Resources
The Commissioner has produced a suite of resources relating to what South Australian children and young people have told her about health. These resources are listed in date order from newest to oldest. You can search the Publications Directory by subject for information on a specific topic.
Realising children and young people’s rights to positive relationships, and sexual health and wellbeing
Ensuring South Australian children and young people have the knowledge and skills to experience positive, healthy, and respectful relationships is critical to the enjoyment of all rights set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. All...
Greening Our Canteens Campaign Position Brief
Members of the South Australian Student Representative Council (SA SRC) want all South Australian schools to be environmentally sustainable. This includes improving the waste and recycling practices of their school canteen to reduce food waste going to landfill and...
Fitness for Free Campaign Position Brief
Members of the South Australian Student Representative Council (SA SRC) want South Australian high school students to be granted free access to swimming pools, gyms, leisure centres and fitness classes. Getting active and interacting with others helps young people...
Listening to LGBTQIA+ Young People
This snapshot summary takes a close look at the large surveys conducted by the Commissioner on relationships and sexual health education, periods, sport, work and public transport in relation to responses from lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex...
Responding to Vaping at School: Approaches that Work
Vaping is something that is occurring in the context of our broader society. More needs to be done to counter online advertising and social media content around vaping, as well as introducing stronger public health messaging around the risks of vaping and its...
What young people need to know about relationships and positive mental and sexual health
This Position Brief outlines what young South Australians want when it comes to relationships and sexual and mental health education. In 2023, the Commissioner asked South Australian students in Years 10, 11 & 12 what they needed to feel supported in their...
Why we need an overarching vision for children and young people’s health in South Australia
Although there are significant strategies and service providers in place throughout SA, including the state’s ten local health networks, the siloed and fragmented nature of these services means we have a system that is inefficient, with competing agendas and...
Developing a ‘Fit for Purpose’ mental health crisis care system for a 21st century children and young people
Despite increased awareness-raising around mental health, and improving access to quality mental health information, children and young people continue to face significant challenges in maintaining their wellbeing and mental health. When children and young people...
Missing Voices: Mental health challenges as described by primary school children
As part of ongoing work ensuring that all South Australian children and young people have a voice, the Commissioner released a series of booklets highlighting key issues as raised by children through the Commissioner's Student Voice Postcards initiative. This is a...
Health, Wellbeing and Physical Activity: The Perspectives of Children and Young People
Australian children are among the least active in the world. A recent study found that only 18% of Australian children aged 5–17 years are getting the 60 minutes of daily physical activity they need to lead a healthy lifestyle. Throughout 2021 and 2022 the...
South Australian Children’s Experience of Living with Chronic Illness
It is estimated that between 16 and 20 percent of children and young people in South Australia will suffer with a chronic illness at some point in their childhood. Currently there is no way of assessing or addressing the severity of this impact. Without knowing the...
Legislation Priorities to Improve Outcomes for South Australia’s Children and Young People 2022-2026
As future participants in Australia’s democracy, children and young people rely upon political parties to be focused on future-proofing their lives through development and implementation of policies and practices that will enable them to not merely survive, but to...
The Things That Matter to Children
Through the Commissioner’s Student Voice Postcard initiative South Australian primary school aged children have consistently said that there are four things that matter to them more than most. Not surprisingly one of these is the environment. Another is school and...
What Young People Have Told Us About…Periods, Relationships, and their Sexual Health Education
Since 2017, SA Commissioner for Children and Young People, Helen Connolly has spoken with thousands of South Australian kids to find out what they think are the most important issues of our time. The following fact sheets present their views and ideas in relation...
What Young People Have Told Us About…
Since 2017, SA Commissioner for Children and Young People, Helen Connolly has spoken with thousands of South Australian kids to find out what they think are the most important issues of our time. The following fact sheets present their views and ideas in relation...
Knowing Your Rights to Good Health
You have the right to GOOD HEALTH! To have safe water to drink and nutritious food to eat.To live in a clean and safe environment.To get medical care if you are sick or injured.To be given information about health and nutrition.
Being Healthy Guide
More than perhaps any other generation, today’s young people are acutely aware of the diversity of their peers, both in South Australia and around the world. The first truly global generation, young people value diversity and place a huge importance on personal...
Impact of Periods on School Students in South Australia
An issue highlighted in the Commissioner for Children & Young People’s report Leave No One Behind was period poverty. The report on young people’s perceptions andexperiences of poverty in South Australia identified that some young people are missing school...
Sanitary Products in Schools
An issue highlighted in the Commissioner for Children and Young People’s recentreport Leave No One Behind, was ‘period poverty’. The report on young people’s perceptions and experiences of poverty in South Australia identified that some girls are missing school...
Sanitary Product Supply to School Students in South Australia
This Position Brief explores ‘period poverty' and access to sanitary products across 48 public high schools in metro and regional SA. An issue highlighted in the Commissioner for Children and Young People’s recent report Leave No One Behind, was ‘period poverty’....
Drug Education in Schools – What Works, What Doesn’t
This Position Brief outlines why the Commissioner of Children and Young People (2019) that ‘any anti-drug program introduced into an SA school should first be able to demonstrate evidence that it is safe and effective'. Schools should be part of an approach to drug...
Conversations with children and young people living with a disability
It’s clear that given the opportunity, children and young people living with a disability are keen to express their views about what matters to them most. They also wish to express their hopes for the future and where they think change could happen. This collection...
CCYP Advocacy Priorities for South Australia’s Children and Young People
This summary report from 2019 outlines the Advocacy Priorities for South Australia’s Children & Young People.
Mandatory Drug Treatment Orders for Children and Young People
This Issue Brief by the Commissioner for Children and Young People (2019) outlines how the Commissioner believes that mandatory treatment orders for children and young people violate their fundamental rights. It also risks causing lifelong harm without actually...
