This morning I would like to raise the voices of two young people in my community as part of the Raise Your Voice campaign.

This is by Sabri:

Words are not enough; young Australians deserve action. It's very clear a better tomorrow requires the actions of great courage, fairness and vision. We must take bold optimistic and ambitious steps today for a hopeful tomorrow. Future Australians will judge us on not if we act but how we act as a country.

A strong democracy relies on informed and active citizens. Civic education is a foundation of that choice, yet too many Australians leave school without truly understanding how our democracy works, the power of our vote in elections or how they can shape it for a better tomorrow. Governments must take steps to continue to strengthen and invest in teaching young minds on voting, elections, structure of government, role of leaders, and continue to provide students a platform to engage in parliament.

Civic education is not just about knowing we have a government; it's about empowering the next generation to think critically, to question and to participate in our democracy. A mandatory education syllabus on civic education across Australia would ensure that every young Australian, no matter their background, leaves school with the knowledge and skills to participate in democracy.

Thanks, Sabri, for such a wonderful contribution.

The next contribution is from Anika:

If we want future generations to truly cherish their lives and feel fulfilled we must enabled equitable r education services. For any successful society, we must enable a range of different skill sets without any barriers or disadvantage to individuals. Too young people are facing barriers to education in a country where this should not dictate their futures. These obstacles can become overcome with governments.

Financial inequity or even location are modifiable factors that should never be a barrier for student to seek to gain knowledge and guarantee their future. Investing in education is a long-term investment for Australia, committing us to prosperity, wellbeing and equality across all different people. Giving every young Australian an equal opportunity sets us on the road to a meaningful future.

Thank you to Sabri and Anika for your contributions. I very much enjoyed reading them to the House.

Link to Hansard: Full Speech