Ahead of the WA election in March, three CREATE Young Consultants shared their priorities and concerns for the future, hoping that all sides of government will hear the issues impacting young people today and make changes to ease housing pressures, cost-of-living, and more.
In this post, you’ll hear from Cheyenne, Abby and Cody with their unique experiences and perspectives. Each of these young people has a care experience and a common theme is more support for children in care and care-leavers.
We encourage decision-makers to genuinely listen to what young people have to say as too often, children and young people’s voices are dismissed or ignored. All sides of government will agree on wanting to see WA children and young people thrive but to do, so they must listen to the experts – those very same children and young people.
Cheyenne on supporting kids leaving care
The out-of-home care sector in WA raises thousands of children every day. These children and young people deserve to have the same quality of care as every other child in Australia, and have the ability to achieve success in their future.
While there have been big strides in changing the sector for the better, such as raising the age of leaving care, we still have a long way to go especially for our care-leavers. Here is what I’d like to see happen for care-leavers in WA:
- Start leaving care processes and life skills lessons earlier than 15 or 16-years-old and teach young people the realities and skills they need for independent living.
- Standardise a care leaver payment so it is consistent with other States and enough to help young people maintain their household.
- Provide more access to support services in regional and remote areas for health and well-being to bridge the gap for these young people who often fall through the cracks.
We all need to work together to ensure young people have the best outcomes possible!
Abby on helping kids in care to achieve their goals
With the next election, I want to see real change for children in care, ensuring they feel connected to their community and have the same opportunities as others.
Many children in care struggle to understand right from wrong, often making mistakes without proper guidance. It’s crucial to listen to their voices, educate them about their rights, and provide more foster carers so more children can find stable, loving homes.
They should have the support they need to reach their goals, whether through financial assistance for sports or initiatives that help both people and the environment, like saving materials from landfill.
Making WA more accessible, especially for Western Australians with disabilities
Accessibility is another major concern, especially for disabled individuals. Many people struggle to find jobs or be included in society. I had an experience of being rejected from a meeting simply because I am deaf, highlighting the discrimination that still exists. Public spaces also need to be more disability-friendly—many shopping centres only have emergency alarms without visual cues, making them inaccessible to the deaf community.
Auslan should be taught in schools to improve communication, especially in social settings like dating, where many deaf individuals struggle if others don’t know sign language. The challenges became even more apparent during COVID when mask mandates made it impossible for deaf individuals to communicate through lip-reading. Additionally, better training for NDIS support workers is needed to ensure they can properly care for people with complex disabilities.
These changes would create a more inclusive, supportive, and fair society for all.
Cody on gender-affirming care, cost-of-living and housing concerns
Ahead of the next election, I am concerned about gender diverse youth and gender diverse adults’ access to Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) being affected, cost-of-living pressures as prices continue to rise, and the housing crisis.
Access to HRT for gender diverse people is essential for health and wellbeing. Personally, if I were to lose access to HRT, it would be life-threatening to me. Our rights to access HRT must be protected.
With regards to the cost-of-living crisis, prices are already high and the pattern is suggesting that they are on a continuous rise. This is detrimental to all people on Centrelink payments as we struggle to buy and provide the basic necessities for ourselves, our animals, and our children.
The housing crisis is another concern as if I were to lose my current government housing, there are no suitable or viable options for a singular man with multiple disabilities that can’t live with roommates or in shared housing, with multiple animals. My number of disabilities means that I need a lot of open space for people to access me or the other way around which is why it is vital that I live alone but have carers coming in frequently to help.
I thank you for your time in listening to my concerns and I hope that you factor them in when it comes to election time.
