The youth ‘catastrophe’ Neil Mitchell says must be urgently addressed ‘at the highest level’

Neil Mitchell says a youth “catastrophe” is emerging in Melbourne, and questions must be raised about why it hasn’t been addressed “at the highest level”.

The state government has not released Victorian Agency for Health Information data on how lockdowns are affecting the mental health of young people, but The Australian has obtained two of the confidential reports.

“The agency says, according to The Australian, and I’ve seen it as well, kids up to 17 are reporting to hospital in far greater numbers than last year,” Neil Mitchell said.

“There’s been a 51 per cent increase in self harm and suicidal thoughts.”

Neil Mitchell says he fears the state government isn’t being transparent about devastating impact lockdowns are having on children and teenagers.

“There’s no doubt mental health is crumbling and there’s a whiff of a cover up, which is indecent,” the 3AW Mornings host said.

“It is a crisis —  a real crisis — and it needs to be taken into consideration when we’re balancing the decisions on where we go, the decisions on lockdown and what is ahead.

“We need to know what the government is doing about this. Are they awake to it?

“I think we’ve got to find a way to get at least some of the kids back to school in a restricted way — a couple of days a week or something, in restricted numbers.”

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The youth ‘catastrophe’ Neil Mitchell says must be urgently addressed ‘at the highest level’