Every year, Mission Australia conduct a survey of young Australians to find out their values, aspirations and concerns. Just over 25 000 young people aged 15 - 19 completed the survey in 2019.

For the third year running,mental healthwas reported as the most important issue in Australia.The top four personal concerns also related closely to mental health, which were:coping with stress,school or study problems,mental healthandbody image.

The report revealed that almost one in five young people saw mental health as a barrier to achieving their study and work goals, with 21.4 per cent of females surveyed in New South Wales citing mental health as their greatest concern.



The report revealed some troubling data:


68.2 per cent rated mental health as an extremely or very important value;
48.5 per cent of respondents indicated they were extremely or very concerned about coping with stress;
35.7 per cent of respondents indicated they were extremely or very concerned about mental health.




As shown last month in Mission Australias Report titled Can We Talk? Seven Year Youth Mental Health Report 2012-2018 almost 15 per cent of 18-19 year olds cited a lack of knowledge about services and available help as a barrier to seeking help. Along with this one in five young people with psychological distress felt they didnt have someone they could turn to in a crisis.



My Labor colleague Tara Moriarty MLC, Shadow Minister for Mental Healthhas said:

Young people in NSW are concerned about their mental health affecting their studies and future employment opportunities. We need to make sure young people know where to get help and what services are available to them. These results are concerning. There needs to be more support for those young people struggling, as well as their families.



Far too often young people seek help, yet the services are not there for them or they dont know how to navigate the complex system. This Liberal-National Government is letting young people down and must act urgently to support them whether they are in the city or in regional NSW.

Following the publication of the survey resultsmy Labor colleagues and I arecalling on the Berejiklian Government to increase mental health service visibility to young people across NSW.





You can find out more about the survey and download a copy here.