Roundtable focuses on youth mental health
19 August 2026
The lived experience of young people facing mental health challenges was discussed at a roundtable held at Parliament House.
Participants provided insights on a range of issues including the impacts of insecure housing, financial stresses, and dealing with the stigma often associated with mental health.
Organised as part of parliament’s community engagement program, the roundtable included members of the Legislative Assembly Legal and Social Issues Committee together with young people, staff and volunteers from headspace National. They were joined by representatives from headspace Collingwood, headspace Geelong, headspace Hawthorn and headspace Syndal.
‘Sitting at a roundtable like this it was a really exciting opportunity to be able to all share our experiences and our insights and be listened to by the members that represent some of our communities,’ Miles McCoy said after participating in the discussions.
Regional young people spoke about loneliness and feelings of isolation when moving to Melbourne to pursue educational and work opportunities.
Challenges around accessing services, particularly in regional and rural areas, were also discussed.
‘It is important for our voices to be heard and for issues to be heard as well so that there's consideration into how further policies or actions can be implemented,’ Sullivan Tung said.
For Monicah Murimi it was an opportunity to speak about some of the mental health struggles that international students face.
‘Some of the key struggles are loneliness and acculturative stress, so feeling disconnected from home life, homesickness and navigating the different systems, the healthcare system, financial systems and education systems in Australia,’ she said.
Suggestions on what steps could be taken to address these issues were also raised by the young people.
MPs attending the discussion included Meng Heang Tak (Committee Chair), Ella George, Cindy McLeish and Chris Couzens.
They highlighted the importance of parliamentarians engaging directly with young people on issues that are affecting them in their daily lives, to help inform policies and actions going forward.
‘It's such an honour and privilege to hear directly from our young people from headspace, their own first-hand experience and what we can do as a parliamentarian to respond or to make positive change a part of the conversation,’ Meng Heang Tak said.
‘One thing I'll take away is that housing is mental health,’ Ella George said.
‘We heard from young people about the importance of housing when it comes to your mental health journey, just how important it is to feel safe and stable and secure.’
