Towards A National Agenda for Youth
Health policy for young Australians has fallen through the cracks in the past ten years because there is no overarching policy agenda for youth. The current issue of the Medical Journal of Australia, to be released tomorrow, focuses on adolescent health.
George Patton, VicHealth Professor of Adolescent Health Research at the University of Melbourne, and colleagues, said positive efforts in youth health policy, while recognised in particular fields, are relatively ineffective because they are not coordinated across related areas, in striking contrast to early childhood initiatives like the National Agenda for Early Childhood for children aged 0-5 and the National Public Health Action Plan for Children aged 0-12 years.
Professor Patton said mental disorders, accidents and injuries, substance use and misuse, and reproductive and sexual health problems arise largely in this age group, with enormous health and social costs.
"Adolescents remain the age group least likely to access health services and for whom health care providers feel least well equipped," Professor Patton said.
He said that while the past decade has seen targeted initiatives around youth suicide, youth substance use, youth training and youth mental health, there is no overall policy framework for youth.
Commenting on the Australian Government's recent plan to establish a $69 million Foundation for Youth Mental Health, Professor Patton said the welcome investment risks sitting mainly within the mental health service system. There it would be less effective because prevention depends on youth mental health being a central outcome across a number of sectors such as education, welfare, family and juvenile justice.
The authors said that successful coalitions in the past have brought together different sectors to argue with one voice.
"Its success in broadening current policy debates to include a youth agenda will be one major test of the potency of newer cross-sectoral coalitions such as the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth," said co author, Susan Sawyer, Professor of Adolescent Health at the University of Melbourne.
The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.
CONTACT Professor George PATTON 0409 964 434
Judith TOKLEY, AMA Public Affairs, 0408 824 306 / 02 6270 5471