The Hon. SARAH MITCHELL (15:26): I move:

(1)That this House notes that:

(a)parents and communities are increasingly worried about the harmful effects of screen addiction and social media on children and young people;

(b)teaching children to be responsible and safe online requires a holistic approach; and

(c)the Government committed $2.5 million to look at the impact of screen‐related addictions in young people.

(2)That this House calls on the Government to work in a bipartisan way to tackle the negative impacts of social media and screen-related addiction on children and young people.

I move this motion because I think that on private members' day it is important to talk about some of the issues that matter not just to people who are in this Chamber but those who are outside of it. As the former education Minister and the current education spokesperson for the Opposition, but also as a parent, I think we would all agree that there is much community concern about the impacts of social media and screen addiction, and how our young people are impacted by these new technologies, these new platforms that did not exist when most of us were young people. We need to find the right way to support our children and young people, particularly our students, to be aware of the risks and dangers of social media. It should be something that is done holistically and with bipartisan support. That is what this motion seeks to address.

There is no doubt that social media is a powerful intervention. It is the direct line for us to the world, and we do place it in the hands of children. Our kids know things from TikTok that we would only dream to do. I admit that I am not on TikTok, but even though my girls are too young to have those accounts, I am sure that they know how it all works and could probably do it better than I. Social media has the power to magnify both good and bad reactions, and that is part of the concern. It is now almost 20 years since the iPhone came out. We are still coming to grips with how this technology affects our relationships, work and day-to-day lives as adults, let alone how our children are managing these effects and concerns.

Some interesting studies have been done in different jurisdictions. In the United States, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has been looking at longitudinal studies that survey the mental health of different generations of young people. We know that something really did change for adolescents in the early 2010s by a variety of measures in a variety of countries. We see this across America, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the Nordic countries. The members of gen Z are suffering from anxiety, depression and self-harm and related disorders at levels higher than any other generation for which we have data. This was the generation of kids who were the first to get smartphones during their adolescence. They were in the 10- to 16-year-old age range during the 2010s. We are seeing the start of the flow-on impacts of that. Things can move quickly. We have to make sure that we keep pace with the right programs, the right legislation and the right reforms to protect our kids from any unintended consequences of technological advances.

I mention the phone ban brought in by the Government. Obviously there was a slightly differing policy position on this. When we were in government, we brought in the ban for primary schools. For high schools we said, "You can set the ban as you see fit." I had conversations with principals about, for instance, banning phones between years 7 and 10 but starting to teach year 11 and 12 students about the responsible use of devices, including phones. I thought it was up to principals to manage that as they see fit. While the Government has introduced the phone ban, it concerns me that there is no mechanism for the Government to monitor its effectiveness. There is no longitudinal study or key performance indicators for what that should look like. There is no way to actively and accurately measure whether the ban will have an impact for better or for worse, which I think is concerning.

The biggest issue is that cyberbullying does not happen just in the classroom or during school hours. While it may be well and good to say, "No phones between nine and three," principals and teachers will say that issues still occur outside of school hours and that we have to get to the root cause of making sure young people know how to have healthy relationships with devices and how not to give in to screen addictions. Frankly, as adults, we probably need to do that too. Sometimes I am guilty of being on my phone too much. My six‑year‑old says, "Mummy, why do you get so much screen time?" and I say, "Sometimes I wish I did not." The learned behaviours that children see from adults is a broader issue beyond one policy reform of a phone ban.

The other issue is related to the $2½ million commitment from the Government around screen‑related addictions. In and of itself, it is a policy that had merit. My concern is that we have not heard anything about that in more than a year of government. We were told during budget estimates that the Government expected successful applicants to be notified by March or April this year for projects to start this month. That has not happened. Nothing has been announced. I encourage the Government to get a wriggle on with that work. Get people out in Australia, particularly in New South Wales, doing that evidence-based and place-based research.

The Government also needs to do more around anti-bullying. We did some great work on anti-bullying roundtables, particularly with Emma Mason from Bathurst, whose daughter, Tilly Rosewarne, unfortunately took her own life after some terrible social media interactions. We brought expert stakeholders together, including those from tech companies, and we worked on reforms in this space. Again, that has not progressed. I urge the Government to look at that work and continue it. It is good policy. It should not be about politics. We should all band together for the sake of our kids and their future.

The Hon. COURTNEY HOUSSOS (Minister for Finance, Minister for Domestic Manufacturing and Government Procurement, and Minister for Natural Resources) (15:31): On behalf of the Government, I indicate that we support the motion. This is an important issue, and we should be engaging on it in a bipartisan way. When were in opposition, led by the excellent work of the now Deputy Premier, and Minister for Education and Early Learning, I worked closely with her in my capacity as a member of the upper House committee on education. This is a significant issue for our children. Effectively, they are guinea pigs. As the Hon. Sarah Mitchell said, this is the first generation to live with iPhones and social media. We, as adults, struggle to grapple with it, and the impact on their little growing minds terrifies me both as a parent and as a public policymaker.

We made a number of commitments before the election. The Hon. Sarah Mitchell spoke about our mobile phone ban, which is in place now. The anecdotal feedback from schools has been overwhelmingly positive. The department is surveying schools on the mobile phone ban and on student engagement and classroom disruption as a result of the ban. We look forward to seeing the results. It is important that when kids are at school, they are focused on learning in the classroom and building those face-to-face relationships on the playground. It makes me sad to walk onto a school ground—or when we used to be able to walk onto school grounds—at recess or lunch and see kids sitting on their phones instead of interacting and playing. That is why we introduced the ban. It was a significant step at the time, and we look forward to reporting back on the feedback on the ban.

The other part of our announcement concerned the Screen-Related Addiction Research Fund. Research into this area is limited. I am happy to update the House that late last year grants for research up to $500,000 were advertised for tender grants and up to $200,000 for partnership grants. Those applications are now being assessed. We are implementing our election commitment. The previous Government appointed the Chief Behaviour Advisor, and our Government asked the Chief Behaviour Advisor to focus on the role of social media and technology on bullying and violence. There is no doubt that this multifaceted issue goes right across government and requires a range of solutions, which we grappled with extensively in opposition and we are now implementing in government. We will continue to work through these significant issues and deliver on what we promised. I commend the Deputy Premier for that important work.

Dr AMANDA COHN (15:35): The Greens support the motion. Children and young people have a right to safe and healthy development and to be heard on all matters that affect them. Evidence-based and measured responses, co-designed with young people, are needed to protect children and young people in our rapidly evolving digital world. It is not lost on me that we are debating young people's needs and I am the youngest member participating in this debate at 34. Social media can be harmful, but it can also provide connection and safety for some young people. The Black Dog Institute has said:

It is widely assumed that technology use leads to mental health problems, although the possibility remains that experiencing mental health problems, such as depression, can lead to young people increasingly turning to screens. If this is the case, a phone ban would be distressing for students who use their devices for emotional regulation.

In seeking alternatives to social media use and excessive screen time, much research points parents and carers to balancing screen time with green time. We need public recreational spaces, including outdoor spaces, where young people are able to spend time offline to enable a healthy balance and alternative to screen time for young people seeking connection. In researching for this motion, I came across an initiative by the Office of the Advocate for Children and Young People, which, during lockdowns, developed a Spotify playlist project in response to requests from young people for activities and ways to engage remotely that did not involve videoconferencing.

Recommendations for national strategies, such as those resulting from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, insist on the incorporation of online safety education. Across multiple recommendations, the royal commission found that education must be delivered not only through school programs but also with parents and community members to create a supportive environment for navigating online spaces safely. Those initiatives need to be tailored for diverse populations, ensuring that all children—especially those facing marginalisation—can access and benefit from them.

Experts have lamented the lack of Australian peer-reviewed research into this issue. However, following the abrupt implementation of the mobile phone ban in New South Wales, there are insights in the review into the non-educational use of mobile devices in New South Wales schools. The Greens support improving the research and evidence base for this issue. We support investing in community mental health and social programs, as it would be cruel to ask children and young people to manage any addiction, mental health issue or mental illness alone. Young people's voices must be sought and heard if there is any hope of relevance.

The Hon. SUSAN CARTER (15:37): I thank the Hon. Sarah Mitchell for moving this timely motion. Use of social media has exploded over the past decade, and our children are exposed from an increasingly early age. We have all seen babies in prams on phones and on other screens. It is important and prudent that we consider the impact of social media on our children and develop strong policies to help parents, teachers and our young people to use social media well.

Some jurisdictions—including Florida, Utah Arkansas and Spain—are so concerned about the negative impacts of social media that they have introduced age restrictions effectively prohibiting all children under 14 from having any social media accounts. Entirely anecdotally, but that perhaps goes some way towards explaining why when I was travelling in Spain last month I saw children, teenagers and parents happily conversing around dinner tables and strolling around squares without a screen in sight—quite a change from what we often see in many restaurants in this town.

The negative effect of social media on the socialisation of our children is one of the main concerns which has been raised. This feeds into their social connectedness, which is a major protective factor against mental illness. Research in the United States has found that adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes. A major study conducted by the University of Sheffield, using a large representative sample of 10- to 15-year-olds, conducted over a four‑year period found that spending just one hour a day chatting on social networks reduces the probability of being completely satisfied with life overall by 14 per cent. That is not a trivial effect. When compared with other factors it was found to be three times as large as the adverse effect on wellbeing of being in a single-parent household and also had a higher dissatisfaction rating than that experienced by regular truants.

Interestingly—or perhaps sadly—the same study found that girls suffer more adverse effects than boys and in particular feel less happy with their appearance and their school life the more time they spend chatting on social networks. The research also demonstrates that the use of photographic social media is closely linked to a rise in narcissism and social comparisons. This is not just a fleeting effect. It has been clearly established that childhood wellbeing—or lack of it—persists into adult life. Childhood is where the foundations for physical, mental and emotional health are laid. If those foundations are damaged, the repair in adult life is very difficult, which is why this motion is so important.

The Hon. Dr SARAH KAINE (15:40): I thank the mover for bringing this motion to the House. Social media has been garnering attention recently for its role in spreading misinformation, community disharmony and in contributing to domestic violence, which has been talked about a lot in the past two weeks. I draw attention to the impact of social media use, in particular the use of social media filters, on young people's mental health, especially its contribution to body image issues and eating disorders, which is one of the more pervasive impacts of social media on our young people.

Last year I spoke in Parliament about an astounding study from the University of New South Wales—and this goes to the research that the Hon. Susan Carter spoke about—that found that, within only a minute and a half of exposure to filtered appearance-ideal content on social media, regardless of the medium, young women began to compare themselves with the women in the content, judging themselves to be less attractive, negatively impacting their mood and increasing body dissatisfaction. I restate that this happened within a minute and a half of exposure to this kind of filtered content. Considering that the average young Australian consumes two to three hours worth of social media content each day, the true effect of artificial intelligence-altered software is having on the mental health of young people is almost incalculable.

Platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube have a large number of young people engaging with their content, yet they do very little to counteract or call out their pervasive nature so that young people can be aware of exactly what they are looking at. Their algorithms also self‑perpetuate the material that is put in front of our young people, especially young women. I concur with the motion and appreciate that a lot more needs to be done to understand the effects of social media filters and the way that we, especially young people, consume that content. We need to think about how to tackle this.

It would be remiss of me not to mention these issues without acknowledging the work of the Hon. Emily Suvaal to bring awareness to the issues of body image and eating disorders. I know she has an event tonight to consider the financial, emotional and psychological costs of eating disorders. Of course, her attempt to bring awareness to these issues is made that much more difficult by the context I have outlined. I urge members to go along to her event to hear more on body image and eating disorders. I again thank the member for bringing this motion to the House. I will do anything I can to assist in understanding these issues better.

The Hon. TANIA MIHAILUK (15:43): I make a brief contribution to add my support to the motion. However, I would like to hear more about precisely what the $2.5 million will go towards with respect to researching the impact of social media on children and young people. The Hon. Sarah Mitchell said that it was revealed during budget estimates hearings that some tenders had gone out in March and April this year and would be issued in May. I am not sure where the Government is up to in relation to that, but perhaps the Minister can further elucidate. That is a lot of money for research, but I am not sure what the Government can really do in this space because the ship has sailed when it comes to the way in which social media influences young people.

I give credit to the Government for banning the use of mobiles during school. As a parent of three children, I know that that decision was long overdue. It is already having a real impact on young people. The fact that children are ignoring their phones and being forced to not look at them throughout the school day is good because it means that they are focusing instead on what we focused on when we were young and going through school: our studies, our friendships and observing the world around us. It is one of the most critical decisions the Government has made and it will have an influence in the coming years.

As I said, I am not sure what the $2.5 million will do. Universities might conduct specific research on this issue but, ultimately, it is very difficult to restrict the use of social media for young people and for families. Schools can also only do so much. As soon as kids leave school grounds, they get back on their phones on public transport and at home, where they see their family members and parents on their phones, which we would all admit to doing. It is also difficult to tell children and young people to get off social media and not to watch TikTok or anything on Facebook or Instagram and so forth when most politicians have accounts. This problem will never go away, but the Government should focus on continuing to be very strong on the policy of banning mobile use on school grounds, where it does have control, which will have a profound impact in the years to come.

The Hon. AILEEN MacDONALD (15:46): I support the motion of the Hon. Sarah Mitchell, which deals with the harmful effects of screen addiction and social media on children and young people. I agree with the member that this House should call on the Government to work in a bipartisan way to tackle the negative impacts of social media and screen-related addiction on our youth. I thank her for bringing this problem to the attention of the House. Whilst I am in favour of technology, the negative effects of screen addiction are well documented. Kids who are addicted to screens can suffer from insomnia, back pain, fluctuating weight, vision problems, headaches, anxiety, dishonesty, and feelings of guilt and loneliness. Ultimately, the long-term effects of screen addiction can be as severe as brain damage.

The Australian Institute of Family Studies tells us that screen time spent on TV, e‑games, digital tablets and smartphones is a regular part of children's and young people's lives. The institute also notes that parents report that excessive screen time is the top health concern they have for their children and that they are worried that their children spend too much time on electronic devices. There are national guidelines for screen time, but evidence suggests that they are not being adhered to. They recommend no screen time for children younger than two, no more than one hour per day for children aged between two and five, and no more than two hours of sedentary recreational screen time per day for children and young people aged between five and 17—not including schoolwork, of course.

The institute also clearly states that most Australian children spend more time on screens than is recommended. Estimates from primary research suggest that only 17 per cent to 23 per cent of preschoolers and 15 per cent of five- to 12-year -olds meet screen time guidelines. Screen time has been shown to increase between the ages of 10 and 14, especially among boys. The types of screen time that increased were electronic gaming for boys, and television, computer use and social networking for girls. There was no screen time in my youth. I had green time, which Dr Amanda Cohn also mentioned in her contribution.

I was happy to climb trees and play in the yard. I am not saying that we should go back to that, but I am saying that screen time and digital technology use can be part of a healthy lifestyle when balanced with other activities. I understand it is mostly a family issue and it is not the place for government to intervene, but I strongly support any action the Government might take to look at the impact of screen‑related addiction in young people. I believe that this place should advocate more green time—again, in harmony with screen time.

The Hon. EMILY SUVAAL (15:49): I contribute to debate on this motion and acknowledge the Hon. Sarah Mitchell for moving it. As the parent of two young children, I have grappled with the issue myself. That has been at the back of my mind as members have been talking in debate today. Screens are, indeed, a way of life for us and our children. They see us using screens all the time. That message is being constantly sent to them. My three-year-old can use the smart TV remote. He can unlock an iPad and use an app. He can use my phone to do the same if I leave it somewhere he can access it. They see us doing it and they mirror our behaviour. It is a way of life for children and it is important for us as decision‑makers and legislators in this place to ensure that we are doing all that we can to protect our children without overly interfering in what is the normal advent of technology.

Screens and apps have introduced amazing improvements to our lives as well. As someone with type 1 diabetes, I can monitor my blood sugar level through my Apple Watch. It is an amazing thing. Screens have brought major advances to medical technology. I also give a particular shout-out to the ABC for the apps that it has developed for kids. I subscribed to Reading Eggs during the COVID era because I was a parent trying to work from home with small children and screen time was a way of life. It was a very challenging time. I acknowledge that, yes, screen time can be harmful. Screen addiction and social media in particular are harmful. At the same time, as parents, we have to be mindful of the role that we have and the behaviour that we model to our children.

The increasing importance of mindfulness also needs to be considered in this debate. I know it is being taught more and more in early childhood settings and schools. Indeed, my kids learn about it. Mindfulness is increasingly important, particularly with the flood of information that we constantly get through screens and into our brains from social media and our phones. Obviously, harmful screen time is bad. But as a parent who has also had to grapple with how much is too much or how much is not enough, I want to give a shout-out to all the other parents that are navigating this space with me. There are no easy answers.

The Hon. RACHEL MERTON (15:52): I strongly support the motion of the Hon. Sarah Mitchell concerning the malign impact of social media and screen addiction on young Australians. I am most certainly passionate about this issue. I know my deep concerns are shared by many in the Chamber and many in the community. The explosion of all‑pervasive social media over the past decade and a half and its consequential incredibly corrosive impact upon young people, especially girls, should concern all policymakers. It is an issue that policymakers around the world are, quite frankly, struggling with. The cost of the inertia has been enormous.

The period of smartphone growth over the past decade and a half and the easy access to social media on demand have coincided with an explosion in reported depression, anxiety and mental health issues amongst our young. The statistics are quite simply mind-blowing and more than coincidental. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the number of females who say they are anxious or depressed rose from 13 per cent to 29 per cent in the eight years between 2013 and 2021 alone. Self-harm rates for girls and young women have also increased since the mass take-up of social media, high-speed internet and smartphones.

I have previously discussed in this place the work of Jonathan Haidt of New York University, who has called for a full re-evaluation of the role that the smartphone and social media play in the lives of our young people. I note my colleague the Hon. Sarah Mitchell also drew on some of his important work. Dr Haidt recently presented to the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship global gathering in London. He outlined four changes to address the teen mental health crisis. He advocates no smartphones before high school, a ban on social media accounts before the age of 16, phone‑free schools, and increased amounts of independent play and responsibility in the real world. I wholeheartedly endorse those policy prescriptions.

I recently picked up his book The Anxious Generation. I urge all members to read it. In fact, the book is the number one seller on The New York Times bestseller list. It highlights how deep those social media addiction issues are. I recognise the bipartisan support for and interest in this issue, and I urge members to continue that. Parents tell me of the challenges they have with their children. Reading books, watching long movies and having long, uninterrupted conversations are all impacted by the smartphone. The screens are the first thing children awake to and the last thing they check at night. As a parent of school‑aged children, I have seen the negative consequence of this. When a small number of parents cave into children's demands and smartphones become available, it changes friendships and interactions. It is, quite frankly, a race to the bottom as more and more young people enter a digital world they are not mentally equipped to manage.

The Hon. NATASHA MACLAREN-JONES (15:56): In the limited debate time I have available, I thank the Hon. Sarah Mitchell for moving this motion. I think it was around 2016‑17 when I chaired the law and justice committee. We held an inquiry into revenge porn. There was a bipartisan approach that led to some reforms by the Government. It was alarming to read last month that around 1,000 young people under the age of 16 had been victims of revenge porn in the previous 12 months. It is important that we have these conversations. It is important that we are realistic about technology and artificial intelligence, and not only what we can be doing as legislators but also what governments can do to invest in programs. I commend the motion.

The Hon. SARAH MITCHELL (15:56): In reply: I thank all members who contributed to the debate. We could probably have an entire private members' day dedicated to these sorts of conversations. I will make a couple of points in response. I am sure that members of the Government probably saw this motion on theNotice Paper and thought, "Where is the sting in the tail? What is going on?" It was actually not intended for that purpose. Because there are times when I do honestly think that we should be talking about these issues during private members' day. I note, however, that the Minister mentioned that the Government has advertised the grants for the fund. That is great. I urge the Government to get on with delivering them and getting them running. As I said, we were told in estimates that those projects would commence by this month. Whatever the delay, I strongly urge the Government to get on with that commitment because I do not think we have a moment to waste.

In terms of the mobile phone ban, anecdotal evidence is great, but it is important in that space to have good qualitative and quantitative data. I would certainly suggest to the Government that it should get a university, the Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation or someone to actually look at it. Because there can always be improvements to any policy, including that one, that might help. I also pick up on the point that Dr Amanda Cohn made in relation to having young people as part of the conversation. I wholeheartedly agree. When I was Minister, we set up the first Minister's student advisory council, the Department of Student Voices in Education and Schools, known as DOVES. Pleasingly, the Deputy Premier has continued that. Those young people were involved in the round table that I spoke about.

A separate session was run with them by the Advocate for Children and Young People. Those young people came together and talked about what they want out of social media use and issues with online bullying. We had two or three of those round tables. They included the police, parents, the eSafety Commissioner and representatives from organisations, including Kate and Tick Everett, the parents of Dolly, from Dolly's Dream. There was a lot of goodwill and good faith. There were also social media companies there. As I have said, it has gone quiet since we on this side left government. I urge Minister Houssos, who is in the Chamber, and the Deputy Premier to look at where that work got up to within the department and to re-engage. We would happily offer bipartisan support. We would be happy to be involved, because we all to need be working on this collaboratively.

Lastly, a lot of members spoke about not having phones when they were young. The challenge for this generation is that they all have a device that can ping at any moment that says, "Come and have a look at what someone has said about you." That is what we are dealing with. Unless we start to address those issues, this generation of young people will have to deal with far more than we ever had to deal with. This is not about returning to the way things were. We are never going to be able to do that. But we should create a version of childhood and adolescence that keeps young people anchored in the real world while still helping them to flourish in the digital age. That is the challenge we have as policymakers and it is a challenge we should continue to collaborate on.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT (The Hon. Rod Roberts): The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Motion agreed to.