This report reveals almost one in four young people in 2018 said they are experiencing mental health challenges, with young females twice as likely as males to face this issue. A higher proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people also met the criteria for psychological distress.

This report offers an insight not only into the scale of young people in Australia who are affected by the alcohol and drug use of their family and peers, but importantly, it provides a better understanding of the personal impacts that this has on a young person’s individual concerns, aspirations and wellbeing.

This report considers the similarities and differences between two groups of young people who took part in the Mission Australia Youth Survey 2018: those who reported that neither parent or guardian was currently in paid employment, compared with those who identified that at least one parent or guardian had paid employment, whether part- or full-time.

This report pinpoints stark differences between female and male responses to the Mission Australia Youth Survey 2018, highlighting that more females than males were concerned about almost every topic in the survey.

Each year, Mission Australia encourages young people aged 15-19 to ‘speak up’ about the issues that concern them through Australia’s largest annual youth survey. Over 28,000 young people participated in 2018. For the first time, mental health was the number one issue of national concern in every Australian state and territory.