This is what happened in the sixth sitting week of the year, which was from Tuesday 14 to Thursday 16 May.
House of Assembly (Lower House)
number of times ‘young people’ were mentioned: 24
number of times ‘youth’ was said: 1
Premier Hon Peter Malinauskas MP was asked what his Government’s plans were to ‘reduce online harm to kids’. Malinauskas discussed his government being determined to pursue changes to social media regulation that would prohibit social media engagement for any young person under the age of 14 and require parental consent for those aged 14 and 15 years old.
He said: “Our motivations here are simply the interests of young people. There is no more precious resource than the future generations of our state. There is no higher obligation on people in this place than preserving and protecting young people from harm where that can be achieved. Governments and parliaments around the world have always regulated, or curtailed access to those products and services that we know have the potential to do young people harm. I think we now have enough evidence to suggest the need is there to do the same with respect to social media.”Matthew Cowdrey MP (Member for Colton, Liberal) addressed the House on net interstate migration and the issue commonly referred to as ‘brain drain’ and the importance of making South Australia an accessible home state for young people.
Legislative Council (Upper House)
number of times ‘young people’ were mentioned: 39
number of times ‘youth’ was said: 15
Hon Robert Simms MLC (Greens) discussed a report by Equality Australia, Dismissed, Denied and Demeaned: A National Report on LGBTQ+ Discrimination in Faith-Based Schools and Organisations
He said it: “points to a systemic suppression of LGBTI identities and lives. For young people coming of age and exploring who they are, the silence about LGBTI people is deafening. Silence says to these young people that they must remain hidden and ashamed of who they are if they want to keep their jobs or if they want to remain in school”Hon Robert Simms MLC made a 2nd reading contribution to the Criminal Law Consolidation (Recruiting Children to Commit Crime) Amendment Bill, which his party will support. He discussed the wealth of research to support raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 and the issues in the Adelaide Youth Training Centre identified by young people via the Office of the Guardian for Children and Young People in their submission to the ‘alternative diversion model’ discussion paper, From Those Who Know.
Attorney-General Hon Kyam Maher MLC (Labor) introduced the Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) (Blood Testing) Amendment Bill to the Council which would amend sections 57 and 58 of the Health Care Act 2008 to extend scope to compel offenders who bite or spit on certain workers to undergo blood testing for communicable diseases. The Bill would include youth justice workers under persons authorised to provide emergency and non-emergency ambulance services.
