28th Mar 2017, 3:55 PM – Senate Motions - Youth Employment - Minister for Young People

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Nick Xenophon Team Senator Skye Kakoschke-Moore, which means it was rejected. The motion called for greater focus on youth employment and for the Government to appoint a Minister for Young People.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the first Minister for Employment and Youth Affairs was appointed by the Fraser Government in 1978,

(ii) subsequent Labor and Coalition Federal Governments have appointed Ministers with a portfolio concerned with youth, and the Howard Government had three different ministers who held the youth affairs portfolio,

(iii) in 2013, the Abbott Government abolished the youth portfolio,

(iv) in May 2014, the Government advised it was planning a "focused and targeted approach" to consult with young people, yet, this year is likely the last National Youth Week with no funding in the forward estimates – the Deloitte 2017 Millennial Survey suggests that young people struggle to engage with major political parties and not having a Youth Minister acts as a clear signal that engagement with young people is not a priority for this Government, and

(v) Australia's youth unemployment and underemployment is an increasingly systemic concern – the current youth unemployment rate sits at 13.3 per cent, and the youth underemployment rate sits at 18.3 per cent; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) to appoint a Minister for Young People,

(ii) ensure that this minister have a particular focus upon youth engagement, youth employment and transition to work, and

(iii) ensure that this minister sit within the Cabinet.