A landmark national report has revealed an alarming shift inside Australia’s classrooms, with more than half of government secondary students missing at least a month of school each year.
The first State of Australia’s Children Report offers the most detailed snapshot to date of the wellbeing of young Australians — and its findings paint a confronting picture of anxiety, disengagement and declining confidence in the education system.
One of the central concerns highlighted by the report is students’ belief that school is “not relevant” to the real world. Report author Megan O’Connell, from the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, said many students expressed frustration that they were not being taught essential life skills, particularly around financial literacy, budgeting and pathways to home ownership.
For many children, financial insecurity now outweighs environmental concerns. Around 40 per cent of 12- and 13-year-olds said housing and money were their biggest worries — a figure that rises to half among 16- and 17-year-olds. According to the report, this anxiety is strongly shaped by social media, where teenagers are regularly exposed to stories of young adults struggling to buy their first home.
Seventeen-year-old Sarah Bunbury from Brisbane said she first began worrying about her financial future at the age of 14. “We’re not being taught how to save, invest or manage our bank accounts,” she said, adding that most young people were forced to figure it out themselves. Hayden, 17, from Sydney, agreed, saying Instagram videos about housing affordability often left younger students feeling overwhelmed.
The report also exposes wider systemic challenges. Only 53 per cent of children starting school are developmentally on track across all measured domains. More than half of young people have experienced cyberbullying, almost three-quarters have seen harmful content online, and one in three Australian children is overweight or obese.
Minderoo Foundation co-founder Nicola Forrest warned that a lack of investment in early childhood fuels lifelong disadvantage, noting that too many children begin school without the foundations they need. UNICEF Australia’s Chief Advocate for Children, Nicole Breeze, said the findings were “unacceptable” for a wealthy nation with the means to ensure better outcomes.
The report concludes that young Australians are facing declining wellbeing on multiple fronts and that parents, educators and policymakers must act urgently to reverse the downward trends.
