The state of youth mental health in Australia has become an election issue for voters, the majority of whom acknowledge that there are tens of thousands of young Australians with complex and serious mental ill-health who are unable to access the specialist care they need, a Galaxy YouGov poll has revealed.

The poll commissioned by Orygen, the National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, surveyed 1869 Australian voters last month on their attitudes to youth mental health in Australia.

75% of voting age Australians believe mental health should be a top priority for the next Australian Government highlighting how many Australians believe there is still considerable work to be done on this issue.

While 88% of Australians believed that untreated mental ill-health could derail young people’s lives and lead to lifelong problems, less than one third of Australians believed that young people with mental illness had good access to treatment and only around one in 10 Australian voters were very confident that a young person with mental ill-health would be able to get the help they needed before it reached crisis point.