from YAPRap February 2008
In the lead up to the 2007 Federal Election, YAPA and other members of the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition – the national peak for youth affairs – surveyed the political parties on six key areas of concern to young people around Australia, and the services that work with them. Responses were received from the Coalition, Australian Labor Party, the Democrats and the Greens.
Below is the response received from Labor on each of the questions raised. With the election of the Rudd Labor Government, it is important that young people and the youth sector generally are aware of these promises and make sure that the Government delivers!
See also: Campaign for the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition
6 November 2007
Mr Alan Wu
Chair, Australian Youth Affairs Coalition
Level 2, 172 Flinders St
MELBOURNE VIC 3000
Dear Alan
Thank you for your recent letter regarding youth affairs. I apologise for the delayed response, as you can imagine it has been a very busy time.
I have included answers to your questions below. Please do not hesitate to contact my office on (02) 9357 6366 if you require anything further.
Health and wellbeing
1. In what ways is your party committed to the accessibility of health care services to young people? In particular, will your party ensure that the age of 15 remain the minimum age for independent access to a Medicare/Access Card?
Labor recognises the importance of providing appropriate and accessible health services to young people while ensuring confidentiality. Labor supports the current issue of Medicare cards to young Australians from the age of 15 to facilitate their access to health services. Labor publicly raised concerns about the Howard government’s proposal to increase the age that people could independently access Medicare in the Access Card proposal when the government released an exposure draft of the Access Card legislation earlier this year.
2. What steps will your party take to increase young people’s ability to receive mental health services in a timely manner that is affordable and accessible?
Labor recognises the necessity to specifically address the health needs of young Australians, particularly mental health. As many as one in four young people have a mental health problem, and the vast majority of mental illness begins in teenagers and young adults. Labor's approach to mental health will be based on the following principles:
- the importance of doing everything possible to prevent chronic mental illness;
- early intervention and systems for good management of chronic mental illness where prevention is not possible; and
- co-operative reform to improve mental health services, and national leadership to drive the changes that are needed.
A Rudd Labor Government will ensure mental health services are appropriately targeted so that they address children’s and young people’s mental health problems and behavioural difficulties as early as possible.
Employment
1. Recognising the particular difficulties faced by young people negotiating at work, how will your party guarantee that young workers will be no worse off than under pre- existing awards?
A Rudd Labor Government will stand up for young people and ensure basic rights and protections for young workers. Labor will ensure our industrial relations system is fair, balanced and productive. Federal Labor’s Forward with Fairness industrial relations plan will balance two core principles: providing flexibility for business, to keep our economy strong and productive; and ensuring fair laws exist to protect Australian workers, particularly young workers.
2. How will your party address the cycle of unemployment for young people? In particular, will your party ensure their skills and training needs are satisfied, leading to real career opportunities, not just less secure, low-skilled jobs?
Work is fundamental to financial independence, to personal dignity and to achieving social inclusion. Federal Labor has a long held commitment to achieving full employment. Employment security is the key to personal and social well-being, to stable relationships and family life and overcoming poverty.
Every young Australian should have a decent chance to share in Australia’s prosperity and opportunity and to reach their full potential. Labor is committed to maximising the opportunity for Australians to be employed in secure, high-wage, high-skill jobs, by building a strong economy beyond the mining boom.
Australia is facing an estimated shortage of 240,000 skilled workers within the next ten years. The Reserve Bank has been warning about skills shortages since 1997 – yet today, not only has the skills shortage worsened, we are confronted with the staggering statistic that over 526,000 young Australians are in neither full time work or study.
Labor is committed to increasing Year 12 retention rates. School retention rates have plateaued over the past decade at around 75 per cent. Studies show that kids who complete secondary school are twice as likely to get a further qualification, and are twice as likely to have meaningful employment throughout their working life.
Labor’s Forward with Fairness industrial relations plan and our Education Revolution, which includes significant initiatives in early education, schools, vocational education and training and higher education, such as our Trade Training Centres in schools and Job Ready Certificates policies, will guarantee that all young Australians will be able to reach their full potential.
Youth participation
1. Does your party support the re-establishment of a federal Minister for Youth and, if so, what does your party see as being its focus?
A Rudd Labor Government will have a Minister for Youth and an Office for Children and Young People. The Minister for Youth and Office for Children and Young People will be responsible for the development of youth-specific policies and will analyse how government initiatives affect young people.
2. Would your party restore federal funding to a national, peak body to represent young people and the youth sector on national issues and how would this relate to the existing (unfunded) youth peak, the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition (AYAC)?
Yes. A Rudd Labor Government will fund a formal communication channel between outstanding youth representatives, youth services and the Federal Government which will be called the Australian Youth Forum. This new body will be independent, more representative and have a broader role than the Howard Government’s current youth advisory bodies. The Australian Youth Forum will bring together young people and advocates (including representatives from existing outstanding youth organisations such AYAC members) to discuss problems affecting young people, and how the federal government can be part of a solution.
3. The viability and adequacy of federally funded youth services is threatened by the inequitable way the Federal Government calculates and applies indexation to its youth programs. Will your party commit to a collaborative process to ensure that funding levels reflect the real cost of delivering high quality services and the real level of indexation necessary to maintain service levels and standards?
Labor strongly supports the important advocacy role that many community organisations play in giving a voice to different groups in our community. Labor believes that this voice should be strong and independent. Labor understands the need for grant funding to keep pace with increased costs, especially wages. Also important is the need for funding security through length of contracts. These issues are critical to the community sector's ability to attract and retain staff.
Education & training
1. Is your party committed to expanding programs such as JPET and Reconnect to all regions of Australia and realigning the focus of these programs to consider social and emotional wellbeing in addition to employment and training outcomes?
Labor is committed to ensuring that young people have a voice and are able to reach their full potential. Our comprehensive policies on social inclusion, early education, schools, vocational education and training, higher education, industrial relations, social security, housing and youth affairs will assist young people achieve better wellbeing as well as improved employment outcomes. Labor believes JPET and Reconnect have been successful programs, though restricted under the Howard government.
2. Is your party committed to equity in education funding so that, after taking into account all revenue sources, public and private schools would have the same level of resources?
A Rudd Labor Government will support parental choice by funding all schools, whether they are government, non-government, religious or secular, based on need and fairness;
3. What will your party do with Youth Allowance and other education income support programs that have consistently been identified as being inadequate to support young people, given the current Youth Allowance rate is one third lower than the poverty line?
More can and should be done to support students through their University and TAFE studies. Labor is currently considering a range of possible measures to alleviate the financial and work pressures on vocational and higher education students, including scholarships, income support and HECS relief.
4. What is your party’s strategy for ensuring that Australian universities have access to the resources they need to remain internationally competitive, and offer students opportunities for both personal and professional/academic development?
Under the Howard government, Commonwealth funding of university places has failed to keep pace with the number of student enrolments, and has forced universities to shift an increasing proportion of costs onto young Australians through full-fee degrees and a greater reliance on international students. We need to adequately resource each university place as well as improve the access to and the affordability of university education. Labor's Education Revolution will provide greater support to our universities. A Rudd Labor government will phase out full-fee degrees for Australian undergraduate students.
Housing and homelessness
1. There are nearly 50,000 children and young people homeless in Australia. The Australian Government’s primary response, the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) only funds enough accommodation for 15 per cent. How will your party meet the need of the other 85 per cent of homeless young Australians?
A Rudd Labor Government will invest $150 million and establish up to 600 new houses and units across the country for families and individuals who are homeless with the aim of halving the number of homeless people turned away from homeless shelters.
A Rudd Labor Government will also negotiate a National Affordable Housing Agreement with the State and Territory Governments and the Australian Local Government Association to improve and boost the supply of public, community and crisis housing.
2. How will your party increase the availability and accessibility of affordable housing for young people?
The availability of affordable and secure housing is fundamental to young people’s participation in society. A home is necessary for work, education and training. Labor is committed to improving the affordability of housing for renters, home purchasers and people on low incomes. A Rudd Labor Government will:
- introduce First Home Saver Accounts, which will help young Australians save for their first home through special low tax superannuation-style savings accounts;
- establish a National Rental Affordability Scheme that will help build 50,000 new affordable rental properties across Australia and ease rental pressures across the country;
- negotiate a National Affordable Housing Agreement with the State and Territory Governments and the Australian Local Government Association to improve and boost the supply of public, community and crisis housing;
- invest $150 million and establish up to 600 new houses and units across the country for families and individuals who are homeless with the aim of halving the number of homeless people turned away from homeless shelters;
- create a new Housing Affordability Fund to boost supply and save new home-buyers up to $20,000 on a home purchase by investing in community infrastructure for new housing developments and providing local and state governments with incentives to cut charges;
- have a better approach to land release with surplus Commonwealth land being freed for additional housing development;
- establish a National Housing Supply Research Council, to analyse the adequacy of land supply across the nation, as well as rates of construction; and
- ensure that a Cabinet-level Minister has responsibility for federal policy on housing.
Environment
1. What is your party’s strategy to curb greenhouse gas emissions and reverse climate change? In particular, what international targets and treaties will your party commit Australia to?
A Rudd Labor Government would act decisively on climate change and would:
- ratify the Kyoto Protocol, introduce an emission trading scheme set a target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent by 2050;
- introduce a 20 per cent renewable energy target by 2020;
- implement a $200 million Great Barrier Reef Rescue Plan to help secure the Reef from climate change and declining water quality;
- provide loans of up to $10,000 to help up to 200,000 families invest in solar and practical water and energy savings devices;
- invest $500 million in clean coal technology and $500 million in developing Australian green cars;
- put an end to Mr Howard’s plan for 25 nuclear reactors, coast to coast across Australia;
- commit $150 million from Australia’s international aid budget to assist our neighbours prepare for and adapt to the effects of climate change;
- make Australia’s schools solar powered, energy and water efficient; and
- commit $150 million for a Low Emission Plan for Renters to provide a rebate of up to $500 to help landlords install energy efficient insulation – reducing the power bills and greenhouse gas emissions of 300,000 rental homes.
2. How will your party work with the State governments to manage Australia’s water system, including the Murray-Darling Basin?
Australian Labor is committed to restoring the water quality of our major population centres, building healthy and sustainable communities and ensuring our lakes and rivers are in good shape for the future. A Rudd Government would:
- implement a $1 Billion National Urban Water and Desalination Plan to help secure the water supplies of Australia’s major cities;
- invest $250 million to help 500,000 households across Australia save water with rainwater tanks and grey water pipes by providing rebates of up to $500;
- invest in a Water Renovations Plan for Households and provide low interest loans of up to $10,000 to help 200,000 home become more energy and water efficient;
- create a $250 million National Water Security Plan for Towns and Cities to fix leaky pipes and ensure water is not wasted on its way to the tap; and
- set a national target of recycling 30 per cent of wastewater by 2015 and fully implement the 2004 National Water Initiative.
Yours sincerely,
Tanya Plibersek MP
Shadow Minister for Human Services, Housing, Youth and Women
See also: Campaign for the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition
