“We don’t have time to sit on our hands as our planet burns.” - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, US politician and activist. Our beautiful golden land is constantly affected by heat waves, bushfires, floods, droughts which usually are a general part of nature, however, through global warming, the frequency and intensity of these weather patterns have increased. As a country that faces one of the most extreme climate disasters due to global warming you would assume that the government would be taking stronger action to reduce carbon emissions. Since 2009 there have been a series of political climate wars to reduce carbon emissions in Australia to no avail. However, the Albanese government was said to have put an end to the “climate wars” by passing the Climate Change Bill 2022, in which the bill will “enshrine into law an emissions reduction target of 43 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050”. Personally, I would say this is a much more decisive action against climate change than taking a trip to Hawaii. However, despite the passing of this law the Albanese government continues to greenlight coal mines, which places more burden on the youth of Australia as we struggle to foresee a future for ourselves and our children.

As the Albanese government continues to greenlight harmful coal mines and gas production methods, achieving the goal proposed in the Climate Change Bill becomes increasingly difficult. In November 2023, the government approved the Barossa Gas Project, which proposes to take gas from under the sea of Barossa and process it into fuels for use in Australia and other countries. However, this project is extremely detrimental to the environment, as, according to BankOnOurFuture, when the Barossa Gas is extracted, developed, and burned it would release 15.6 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually. 15.6 million. That is equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide released by 3 million cars each year. The consequences of the Barossa gas project are so detrimental; it would fuel coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef and facilitate extreme weather events wiping out habitat for already endangered species. Furthermore, the construction of the gas pipelines would cut through a habitat protection zone, further destroying critical habitat and endangering native species.

Just imagine yourself 20 years in the future, packing an emergency kit, filled with fear and dread about leaving your beloved home when you receive the alert, advising you to evacuate immediately. Days like Black Sunday and the 2019 Bushfires will become more common and fierce. Months of bushfire will be followed by months of drought impacting the price of our foods and making it impossible for our native animals to survive. The Albanese government is more than aware of these damaging and irreversible effects, so why continue to condone these harmful companies that are centred around greed and capitalism rather than the welfare of the Earth? It has been stated by ‘The International Energy Agency’ that to achieve a net zero pathway, no more new gas projects can be built, thus by passing the Climate Change Bill the government should be building more renewable projects so that existing coal and gas plants can be dissolved and the carbon emission reduction goal can be achieved.

As the Albanese government continues to not realise the severity of the situation, they place a burden on the youth of Australia. A survey was conducted by Orygen where young Australians between the ages of 16-25 responded on how the climate crisis is impacting their mental health and ability to perform in everyday life. The survey was able to identify that the most prevalent cause of climate anxiety was due to a lack of action by the government. Now where have I heard that before? But the issue does not stop there,  due to the climate crisis the basic requirements for our physical health become contaminated. Clean water, clean air, and a sufficient amount of food become a myth as bushfires and drought led to a significant shortage of food supply. According to the SRCD, this lack of nutrition and increase in global temperature leads to children becoming more susceptible to contracting infectious, gastrointestinal, and parasitic diseases. In simpler terms, children are left to their own devices, with their own bodies fighting against them as they mentally and physically attempt to tackle this drastic problem. While this being the future of our nation, the government pledges to take action but does not keep to their word, continually worrying the young adults and children of Australia.

The climate crisis is exposed to children from a young age, since primary school, and while it is crucial to educate them it does also increase anxiety in children seeing how little the government does to combat such a massive crisis. I remember being 12 years old, sitting in my poster-filled classroom listening to my teacher talk about the damaging effects of global warming. Now, when this concept was first introduced to me I thought solving the issue would be as easy as skipping to my school every morning rather than by car, and yelling at my friends to pick up their rubbish if they littered. But when given an inquiry task to educate our suburb on climate change I truly understood just how urgent and dreadful this was. I went home to my mum crying about how I might not have a future because the world is going to burn and simultaneously drown. While my mum saw this as another typical breakdown of mine, I knew at that moment just how important this topic was to me and to my fellow peers. Why should this unfair burden be placed upon our shoulders? Why should I be the one standing here speaking on this topic while the government continues to greenlight coal mines and gas production further damaging the environment?

We have to hold the government responsible for their actions and one of the most influential ways in which we can do this is by protesting and making our worries heard. It is clear how influential protests are with the government; shown through the 2011 protests against the ‘carbon tax’ proposed by Julia Gillard’s government. We must continue to voice our distress and emphasise the severity of the situation for our future generations. Sign petitions against the greenlighting of coal mines and the Barossa Gas Project, attend climate protests near you, or even just email your federal MP to stress the importance of taking decisive action against this climate crisis. Because as the government continues to disregard the Climate Change Bill and not make action to switch to renewable energy sources it is the children and young adults of Australia that will feel the impact of this inaction. “We don’t have time to sit on our hands as our planet burns”. Thank you

There are those in the world who are denied the opportunities that you and I are fortunate to be conceded. For some, they are denied any platform to speak, to voice the issues they face on a daily basis in the hope that these issues will be resolved; for others, they are denied the right to speak altogether. As such it is vital that those with the opportunity – you and I – speak on their behalf. It is not a privilege as some in this room may foolishly consider to be so. It is not a unique ability afforded to only a handful of gifted people. Rather, the power of words manifests naturally in us all. What is unique about this power is who is granted the opportunity to use it. You and I. What is then important, is who we use it for. It is our duty as champions of oration, to represent those who are denied that championship, denied the opportunities we are conceded, left suffocating at the bottom of the pile when they deserve much better. We stand here for the emancipation of the power of words.

When we look to the philosophers of Ancient Greece, in Aristotle, Socrates and Plato, we observe that from the freedom of words comes the freedom of knowledge, and a basis for which knowledge may be successfully attained. We observe in Hegel’s dialectics, simply meaning dialogue and the communication of opposing ideas, a fundamental means of attaining an informed view on how society works. That understanding, and the freedom of access to that knowledge, led to the development of Marxist philosophy as a deeper understanding and criticism of Hegel’s idealism. Now you’re probably thinking “what nonsense are you talking about?”, but the truth is, whether it is nonsense or not, it is an interest for many people, and an important topic as well. Students of the human condition, and subsequently the orator’s basic understanding of knowledge throughout history, provides us with persuasive techniques we often take for granted when delivering speeches today. The recognition of one’s own ignorance as a foundation for wisdom, Socrates; empiricism, or the prioritisation of perception as a foundation for knowledge, Aristotle and later John Locke. How can we be expected to relay these ideas as these philosophers have done, if there are those in society who are denied the opportunity to hear it, to read it, to understand it for themselves.

It is not hard to find the many people of the world who fit this very description. They are not scattered across the earth, they are not hidden amongst us, fighting like grass in a rainforest for the light that we as orators may often conject. No, they can be observed in great clumps, great masses of individuals held back from emancipating their own opinion; the victims of this great repression.

I should like to share with you now, the story of Rifqa al Kurd, a Palestinian residing in East Jerusalem. Her home was occupied by Jewish Israeli’s, and she said the following:

“They come in groups, dance, pray and swear against us… we often are physically attacked: they sent my daughter, who is aged 50, to the hospital four times… they know she has heart problems and they always hit her close to the heart” that was the most appropriate story, considering the setting, that I could find, and it took me a while to find it. The story of Rifqa is tragic, but in the scheme of the conflict in this Holy Land, it is one drop in an ocean of unwithering horror and injustice.

Those in Palestine, those like Rifqa, along the humanitarian crises that is the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, do you believe they are afforded the opportunities we are? When they look up to the sky that we see blue, do you believe they see the same? No, when they look up they see the skies littered with darkness, of suffocating smoke, of the falling bomb. They rely on people like us to call it for what it is, a genocide, an ethnic cleansing. That mightn’t play well with some of those in this room, but I remind myself of the aforementioned thought: We are guardians to those who don’t have the opportunities that we have, and woe to those who try to stop us. Elie Wiesel said “Always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented”, that is the quote I stand by. But these tragedies are not only occurring the in the middle east, when we look to the western world, in Ukraine, who suffers the annihilation of their homeland not for the first time, we must also defend them. As such we condemn the imperialistic tendencies of Russia and by extension the United States and NATO of whom have created the prerequisite for conflict.

That thought then leads me to this pose: Where there are those in this world who have the ability to speak without limitation and use it to emancipate others so that they too may speak, there are those in society who use the power of words for the silencing of the oppressed. I then ask those in this audience to ponder that word. Silence. What does silence achieve? Why do people enforce it? What purpose does it serve?... In a majority of cases, the oppressor will silence the oppressed so that the hidden truths of supremacy are not uncovered to reveal the destruction of autonomous peoples. 

Now these are very large issues, issues which are referred to on an international scale, but allow me to dive into a much more local one. In this country we pride ourselves in our freedom of communication, but for some reason we neglect its equality. Do you think it right that one media outlet, and in that I refer to NewsCorp, control the vast majority of journalism in this country? Do you think it right that this overwhelming monopoly over communication muzzle the smaller outlets, who try their utmost to have a voice in an industry of lacking impartiality? Do you believe this monopoly, with all their power over words, would advocate on behalf of those who hold with shredded hands the last of their own? Do you believe they would defend those in Palestine? Would you and I, in all our freedom, have our voices enhanced by this monopoly?

We are all the victims of this great inequality. It is why we must band together, I heed once more as champions of oration, to form a united front against those who litter our path to emancipation. Let no fog of deception asperse the victory for which we now stand to advocate; let no offensive extinguish our flame and deter us from the achievement of our goal: The emancipation of the power of words.

Are you aware that people in rural and remote Australia experience poorer health and on average die younger? Why are the rates of smoking, drinking and illicit drug use higher compared to those living in our major cities?

Right Care, in the Right Place, at the Right Time

This was the promise from the government in the last election, but I ask you has the Australian Government delivered?

We all live in this land of opportunity, with quality education and a great healthcare system. Yet we have some very obvious and sad health disparities in Australia. Need I mention our First Nations People.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that people living in rural areas have higher rates of avoidable hospitalisation, premature deaths, injury and restricted access to primary health care services in comparison to people living in major cities.

Why is this the case?

In 2022-23 it was estimated that \$105.8 billion was spent on the health sector in the Australian Government’s expenditure. Quite a large sum of money you would think. However, the National Rural Health Alliance found that there was a \$6.55 billion deficit in spending on rural healthcare. The report also found an over reliance on hospital services in rural communities, which are significantly more expensive to provide than primary care services.

Primary care is a simple concept aimed to prevent illness prior to it requiring a hospital visit, widely seen as a person’s first interaction in the health care system. It includes, health promotion, disease prevention, early intervention and self-management of chronic conditions. The majority of primary care services are provided by general practitioners, nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals.

Often referred to as the foundation of the Australian healthcare system, primary care accounts for 38% of health expenditure. It is widely accepted that a system with strong primary health care will reduce demand on hospital services and people will overall be healthier. Evident in countries such as Sweden, Canada and Finland.

Now don’t get me wrong, Australia has a good healthcare system and is ranked number eight in the world. Yet the forementioned countries rank ahead for one key difference, their governments make a deliberate and conscious decision to allocate a larger proportion of funding to primary care.

n 1984, Medicare was introduced as a universal public health insurance scheme to provide free or subsidised access to public hospital services and to treatment by health professionals such as general practitioners, funded by a tax levy of 2%

Whilst, it is considered a universal system, is it a fair and equitable system? Does it take into account the social determinant health needs of different communities? Such as geographic challenges, education and economic stability.

Furthermore, the challenges facing regional health care are complex and interlinked. They include an ageing population, increasing chronic diseases, higher rates of mental health, poor health literacy and a lack of health workforce to meet the growing demand. 

The ABS found 28% of the Australian population are living in regional, rural and remote areas, spread across 99% of the countries land surface.  Governments have accepted that people in rural and remote areas face a range of stressors unique and different to those living in metropolitan areas. But are they doing enough for rural Australians and addressing the healthcare inequality that clearly exists?

Every Australian pays the tax levy of 2%, so why are the 28% of rural Australians receiving a raw deal on the basis of where they live?

Simply, a greater proportion of health funding should be directed to rural and remote communities to support primary health care with allocation based on population health needs and levels of disadvantage.

Australian people report that they see their general practitioner more than any other health professional. Yet the rebate a rural general practitioner receives for a standard consultation is the same as a metropolitan practitioner, with greater pressure to bulk bill, despite dealing with an often more complex case.

Bulk billing means the patient does not pay anything and the health care provider accepts the rebate fee only. Despite, incentives to increase bulk billing rates it is accepted that it is not a financially viable model to cover the true cost of the consultation and care required, especially in a rural area.

Statistics found by Seek show that a rural general practitioner earns around \$200,000, whereas a metropolitan general practitioner can earn up to $370,000. This is also far less than other medical specialities such as Cardiologists, Physicians and Surgeons. 

At the age of 40, my dad was diagnosed with Cardio Myopathy, a genetic heart condition and fortunately received a heart transplant in December last year. He spent a significant amount of time in hospital, usually in Melbourne as his specialist team is based at the Alfred Hospital. This was a huge cost to my family in terms of travel, accommodation and getting off work as we live over two hours away, but we accepted that the specialists and service were not available locally.

On the Australia Day public holiday, his general practitioner called him and asked if the Alfred had rung about his recent chest X-Ray. He was the one who noticed the start of a potentially deadly infectious disease that affects immunosuppressed patients and requires immediate treatment. For all the health professionals in the room you may know this as the one-in-a-million disease nocardiosis. And all he got paid was a bulk-billed after-hours standard consultation fee. It astounds me that despite having a degree that takes as long as a specialist, he is paid such a difference to his metropolitan and other specialist colleagues.

This disparity in salary is a leading reason why general practitioners are moving to metropolitan areas, furthermore, creating a lack of workforce in the bush. My mum’s job is to place general practitioner trainees in regional areas and constantly these newly placed trainees move to metropolitan areas as soon as possible, seeking that larger salary

A universal system yes, but not an equitable and fair one as it fails to acknowledge the challenges of delivering and accessing healthcare in rural and regional Australia.

Governments must find new ways to support and adequately fund rural primary health care. Medicare is part of the solution, but it is by no means the only answer. Additional funding to support rural models of care using innovation, digital technologies and local solutions are needed. We must aim to bridge the health expenditure disparity between rural and metropolitan communities. This could be achieved by slightly raising the Medicare levy by as little as 0.1% and quarantining it to specifically support rural primary health care because health and wellbeing is not and never should be dictated by your postcode.

Always tell the truth. Our parents, teachers and society echo this sentiment. To tell the truth no matter what. So why is it as Australia we find it so hard to do so?

Generation after generation we have not told the truth about our country’s First Nations origins. For centuries, Australia’s history has been fabricated and white-washed to present colonisers as trailblazing heroes and Indigenous people as unsophisticated and inferior.

So how did the lie begin? It began from the very first moments of European settlement. Upon arrival in 1788, British settlers declared Australia to be ‘Terra Nullius’, synonymous for nobody’s land. This might have been true if they arrived a bit earlier, but unfortunately, they were at least 65,000 years too late.

It is often claimed Terra Nullius was declared because Indigenous people were not living in a sophisticated, agriculturally sound society. Chances are you partly believe this myth as well, because for centuries this is exactly what has been taught. However, this misconception is clearly refuted by evidence provided ironically by white ‘explorers’ who wrote down detailed accounts of their observations of the land. Such as British explorer, Lieutenant Gray in the early 1800s, in his diary he described massive fields that were so deeply tilled with roads between them, wells and houses surrounding the agricultural lands.

The evidence of Indigenous Australians thriving in an advanced and complex civilisation is both insurmountable and undeniable. Despite this, their ‘incompetency’ was used as a reason to justify ‘Terra Nullius’ and then the dispossession of land, and attempted genocide of Indigenous people.

For centuries, British colonisers have been championed as the ‘pioneers’ who ‘discovered’ or ‘settled’ Australia. But the truth is for over 65,000 years prior to invasion over 500 nations of Indigenous people lived in a sustainable, purposeful, and civilised society.

Why is it that we were never properly taught about the sophistication of ancient and recent Indigenous civilisations? It is because the truth did not neatly fit the agenda of the racist and inhumane colonisers of this country.

For centuries Indigenous people have courageously fought against the callous colonisers who threatened their people, culture, lore, and land. Although the truth about First Nations resistance to colonial forces has been conveniently suppressed. The spineless ‘heroes’ we are forced to read about in history books do not compare to the Indigenous warriors and legends who fought for their ancestors. Pemulwuy, Jandamarra, Yagan. I can almost guarantee these names were never mentioned in your classroom. But we should know the truth about brave warriors like Pemulwuy who for 14 years dedicated his life to redemption and protection for his people, culture and land.

Yet Everyone knows ‘Captain’ Cook. Everyone knows Arthur Phillip. What ‘legends’ they were! Clearly, they simply must not have seen the hundreds of thousands of Indigenous Australians inhabiting the land at the time, considering they did not include them in the population. Hang on a minute…. Cook must have seen them, because in 1770 before he even left his boat to set foot on Australian soil, he literally shot at and wounded an Indigenous man. That is a fact. He wrote it in his own diary.

We revere and even celebrate these ‘discoverers’ of Australia such as Cook and Philip, because they created Australia, right? Wrong. They destroyed it. They stole, they exploited, they exhausted resources and they did everything they could to break Indigenous people.

Indigenous Australian warriors and heroes fought with dignity in resistance to colonial forces. Many including Pemelwuy, Jandamarra and Yagan put their lives on the line in the sanguinary Frontier Wars on behalf of their people and culture. They are the real legends of this country.

Another truth which has conveniently never been told is the violent response from settlers towards any Indigenous resistance. Pemulwuy was hunted down for 14 years before he was shot dead. He was then brutally decapitated, and his head was sent back to England at the command of Arthur Phillip. And yet the British were supposedly much more civilised than the ‘noble savages’? Let us also not forget the over 300 recorded massacres of INNOCENT Indigenous people which took place from 1794-1938.

In May of this year the statue of former Tasmanian premier William Crowther was cut down from the ankles. Why? In 1869 he literally stole the head of and mutilated the body of Indigenous man William Lanne also known as ‘King Billy’. We scratch our heads as to why these statues are vandalised so often. Yet the answer is in the truth which some Australians refuse to acknowledge or are completely ignorant of. As a society, we are overly sensitive to honouring the legacy of invaders, whilst our Indigenous brothers and sisters still mourn their loss of family, language, culture and land.

The time is now to tell the truth; to tell the truth of not only centuries of dispossession, loss of language and culture, murder, rape, abuse and attempted genocide. But the truth of the incredible history of the world’s oldest continuous living culture.

The good news is, the truth is starting to be told, here in Victoria.

The Government’s Yoorok Justice Commission is the first truth-telling commission in Australia. When speaking to the commission, Premier Jacinta Allen admitted she “did not know” about the murders and massacres which took place on Victorian soil. Murders and massacres that happened on Dja Dja Wurrung country on which she lives. What a shocking admission.

Thankfully, initiatives like this will help erase the ignorance and debunk the false narratives that have haunted our country for centuries. After 3 years of hearing compelling evidence and real experiences of Indigenous people, the Yoorok Justice Commission will deliver its final report in 2025 on the injustices inflicted upon our First Nations people since colonisation.

We have waited far too long as a country to face our gross history with empathy and respect for our First Nations peoples. Australian history must be truthfully and emphatically taught to the children who will guide us along a path of reconciliation into the future; because appreciation of the rich history of our Indigenous people and understanding and empathy for the trauma they have endured is crucial to the healing of a broken Australian society.

So, after 236 years of lies. Let’s tell the truth.

If there’s anything you need to know about me, it's that I like talking. If you gave me a microphone, 10 minutes and one topic I could probably talk until your ears are ringing and you’re begging for someone to remove me from the stage so you could finally hear yourself think. And then I’d talk some more.

However, I don’t believe being too talkative should be something we consider negative. Speaking out is the number one way in which regular people aim to create change, especially for those whose voices have been stolen. Alternatively, I believe that overtalking is the key to respectful yarning and reconciliation with the First People of our nation.

Yarning isn’t a word that pops up in our vocabulary very often. It sure wasn’t in mine when I first read the poetry of Yamaji woman Charmaine Papertalk Green and mining-descendant John Kinsella for my Year 12 English course. As described by Green, Yarning is a term created by Indigenous people, and is a ‘beautiful conversation’ which includes deep cultural sharing and understanding of one another through honest conversation.

Green best elaborates on this when she likens yarning to a ‘cascading waterfall smashing to the bottom’: both beautiful and brutal. Multifaceted. However, I don’t believe that our current dialogue reflects this, and the recent Voice to Parliament is a prime example.

Throughout the chaotic campaigning, I witnessed what I can only describe as pure fear taken advantage of by powerful people with not a true yarn in sight. The public was gaslit into thinking they didn’t know what was happening. That change was too far beyond us, and that it was just safer to reject what was new. Some said they’d support treaty instead, because the voice would only damage our Indigenous communities by causing more division. But when all was said and done, I saw that as another lie for some political ground.

But just recently, I had the opportunity to yarn over hot drinks with Deb, a proud Narungga woman and social worker to gain an alternate perspective. In that space, it became obvious to me that as an Indigenous woman in a post-referendum society, she and others in her community are struggling now more than ever to have people demonstrate basic respect and understanding of a culture that has preceded white settlement for thousands of years. 
Deb expressed to me how hard she finds being an Indigenous woman in a world that actively rejects her inputs, and the hopelessness that has echoed through to young Indigenous people she works with who struggled with the referendum’s defeat.

It seems clear we have dismissed the notion of yarning entirely once the voice was silenced, and it needs reversing. It seems clear that yarning should become a central part of the function of our federal government to ensure it can benefit all of us.

The consequences of the absence of yarning are in plain sight, and Indigenous youth bear the brunt of this in our legal system. Only 3% of 10-17 year olds in the Northern Territory are Indigenous, however 93% of those Indigenous teens are going through the legal system according to the Institute of Health and Welfare. This is unfortunately due to the generational impacts of colonisation and systemic racism in vital social institutions, such as our police force, domestic violence response and foster care systems.

Racial bias in our medical education and practice affect the quality of care we are able to give to Indigenous people. Our medical diagrams are almost exclusively of caucasian models which do not illustrate the effect of certain conditions on darker skin, and we generally fail to understand the deep impacts of colonisation and continued alienation on their mental and emotional health. This has led to suicide becoming the 5th leading cause of death in Indigenous people, also according to the Institue of Health and Welfare.

And the cherry on top is that when people, especially Indigenous people, speak out and stand up about the issues that affect them, they are met with indifference, annoyance and dismissive hand waves. No wonder we perceive that being vocal and talkative is some controversial daring stunt: we all know that those who take stands can get burned. Adam Goodes, a generational football talent and legend of the game, was booed and told he was too ‘heavy handed’ in his response to racist abuse according to commentator Sam Newman, leading him to quit the sport.

When Eddie Mabo took the idea of Terra Nullius or ‘nobody's land’ to the High Court to get Indigenous ownership of the land recognised, was he greeted with nation-wide celebration and acclaim? No. When he was alive, he was denied his right to education, cinemas, buses and even bathrooms as an Indigenous man, forced into segregation and shame. When he died, his grave was vandalised with swastikas and graffitied with racist slurs.

What does this say about our willingness to engage with the activism of Indigenous Australians? It all screams privilege. It screams ignorance. It screams a preference for silence. And it will require more than just a few of us to be heard by our lawmakers.

Yarning, conversation and true listening are vital if we wish to build a better relationship with Indigenous people and their culture in this country. And that’s hard to do when often that conversation involves acknowledging the legacy our ancestors have left. It’s hard to do when it involves confronting our racial biases. It’s hard when many people feel that yarning involves taking personal responsibility for colonist actions all those centuries ago.

We should be able to rely on our national institutions to dispel these attitudes, but in the meantime, there are things we can do too. Yarning can be an informal conversation we have with our communities and friendship groups. It can be the simple act of giving someone else a new understanding with a 2 minute yarn. A new perspective over Deb’s tea and my hot chocolate.

The very future and fabric of our country rests on the shoulders of our ability to share, connect and heal each-other. It rests on us being far too talkative for our own good. As Charmaine Papertalk Green wrote, ‘From that moment, That space, That time, Yarning puts us on common ground’.

He gets slammed to the ground, two officers' knees digging into the back of his head, until he is on the brink of passing out. No tears fall; he is too far gone for emotion, knowing there is no hope of sympathy. Eventually, he gets dragged to the back of the cells, strip-searched and humiliated in front of the other inmates. Once, he used to scream at the beatings and the chafing of the handcuffs, but now he is silent. After being kept in an empty cell for so long, he has become steeled to isolation. He knows his only interactions will be moments of harrowing abuse and mistreatment. He doesn't want to see anyone; he doesn't want to be with anyone. He is only 14.

This boy, among many others, was once detained at Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in the Northern territory. Here, the assault he faced left him with trauma that corrodes his life and relationships even years after having completed his sentence.

Today, I will be addressing the flaws in the Australian youth justice system and its detrimental impact on our vulnerable youth.

Four Corners, a docu-series on ABC News, investigated ongoing abuses within youth detention facilities. In an episode titled, ‘Australia’s Shame’, footage was released that showed images and a video of children being tear-gassed, with one even being cuffed and restrained to a chair. This understandably triggered international outrage and a royal commission, leaving many Australians deeply shocked and devastated.

And unfortunately, the exploitation of our youth in this way is far from the only issue. Coupled with this, is Australia’s appalling age of criminal responsibility, which currently is just 10.

Can you imagine a 4th grader being subjected to the cruel, degrading practices of these centres?

Think about the young children in your life; siblings, cousins, peers. How much do they know and understand about the law?  How much do they even understand about their own emotions or the consequences of their actions? How much of the responsibility for their behaviour lies with their guardians?

And if they were to commit a crime deemed worthy of placing them in detention, would these centres be the right place to rehabilitate them?

According to Jesuit Social Services, children under 14 have rarely developed the social, emotional and intellectual maturity necessary for criminal responsibility. But it's something that Australia has completely chosen to ignore, with 41, 10-13 year olds being detained last year.

This is completely out of step with international human rights standards, with the global average age for criminal responsibility being 14. Even the United Nations has repeatedly condemned Australia’s position, as what's legal in our country is prohibited in nations such as New Zealand, Italy and Japan.

Our former royal commissioner states that "In 100 years' time, people are going to look at us, Australians, and say, "They'd lock kids up who were 10 and 11 and 12? What were they thinking to do with this?" We'll be considered barbarians by future generations because we lock 10-year-olds up.

These awful human rights violations just barely scratch the surface of the underlying issues in this system.  We’ve also got over-policing of ethnic minority groups such as Africans, Pacific Islanders and the Indigenous population of Australia. A report from the Productivity Commission states that Indigenous young people are detained in these facilities at a rate 22 times higher than any other group. The report then immediately goes on to highlight how raising the age of criminal responsibility would lead to a 15% decrease in the number of detained Indigenous children.

As Australians we claim we are all ‘one and free’ but these Indigenous kids are ‘isolated and trapped’ in this cycle of systematic racism that amplifies oppression and hatred. Is this really the Australia we aspire to have, the Australia that we want to live in?

The sad reality is that we know the disadvantages faced by Indigenous children at the hands of such extreme generational trauma. And it's not just Indigenous kids, it's every kid in these centres.

Of the youth justice orders given out last year in Victoria, 78% of those kids, aged 10-12, were already known to child protection. This showcases the undeniable correlation between kids who come from a background of disadvantage, violence or neglect and the crime they commit.

Imagine a child who already has pre-existing neurocognitive impairments, like fetal alcohol spectrum disorder or trauma. Now, picture this child being placed in a facility among others who are also struggling with similar challenges and the devastating impact becomes blatantly obvious. 
When we take a step back and really assess our youth detention system, there are far too many issues that need to be resolved.

Of course, recovery is not an overnight process and current reforms in Victoria are underway. But unfortunately, even with these reforms, the minimum age of responsibility will not be increased to 14 until 2027; which is simply not fast or good enough. This is not a matter that needs a multi-step plan to implement. It needs an empathic lens that sees immediate assistance for our youth.

Support services and the other initiatives being offered as part of these changes can be implemented after we address the root problems and stop slapping a bandaid over this massive wound in the system. We need to keep on campaigning for things to change throughout our whole country, by supporting ‘The Raise the Age Campaign’ and being a voice for these kids. We need to protect our children so that in history's page, at least in this stage, we uphold the legacy of our nation with respect and dignity for our troubled youth.  

I want us to think back to the 14-year-old boy, his story, his life tainted by abuse and his childhood stolen. It serves as a stark reminder of the human cost of a system that fails its most vulnerable children.

The abuse our youth endure in detention centres, the young age at which they are subjected to this profound trauma and the systematic issues our government is failing to address, are undeniably 'Australia's shame.'

Thank you.