Overview
- UNICEF Australia and ARACY’s inaugural State of Australia’s Children report draws on 100-plus data sets and input from about 2,000 children to show growing pessimism about the future.
- Key indicators include 62% of children expecting to be worse off than their parents, fewer than one in three teens feeling very hopeful about the next five years, and 43% naming housing and money as top worries.
- Over half of respondents report experiencing cyberbullying, while mental health (39%) and online safety and digital change (32%) rank among the generation’s biggest challenges.
- Early development data show only 53% of children start school on track across all AEDC domains, falling to 34% for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, underscoring entrenched inequities.
- Housing Minister Clare O’Neil announced a third HAFF build round for 21,000 homes and flagged environmental approvals as a current bottleneck, as advocates point to Minderoo’s $22.3 billion annual cost of late intervention and children prioritise cheaper housing and fairness.