Indigenous Australian teens are three times as likely to have experienced homelessness and are more concerned about domestic violence and suicide than non-Indigenous youth, a survey has found.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
More than 25,000 young people aged between 15 and 19 were interviewed for Mission Australia's Youth Survey in 2019, of which more than 1500 - or six per cent - identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
While young people in general shared similar levels of concern about coping with stress, body image, mental health and school or study problems, Indigenous teens were over-represented in a number of other measures.
They were almost twice as likely to list domestic and family violence as a personal concern for them, and almost three times as likely to have experienced homelessness, the survey found.
About 17 per cent indicated they have experienced a time when they had no fixed address or lived in a refuge or transitional accommodation, compared to about six per cent of non-Indigenous respondents.
Indigenous teens were also twice as likely to be concerned about drugs, alcohol and discrimination.
More than 20 per cent reported being concerned about suicide, compared to 13 per cent of non-Indigenous respondents, and Indigenous youth were 1.5 times more likely to report being bullied.
Professor Tom Calma, University of Canberra chancellor and co-chair of the Voice to Government Senior Advisory Group, said the report showed more needed to be done to properly support young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in need.
Prof Calma has joined forces with Mission Australia to call for more culturally and age-appropriate support services, and affordable housing.
"Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander respondents say they are happy, they're engaged in education, they highly value their family and friendships, are confident in their ability to achieve their goals and are optimistic about their futures," he said in a statement.
"However, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people also told us that they're facing unique difficulties ... (and) experience a range of personal concerns in much higher proportions that non-Indigenous young people."
He says a targeted policy and service response is overdue.
"All of these issues are likely to be made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, making the policy and service response for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people now more critical than ever," he added.
The report released on Thursday also found about three in 10 of all respondents were extremely or very concerned about body image, mental health, and school or study problems.
Australian Associated Press
