This roundtable provided stakeholders and experts with the opportunity to share their thoughts on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and young people and discuss what could be improved for a future crisis. 

The roundtable brought together participants from peak bodies, advocacy groups and academia.

Key findings

• Children were negatively impacted from school closures and the restrictions on socialisation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and young people varied across cohorts and often exacerbated existing inequities.
• Increases in income support payments during the pandemic resulted in many children being lifted out of poverty; alongside greater access to early childhood education and care, this mitigated some of the negative impacts on these children.
• The pandemic demonstrated inadequacies in the collection and sharing of data regarding children and young people.
• During the pandemic, teachers pivoted to online learning, in most cases without sufficient training, preparation or resources.

Recommendations

• The needs of children should be prioritised and considered more explicitly when planning and responding to public health emergencies. 
• Gathering evidence on disease impacts on children, the role of children in transmission, and the appropriateness and impacts of non-pharmaceutical interventions should be a priority at the outset of a pandemic.
• To prepare for a future pandemic, governments should agree frameworks that guide decision making across jurisdictions on issues such as school closures.
• Government needs to provide clear and consistent advice to families and schools and provide reassurance even as evidence is evolving.