Report finds children’s concerns and experiences sidelined during Australia's Covid response

A worrying report warns of the consequences of Australia’s Covid response, which has “failed to be child-inclusive or child-centred”.

The previous federal government has been accused of ignoring and marginalising children during the Covid pandemic.

A damning analysis from the Australian National University says children’s concerns and experiences were sidelined in favour of other priorities by the former Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his government.

The removal of the coronavirus supplement payment, lockdowns, school closures and restrictions on movements all affected children greatly, but their specific needs were not taken into account, lead author ANU Professor Sharon Bessell said.

“In many ways, Australia’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic is a lesson in rendering children invisible and marginalising their concerns and experiences,” Professor Bessell said.

She argued that when children were considered, it was in relation to other policy objectives such as boosting the economy, not as a group with their own needs.

ANU Professor Sharon Bessell says the specific needs of children have not been taken into account.

“For example, in debates around school closures, the impacts on children themselves were secondary to the impacts on adult workforce participation and economic indicators,” Professor Bessell said.

“Covid-19 policy responses have failed to be child-inclusive or child-centred. This has important implications not only for understanding the impact of Covid-19 on children but also in understanding — and potentially rethinking — the place of children in policies as Australia emerges from Covid-19 restrictions,” she said in the Australian Journal of Social Issues.

It comes as other ANU research released on Thursday shows nearly 2000 young Australians lost at least one parent – and sometimes both parents – during the pandemic.

In the debate on school closures, the report says ‘the impacts on children themselves were secondary to the impacts on adult workforce participation and economic indicators’.

Researcher Callum Lowe said such loss has “an impact on their mental health, their education and their wellbeing over the long-term”.

“It highlights that Covid-19 isn’t just having an impact now – but is having a huge effect on the next generation,” he said.

In 2021 the National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds called for a national plan to support children affected by the pandemic, saying she was “very concerned that the unique needs of children have not been a priority during the past 19 months with Covid policy focused primarily on adults”.