Claire Achmad: Chief Children's Commissioner raises concerns about lacking basics

The Chief Children's Commissioner says we're still dropping the ball in providing some of the basics for our young people.  

The Government's Child and Youth Strategy report shows improvements in attendance, smoking, drinking, and offending rates. 

However material hardship, immunisations, food insecurity, and avoidable hospitalisations have all worsened.  

Claire Achmad told Mike Hosking she wants the Government to put a bigger focus on children. 

She says around half of children live in benefit dependent households, which doesn't provide enough for children to thrive. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Our Children's Commissioner has produced three new reports looking at
the well being of our kids. We've got some good news.
School attendance is up, we've got more people into preschool,
youth offending us down, and generally we're seeing less smoking
and drinking among our kids, all of which I would
have thought is positive. Chief of our Children's Commissioner, Clear
outmates back with us? Clear, good morning, Good.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Morning, Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Are you broadly happy with us?

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Look like you said, there are some positive things in
this new report which has been released by the government
about how children are doing in this country, the things
that you need to ingest there. I am pleased to
see that we are making some improvements. However, what this
report also shows is that on some of the absolute basics,

(00:44):
we are still completely dropping the ball for children. And
I'm really concerned about this, and I do want to
see the government stepping up with urgency to put a
more central focus on children and how they're doing in
this country.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
The main benefit thing that you talk about, in other words,
are more kids who are reliant on A main benefit
from their parents is that the recent job layoffs thing
that will flush through presumably the economy grows.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Just to be clear again, Mike, this is an annual
report of official data that the government has published. I
haven't published it. But what I look at is the
Children's Commissioner is I take an independent look at that,
and I see across these indicators that there are some
consuming things. I am consumed to see that more children

(01:32):
are living in benefit dependent households. Why that consumes me
is because we also know, if we look at the
child poverty data, the round half of children live in
benefit dependent households, and we know that the incomes from
our wealthare payments. It doesn't provide enough for children to thrive,

(01:53):
and so that is concerning to me. Also the fact
that there's a lagamous data. So this report with the
to the period ending in June twenty twenty four last year,
and what I've been hearing in the community. I've just
been in to Typotany the Wist coast this week, for example,
meeting with children, young people and families there, and they've

(02:16):
been telling me, like other children and families around the country,
about the really harsh realities of poverty in this country.
The fact is it's really hard to thrive as a
child if you're going without some of the basics and
that's what this report shows.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Appreciate your time, clear, doctor clear. I'm going to who
is the Chief Children's Commissioner for more from the mic
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