Jj. AUSTRALIA,.A

EMBARGO: 7.00 p.m.

P R I M E  MINISTER

FOR PRESS 24 JULY 1977

ELECTORATE TALK

The pace and nature of change in modern life can cause special   kinds of community problems - and special responsibility for   Governments. Nowhere is this change more direct in its effect   than it is with young men and women.

Trends to smaller families, longer formal education, more females   working outside the home and evolving lifestyles all have direct   impact on the ability of the young to adapt and handle these new   pressures.  Technological change of course has immediate and

often dramatic effect. Many business firms are replacing juniors   with computors,  or with automated assembly line machinery, so   the problem of finding jobs adds to social pressure.

Today, the problems which adolescents have of identifying   their goals and working towards them become increasingly   difficult, and at the end of the road the jobs are harder to

find.

There is concern about the impact of Aboriginal welfare programmes   on the problems of Aboriginal students who have been encouraged   to stay at school and now find like other young people that   the expected rewards are harder to attain.

In the universities there is concern about student extremists whose   support for radical political causes and manipulation of student   elections has lead to charges of intimidation and violence. Most students at university are conscientiously working towards

the goal of higher education, yet extremists given them a   bad name.  Some young people seek their recreation in the open   air, on trail bikes or find group identification in motor bike   clubs. The overwhelming majority organise themselves well with

a very real concern for other people in the community. Yet   sometimes they may find themselves all denounced from bench or   pulpit because of the actions of a very small group that might   beat up streets on high-powered super bikes.

So the situation that the young Australians are placed in today   cannot be ignored by governments.  The Federal Government is aware   of its responsibility to the young.

2 .

An Office of Youth Affairs has been established in the Department   of Environment, Housing and Community Development. It has direct   access to the Minister on all matters of youth policy. A full time Director of the Office M i l  soon be appointed and I

expect the Office to reach its full staff capability within a few   months. Meanwhile, it is actively working on a number of projects   following discussions with Commonwealth, State and local government   bodies and voluntary organisations concerned with youth affairs

in all states.

The Office has given immediate priority to the study of a number   of key questions. It will encourage the provision, of integrated   services at a local community level by local government and   non-government agencies. It will study the funding of national

secretariats of community sponsored youth agencies. It will develop   a "conference" approach to government consultation with youth. It will examine the adequacy of statistics required for the ^

planning of youth services and will look at the special problems   in the change from school to a work environment.

In other w o r d s , it will act as a bridge between the Federal Goverr^nf   and all these organisations - both government and community- ^

involved in any way with youth activities. It will provide the  government with a ready ,and continuous means of communication   with young people and all those who work with them. The Office itself will be staffed with young people and others with

specialist experience. .

In many ways it is easy for government and politicians to talk about   these kinds of social problems.  It is easy to refer to solutions   to '  deep seated'  structural and long term problems.  But maybe   this is small comfort to young people trying to cope with the  pressure and problems of life in the modern community. All of us - politicans, bureaucrats, teachers, judges and

law enforcers - can show greater understanding and tolerance. We can act with more compassion having regard to the way in which

life's pressures do bear particularly heavily on young men and   women. Governments can play a part. The Office of Youth

Affairs is an attempt to at least make a coordinated start to  seeing how problems can be solved.

But governments can only do so much. It is up to the community -

and particularly community leaders - to play a responsible r o l e .  Our country's future depends on the way we tackle the task.

O O O o o o O O O

