News and Events

The election of a new federal government presents an opportunity for new policy initiatives to support young people and their mental health.  

The mental health portfolio will be held by The Hon. Mark Butler MP, Minister for Health and The Hon. Emma McBride MP, Assistant Minister for Mental Health. The new government also includes a portfolio for youth affairs, held by The Hon. Dr Anne Aly MP, which is committed to (re)establishing an Office for Youth for the first time since 2013.  

Among the challenges the new government will face is how to support young people who were disproportionately impacted by the COVID pandemic, which impacted their education, employment and social connections. The scale of this impact of COVID on young people's lives was the topic of a recent report by Mission Australia and Orygen. 

Policies that support young people to recover from the impact of the pandemic and support their development and life trajectories over the coming years will need to be an important focus of this government.  

The Orygen Institute is already engaging with the new government on the issues facing young people and policy solutions to address the potential impact on their mental health.