian Government Office for Youth (2026) ‘Youth Steering Committee’. Available at: https://www.youth.gov.au/office-youth/youth-steering-committee (Accessed: 02 April 2026).
