Agency Performance - Enhance the Commissioner’s reach and influence

Profile of children and young people in Western Australia 2026

The annual Profile of Children and Young People in Western Australia report was published in early 2026.

The Profile report provides a demographic overview of Western Australia's 657,000 children and young people, who represent 21.7% of the state's total population. It also highlights recent data on how children and young people are faring in key areas such as learning, health and safety. Where possible, the latest results were compared with data from around 10 years ago to identify any emerging trends.

Following previous iterations of the report, the focus was placed on individuals experiencing vulnerability and hardship, such as those in the juvenile justice system, in out-of-home care, living with a disability or living in poverty.

The Profile report also included preliminary findings from the Speaking Out Survey 2025, including data relating to the participants' life satisfaction, mental health, material wellbeing and family functioning.

Key areas of concern were highlighted in the Points of Focus section of the report. These concerns include the mental health of Western Australia's children and young people and their feelings of connectedness within their community. The Profile report also highlights rising developmental risks and concerns, the increasing numbers of children falling through gaps in early-identification systems, poor diets and unhealthy weight among children, and youth detention rates.

To ensure that young people can understand the information presented, the report was written in a way that is accessible to people as young as 12 years old.

The Profile report is a component of the Commissioner's Wellbeing Monitoring Framework and can be used by government and non-government organisations to help them allocate resources for children and young people across Western Australia.

The Profile received considerable interest, including from the media. The Commissioner will continue to publish the Profile annually to monitor emerging trends and explore how information can be used to provide better outcomes for Western Australian children and young people in the future.

Key statistics from the Profile report can be found here.

In the media

The Commissioner advocates for Western Australia's children and young people in a range of ways, raising awareness of issues affecting their wellbeing and promoting positive social change.

This advocacy includes tabling reports in the WA Parliament arising from inquiries, surveys and Listening Tours. The Commissioner also meets regularly with Members of Parliament, government officials and agencies to discuss policies, practices and services and to ensure that the voices of children and young people are actively heard and considered.

Where it is in the best interests of children and young people, the Commissioner also provides public commentary through the media. In 2025-26, she engaged extensively across print, digital, broadcast and radio platforms, reaching metropolitan, regional and national audiences. Her commentary maintained a strong focus on early childhood development, mental health, youth justice, child poverty, family and domestic violence, and the right of young people to participate in decisions that affect their lives.

The release of the Profile in March 2026 attracted significant coverage across major metropolitan outlets, with the Commissioner prominently quoted in both the print and digital editions of The West Australian. The release of What Young People Said: Youth Consultation on the Social Media Ban in March 2026 generated further coverage across metropolitan and regional radio as well as multiple stories in the National Indigenous Times.

An incident at Banksia Hill Detention Centre in November 2025 drew sustained media attention, with the Commissioner commenting on multiple metropolitan radio stations including ABC Radio, 6PR, 94.5, NOVA and 96FM, and featuring in television news coverage across Nine News, Channel Ten, Seven News and the ABC.

Child poverty received prominent media attention in December 2025, when the Sunday Times reported that one in six Western Australian children now lives in poverty, with the Commissioner cited in the coverage. The Commissioner's hosting of the ANZCCGA meeting in Perth in early 2026 and the subsequent Youth Forum generated further coverage across community and regional platforms, including 6DBY Larrkardi Radio.

The Commissioner's messages on health, mental health, early childhood development, youth justice, child poverty, family and domestic violence and the participation rights of young people reached a wide audience through this engagement, as well as through policy position statements and three opinion pieces in The West Australian. The October 2025 opinion piece addressed shared responsibility for children's wellbeing during Children's Week; the December 2025 piece discussed the implications of the social media ban for LGBTIQA+ young people; and the March 2026 piece called for policy frameworks to recognise children as victims of family and domestic violence in their own right. These pieces were complemented by interviews and coverage across ABC Radio (metropolitan and regional), Noongar Radio, 6DBY Larrkardi Radio, GWN7, Youth Jam Radio, the National Indigenous Times and other state and national press.

The Commissioner also maintains an active presence on social media platforms including LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. During the 2025-26 financial year, the Commissioner continued to strengthen her use of social media as a key channel to better engage with children and young people as well as broader stakeholders, with a clear focus on amplifying young voices and increasing accessibility to the Commissioner's work. Social platforms were used to promote consultations, campaigns and resources, such as the DigiMe online engagement platform and initiatives like Snapshot WA, encouraging young people to actively share their views and experiences in ways that are familiar and accessible to them. This approach reflects a broader strategic intent to enhance the Commissioner's profile, reach and impact by meeting audiences where they are and supporting more direct, two-way engagement.

The Commissioner also leveraged social media to communicate timely information on emerging issues affecting children and young people, including national reforms such as social media age restrictions, while providing practical guidance for parents and carers. In parallel, the Commissioner expanded her use of multimedia content, such as video and regional storytelling, to showcase consultation activities across Western Australia, helping to ensure that diverse voices, including those in regional and remote communities, were visible and heard. Collectively, these efforts demonstrate a more deliberate, audience-focused use of social media to build awareness, encourage participation and strengthen relationships with key stakeholders.

Case study: Megan Sadler, Manager Media Communications and Engagement – Social Media for Gov conference panel discussion

Last year I was asked to participate in a panel discussion at the 20th annual Social Media for Gov conference in Melbourne, a prestigious national event and an invitation that reflects the growing impact and leadership of the Commissioner for Children and Young People in digital engagement across Australia.

Alongside communications professionals from the ABC and Queensland Health, I spoke about the responsibilities that government agencies hold when communicating with vulnerable communities, including children and young people.

The session explored how we can create safe, respectful and effective digital communication, and how social media can be used to build trust and support access to services.

When asked about the challenges of communicating with children and young people, I emphasised that their voices matter, especially those of LGBTIQA+ young people, children with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse young people and those living in rural and remote areas.

I explained that rather than expecting young people to come to us, we need to meet them in the spaces they trust, as many young people are understandably sceptical of government agencies.

I discussed the importance of authentic, youth-led content and the need for strong storytelling to achieve cut through in a crowded digital environment. I shared the Commissioner's work supporting young people ahead of the social media ban, reflected on why communication with vulnerable communities is essential, offered practical moderation advice and noted that social media in government is far more than communications, it is crisis management, customer service, policy translation and community engagement, and it must be properly resourced to be effective.

I learnt so much from the varied two-day program and brought back insights to strengthen how the Commissioner and our team can continue to advocate for children and young people across Western Australia and on a national level.

Sponsorships

The Commissioner sponsors a range of awards that recognise the valuable contributions of organisations and individuals working to improve the lives of children and young people and celebrate the achievements and contributions of children and young people within the community. From time to time, the Commissioner also sponsors events and scholarships that support and benefit children and young people.

WA Youth Awards

The Commissioner continued her support of the WA Youth Awards, delivered by the Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia, through sponsorship of the Participate Award. This category recognises young people aged 12 to 17 who demonstrate a strong commitment to making a positive difference in their communities and inspiring others.

The 2025 Participate Award was presented to Sofia Ballerini, whose resilience and dedication to supporting at-risk young people in the Pilbara has made a profound impact in her community. Through her advocacy, peer support work and commitment to creating safer, more inclusive spaces for young people facing hardship, Sofia has demonstrated exceptional leadership and compassion. The Commissioner also acknowledged the outstanding achievements of the finalists – Amindi Elvadura, Amy Duong and Lily Gaulton – each of whom has shown remarkable initiative and passion in their efforts to uplift others, champion important causes and contribute meaningfully to their communities.

In May 2026, the award was renamed the Rising Voice Award to better reflect the purpose of the award, to recognise young people who are using their voice, leadership and influence to make a positive difference in their communities.

IPAA Awards

The Commissioner for Children and Young People proudly sponsors two award categories at the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) WA Awards each year. The awards highlight and celebrate public sector organisations that demonstrate excellence in engaging with children and young people, ensuring that their voices meaningfully shape the policies, services and systems that affect them. This sponsorship reinforces the importance of child-centred practice and recognises agencies leading the way in embedding participation, consultation and accountability.

Award for Best Practice in Children's Consultation. In 2025, the Award for Best Practice in Children's Consultation was presented to Broome Residential College for its My Place, My Future project. The initiative demonstrated excellence in culturally responsive engagement, using strength-based approaches to elevate student voice and inform decision making. The project has also contributed to increased awareness of the College among regional and remote communities, showcasing the value of genuine, respectful consultation with young people.

Complaints Handling Award. The Complaints Handling Award recognises organisations that demonstrate a strong commitment to involving children and young people in the design and continuous improvement of complaints processes. In 2025, the award was presented to the Child and Adolescent Health Service for its Complaints Management Improvement Project, which adopted a co-designed approach to strengthen feedback mechanisms, improve accessibility and enhance organisational capability. This work reflects a sector leading commitment to ensuring that young people can safely and confidently raise concerns and influence service improvement.

Zero2Hero Camp Hero scholarships

The Commissioner proudly supported the Zero2Hero's Camp Hero scholarships, helping to remove financial barriers for young people pursuing education and personal development opportunities. This investment empowers participants to build confidence, develop leadership skills, and take meaningful steps toward their future goals.

YAL Connect scholarship

The Commissioner sponsored the YAL (Young Australia League) Connect scholarships, which support young people facing barriers to engaging in education. The two-year scholarship provides financial assistance for a young person who entered Year 10 or 11 in 2025.

See the YAL Connect recipients announcement on LinkedIn.

Collaboration

Australian and New Zealand Children's Commissioners, Guardians and Advocates

The Commissioner is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Children's Commissioners, Guardians and Advocates (ANZCCGA), a collaborative body that promotes and protects the rights, safety and wellbeing of children and young people across Australia and New Zealand. Through ANZCCGA, members advocate for children and young people's participation in decision making and for systemic improvements across areas including child protection, mental health, housing, youth justice and child poverty.

ANZCCGA supports Australia's commitments under key international frameworks, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

During the year, ANZCCGA published joint statements on matters of national significance, including a response to In Plain Sight, the Queensland Child Death Review Board's final report into system responses to child sexual abuse. ANZCCGA called for coordinated national action to strengthen child safeguarding systems, improve accountability and information sharing, and ensure trauma-informed support for victim survivors and their families.

Western Australia hosted the ANZCCGA meeting in Boorloo (Perth) from 17 to 19 February 2026. The meeting included opportunities for members to engage directly with children and young people through school visits and a youth forum.

Young people from a range of advocacy organisations shared lived experiences and practical solutions on issues including mental health and wellbeing, housing insecurity, discrimination, disability inclusion, education and employment pathways, and cost of living pressures.

ANZCCGA meets twice a year face to face and quarterly online, strengthening cross jurisdictional collaboration to advance the rights and wellbeing of children and young people.

First Nations Children's Commissioners, Guardians and Advocates

The First Nations Children's Commissioners, Guardians and Advocates (FNCCGA) forms part of ANZCCGA.

Through ANZCCGA, FNCCGA advocates for the rights and best interests of Aboriginal children and young people, elevates their voices, shares insights across jurisdictions and promotes systemic improvements in the design and delivery of policies and programs.

FNCCGA advocated for the establishment of the National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, with Ms Sue Anne Hunter appointed to the role in late 2025. They also advocate for the creation of state and territory based Aboriginal Commissioners for Children and Young People.

Safe and Supported: The National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children 2021-2030

The Commissioner is a member of the National Safe and Supported Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Group.

The Commissioner is a member of three Safe and Supported governance groups including the Shared Decision-Making Committee (SDMC) with the Community Services Ministers from all jurisdictions.

Safe and Supported continues to advance the agenda on the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and the commitments in the Action Plans.

Australian Child and Youth Wellbeing Atlas

The Commissioner is an ongoing contributor to the development of the Australian Child and Youth Wellbeing Atlas. This project has developed a publicly available resource that links data about children and young people's wellbeing with a map-based format. It integrates health and wellbeing metrics, mapping data and data visualisation tools. Gathering data in this way makes it possible to view and compare how children and young people are tracking in the regions where they live. The Atlas is constantly evolving as more data and features are added. The focus during 2025-26 was on the inclusion of data from other jurisdictions to support national analysis and reporting.

Play Matters Collective

The Commissioner is the Patron of Play Matters Collective, a cross-sector group advocating for the promotion of children's right to play as fundamental to their wellbeing and development. The Collective works collaboratively with stakeholders to advance initiatives such as International Day of Play, which aims to elevate the importance of play and incorporate children and young people's voices in shaping future play strategies.

In May 2026, the Commissioner, together with the Play Matters Collective, launched a statewide survey to capture how children and young people experience play in their daily lives. More than 1,000 submissions were received as of 30 June 2026. The responses will be provided for consideration in the development of the WA Play Strategy.

During 2025-26, the Commissioner also supported opportunities to engage children and young people on the importance of play, including exploring options to gather their views through upcoming forums and school-based consultation activities.

End to child poverty

The Commissioner has called for urgent, coordinated action to address the rising rates of child poverty in Western Australia. Ongoing cost-of-living pressures and a tightening housing market have contributed to an estimated 103,900 children and young people in Western Australia living below the poverty line in 2025.

These trends continue to shape and inform the Commissioner's priorities and advocacy, reinforcing the position that no child should experience disadvantage due to socio-economic or structural barriers.

The Commissioner urges all levels of government, alongside community and private sectors, to deliver sustained, evidence-based reform grounded in a child-centred approach, to ensure that children not only survive, but thrive.

The Commissioner continues to support the work of the Valuing Children Initiative and the End to Child Poverty campaign, which aim to raise community awareness and drive action to eliminate child poverty. This includes advocating for the Australian Government to adopt a child-centred definition of poverty and to implement comprehensive policy and funding reforms that address income adequacy, housing access, education, health and social inclusion.

Justice Reform Initiative Ambassador

In 2025 the Commissioner attended the 19th Annual Reintegration Puzzle Conference in Alice Springs, where she presented on a keynote panel about youth justice and participated in a community roundtable with fellow ANZCCGA members to hear directly from community representatives about solutions to the ongoing and unacceptable overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the youth justice system.

As a result of this impactful presentation, the Justice Reform Initiative invited the Commissioner to be an Ambassador in 2025-26.

Early Years Partnership

The Commissioner serves on the board of the Early Years Partnership, a collaboration between the WA Government and the Minderoo Foundation. The initiative works with four communities to improve early childhood outcomes through a co-design approach identifying local priorities, developing community-led plans and implementing evidence-based solutions. The model supports more integrated, coordinated and responsive early years services for children and families.

See the ANZCCGA joint statement.

Kimberley Aboriginal Youth Wellbeing Steering Committee

As a member of the Kimberley Aboriginal Youth Wellbeing Steering Committee, the Commissioner emphasised that Aboriginal-led solutions, shared authority and collaborative decision making are essential to improving Aboriginal youth wellbeing.

In early 2026, the state government formalised a partnership agreement with the Kimberley Aboriginal Regional Governance Group at a ceremonial event in Broome. The Kimberley Aboriginal Youth Wellbeing Steering Committee Partnership Agreement was established to transform the way the government and Aboriginal leaders work together.

Through collaboration and shared decision making, the agreement aims to strengthen outcomes for Aboriginal young people in Kimberley and achieve a sustained reduction in self-harm and suicidal behaviours, towards zero.

Edith Cowan University School of Education Advisory Board

The Commissioner is a member of the Edith Cowan University School of Education Advisory Board, along with leaders from across the education sector. The Board provides strategic guidance to inform the development of the next generation of teachers and researchers who will support our children and young people.

Trans and gender diverse children and young people

The Commissioner continued to advocate for greater inclusion and recognition of trans and gender diverse young people, emphasising that strengthening LGBTIQA+ education and services in Western Australia requires sustained, long-term policy commitment.

In addition to participating in the 2025 Perth Pride Parade with the Youth Pride Network, the Commissioner collaborated on a joint op-ed addressing Australia's unsettling rise in online hate speech and discrimination targeting queer communities. In this piece, the Commissioner called for stronger moderation of hate speech; investment in community-led online spaces; education teaching young people how to navigate digital environments safely; and policies acknowledging young people's agency rather than denying it.

At-Risk Youth Strategy working groups

The WA Government's At-Risk Youth Strategy 2022-2027 focuses on improving outcomes for young people aged 10 to 24 years with multiple and complex needs who are at risk of harm and increased vulnerability of experiencing poor life outcomes. The Commissioner contributes to the Implementation Working Group and Reference Groups for the strategy, advocating for vulnerable children and young people to receive the wrap-around support they need.

National Stakeholder Advisory Board, Young Minds: Our Future

The Young Minds: Our Future national survey on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in Australia will update the data on the national prevalence of mental disorders and use of mental health services for Australian children and adolescents.

The Commissioner contributes to the work of the National Stakeholder Advisory Board to support this important initiative, which will inform the next generation of service delivery, health promotion and prevention.

Family Court of WA Reference Group

The Commissioner is a member of the Family Court of WA Reference Group, advocating for the wellbeing of children and young people engaged with the Court and related service providers. The Reference Group includes government agencies and key non-government organisations such as community legal centres and social support services. During 2025-26, the Reference Group noted improvements in court efficiencies, including reduced delays in hearings and regional circuit matters.

However, ongoing systemic challenges were identified, including workforce shortages in regional and remote areas, increasing demand for services and the continued impact of housing insecurity on family and domestic violence. There was also a strong emphasis across the sector on the growing need for child-inclusive practices and ensuring that children's voices are meaningfully considered in decisions that affect them.

Senate Inquiry into Australia's youth justice and incarceration system

In March 2026, the Commissioner appeared at the Senate Inquiry into Australia's youth justice and incarceration system Perth hearing alongside Eamon Ryan, WA Inspector of Custodial Services. The focus was on the overrepresentation of First Nations children in detention and as the Commissioner told the committee: 'In what other first world country, do we see children dying in custody? It is critically important for us to stand up collectively and say, "Please hear the voices of our children and young people".'

This appearance followed on from the hearing in 2024-25 alongside fellow Commissioners, Guardians and Advocates from around Australia.

In the media: WA Commissioner calls for urgent early intervention as child outcomes decline.