I've had wonderful opportunities to be around young people in the last few weeks. On Friday night I joined a group of young women who are part of the EViE Project, which is aimed at ending violence and improving equality, at the Blue Mountains Women's Health and Resource Centre. Supported by Zonta Blue Mountains, there were messages of what coercive control looks like illuminated onto the windows of the Springwood hub by illuminart, as part of 16 days of activism against gender based violence. On Sunday I watched kids as young as eight fearlessly racing at the state BMX championships at the Hawkesbury Hornets ground in Mcgraths Hill, and I had the chance to thank Saya and Kai Sakakibara for the inspiration they both provided us during the Olympics. Within my electorate, I have the Macquarie student climate activist group, MESCA, who are determined in their efforts to see action, not words, on reducing emissions. They can see the impact of the Morrison government's failure on them.

Throughout these lockdowns, I've met with a group of young people who just want to see something tangible done to improve the odds for their generation, whether it's around accessing mental health support, like a Hawkesbury headspace; more secure work; better value for their university fees; or a chance to one day own their own home. These are young people who you'd think, on the face of it, had the world at their feet. They are articulate, motivated, damn strong and amazing to be with. But what lies beneath with some of these young people is a sense of alienation from the business that goes on in this very place. They feel they don't have a voice in politics. With almost 60 per cent of young Australians, the biggest barrier to getting involved in politics is feeling like they won't be listened to, and more than half feel that they already have a say in politics none of the time. They don't feel they have a say at all.

For some people, COVID has not just put a pause on their ambitions and their dreams but radically changed their expectations. I've seen that in my own children's generation—those in their late 20s—but, for kids just finishing school and thinking about their next step, the options they have are now severely limited. Nearly 50 per cent of young Australians report being worried about their education having been disrupted or held back as a result of the changes to schooling that COVID has brought. Many feel their motivation and career plans have been dented. The gap year as we know it is on hold. Teachers have told me about the pain of having high achievers, both at school and at uni, lose their motivation to participate in remote learning.

All young people have suffered social disruption severely. They've missed out on once-in-a-lifetime milestones and rites of passage, and they feel isolated due to lockdowns, with their ability to attend school and campus extinguished and social gatherings restricted or prohibited. It has taken its toll, and that's had its impacts on mental health. More than half of young Australians say their biggest concern with COVID was mental health problems, reporting that they were not able to carry out their daily activities during the pandemic due to a decline in wellbeing. A third of students and young people report high or very high levels of psychological distress, and 75 per cent of Australia's young people describe their mental health as worse during the pandemic.

I know we've all been affected by COVID. We've worried about our health or the health of our loved ones. We've missed out on family events and special celebrations. We've lost opportunities to do things and experienced financial impacts. It's been hard on everybody. But, as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare observes, adolescence and young adulthood is a critical time. What happens then can be not just a marker of a life; it can profoundly affect the course of someone's life.

This is a generation that we here in this place have a huge responsibility to. Whether it's about renewable energy, about spending programs, about where mental health funding goes, about investing in education, about TAFE, about housing or about jobs, the effects of so many of the decisions we make will be felt disproportionately by young people. They're the ones who'll have to clean up any failures by this generation of parliamentarians. I believe that many of us are here not to do what makes life easier for ourselves but to make Australia a better place for our kids and grandkids. That's why Labor will put young people at the centre of our policies.