Matt Smith amplifies Claudia’s voice on youth mental health
Joining the 2025 Youth Voice in Parliament campaign, Matt Smith (Member for Leichhardt, QLD) amplified Claudia’s voice on support for youth mental health. Speech transcript below:
“My name is Claudia and I am 16 years old from Cairns.
Right now, young people in regional Queensland are living through a youth mental health crisis. In my community, the nearest psychologist can be a four-hour drive away—200 kilometres that a struggling teenager simply cannot travel. Even when you get there, waitlists can stretch for six months. For a young person in crisis, six months isn’t just too long. It’s deadly.
One in four young Australians experience mental ill-health, but in regional areas, support is almost impossible to reach. We are told to “speak up” and “be resilient,” yet when we do, there is no one there to answer.
If the government truly wants to build a better tomorrow, it must start today—by funding free, local, culturally safe mental health services that are accessible in every community. No young Australian should be told to wait. No one should be left behind because of their postcode.
We don’t need promises. We need action. And we need it now.”