Young Australians have been heavily impacted by the economic shock from COVID-19.

But as our economy recovers, they have every reason to be hopeful and optimistic for a stronger future.

JOBS FOR YOUNG AUSTRALIANS

In March 2022, there were more than 1.9 million young Australians employed and Australia’s rate of youth unemployment dropped to 8.3% - around the lowest level of youth unemployment since 2008.

We’re also making further investments to get young Australians ready for employment.

ReBoot will create a jobs pathway for disadvantaged young Australians, building life and employment skills for the future.

APPRENTICESHIPS AND SKILLS

The Morrison Government continues to support jobs for young Australians.

A record 220,000 Australians are now in trade apprenticeships - the highest level since records began in 1963.

In the 2022 Budget, we are further supporting Australian apprenticeships by providing $5,000 payments to new apprentices.

The recent Budget continues to invest in training and skills by supporting an additional 800,000 training places for school leavers and job seekers.

MORE SCHOOLS FUNDING

The Coalition Government has significantly increased school funding, from:

  • $13 billion in 2013; to
  • $25 billion in 2022; to
  • $33 billion in 2029.

This means funding per student will increase by 65% over a decade.

Parents can see for themselves all the facts on schools funding – including the funding increases at their local government school, at the Department of Education’s School Funding Estimator: https://www.dese.gov.au/school-funding/estimator

IMPROVING SCHOOL OUTCOMES

The Coalition Government has delivered needs-based funding for the first time in Australia.

We are improving teacher quality by testing trainee teachers to ensure they are in the top 30% for literacy and numeracy.

We are supporting students to re-engage post-COVID, and have refocused the Australian Curriculum on the essentials, like proven techniques for teaching our kids to read and strengthening mathematics.

We have also secured the agreement of the states and territories to work with us to improve results, including through a renewed commitment to NAPLAN.

SUPPORTING CHOICE

The Morrison Government is supporting choice for parents.

The Government is increasing per student funding to the non-government sector from $6,559 in 2013 to $12,749 by 2029.

SCHOOL CHAPLAINS

We have provided over $60 million in annual funding for the National School Chaplaincy program, with a focus on anti-bullying.

This means school chaplains can provide pastoral care, run programs like breakfast clubs, and co-ordinate volunteer activities for over 3,000 schools.

IMPROVING UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

The recent Budget provides almost $20 billion in funding for universities in 2022.

We are also investing $2.2 billion in our ten-year Action Plan to supercharge research commercialisation and collaboration between universities and industry.

Our $362 million commitment to six Trailblazer Universities will drive collaboration between industry and universities, while supercharging the careers of Australia’s research entrepreneurs.

We provided for 30,000 more university places at Australian universities in 2021 as part of our commitment for an additional 100,000 places over the decade.

Additionally, the Morrison Government is funding 50,000 short courses at universities and higher education providers to give Australians more opportunities to upskill and retrain.

YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH

Combating mental illness and suicide is a priority for our Government.

That’s why the Morrison Government made a record $3 billion investment in mental health and suicide prevention through the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan.

Mental health and suicide prevention funding will increase to an estimated record $6.8 million in 2022-23 - more than double the funding since Labor was last in government.

We’ve also launched a world-first mental health strategy for children aged 0-12 years to support them and their families.

The Government has doubled the number of Medicare subsidised psychological services available – from 10 to 20 – through the Better Access Initiative.

The Government is expanding the total number of headspace services across Australia to 164.

More funding is also being provided for Lifeline, Beyond Blue, ReachOut, Kids Helpline and the Butterfly Foundation.

We’re increasing support for Australians with an eating disorder, including a national network of community-based residential eating disorder treatment centres; 64 new Medicare items for eating disorders (meaning patients can access to up to 40 psychological and 20 dietetic services a year).

Information current as at April 2022