Young people in Australia are most concerned about the environment, discrimination, the economy and cost of living, according to the country’s largest youth survey.
Mission Australia’s new Youth Survey report recorded responses from almost 20,000 young people aged between 15 and 19 from around Australia.
Almost half of respondents said the environment was the most important issue in Australia, followed by equity and discrimination.
Concerns about the economy and finance jumped up over the last two years – with 31 per cent of youths identifying it as an important issue compared to 11 per cent in 2021.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youths continue to rate their wellbeing lower than their non-Indigenous peers, with two in five rating their mental health as fair or poor.
It also found more than 44 per cent of Indigenous respondents had experienced unfair treatment or discrimination in the last year – and more than half of those said it was due to their race or cultural background.
