Future Healthy Countdown 2030 – A national initiative worth keeping an eye on

As we embark on a project to develop a youth wellbeing framework in the Bega Valley,                it is worth casting our eye to other initiatives underway throughout the country with similar missions. The Future Healthy Countdown 2030 is one worth keeping an eye on. Every year      the ‘Countdown’ highlights how the health and wellbeing of children and young people is tracking, and proposes pathways to an equitable future for all.  

The key indicators highlighted are concerning. For example, 39% of 16-24 year old’s in  Australia experience a mental health disorder; only 34% of Indigenous children are assessed  as developmentally on track at school entry; 12% of 0-24 year old’s live in poverty; and 99%      of public schools are underfunded. 

While we do have some information on how young people are tracking in the Bega Valley,   most of the key indicators for youth wellbeing cannot be localised to our community due to data constraints. This is where the youth wellbeing framework comes in. Through our collaboration with the Australian Bureau of Statistics Life Course Data Initiative we are able    to draw on untapped data resources to obtain a more detailed picture of how life is going for young people in the Bega Valley. 

However, it is so important that we develop the youth wellbeing framework in the right way. That is why we are drawing on the learnings from initiatives like the Future Healthy Countdown, to get this right from the start. The Future Healthy Countdown is based on a wellbeing framework, The Nest, that was developed in consultation with children and young people. Further, young people were heavily involved in a consensus statement to identify the core policy actions and measures contained in the framework. Finally, the Future Healthy Countdown is seeking to bridge the evidence to impact gap. By advocating for key policies   that reflect the needs of children and young people, and also come from the voices of children and young people, the initiative stands more chance of making meaningful change. 

We are embedding all these aspects in the development of the youth wellbeing framework.     By partnering with youth-led organisations such as the Social Justice Advocates (SJA) Youth, we are centring youth voices. This involves firstly identifying what a good life means to young people in the Bega Valley. Importantly, we see young people not just as contributors to this process, but partners and co-researchers. For the wellbeing framework to achieve meaningful and measurable change, we need to think closely about the role, purpose, and value of this framework. Those conversations have started and will continue on for the life of the project.  

Initiatives like the Future Healthy Countdown give us a useful starting base to consider how we should develop a youth wellbeing framework in the Bega Valley. However, we also need to draw on our own strengths and consider how this process might best work in our great community. Have any ideas? Please reach out! 

‘The Nest’ graphic thanks to ARACY