Submission to the Inquiry into Climate Resilience in Victoria

Recommendation 1: Develop a Victorian-specific strategy that provides a targeted response to the impact of climate change on young people’s mental health. 

Recommendation 2: Increase investment in and access to free place-based youth mental health early intervention, prevention and treatment services in rural and regional areas, not limiting services to disaster recovery periods. 

Recommendation 3: Scale up funding for place- and school-based youth workers to provide trauma-informed, protected and trusted relationships and support to young people, not limiting services to disaster recovery periods.

Recommendation 4: Build the capacity for trauma-informed responses in key providers working with young people in identified high risk locations, including mental health and alcohol and other drug workforces, GPs and school-based nurses, generalist youth services and schools.

Recommendation 5: Provide free access to Youth Mental Health First Aid training for local service providers and community members in identified high risk locations, to support young people in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, and to build the resilience of the community for the recovery and rebuilding stage, and future disasters. 

Recommendation 6: Conduct an inquiry into the impact of climate change on Victorian young people, with specific attention to mental and physical health. 

Recommendation 7: Deliver climate resilience upgrades to Victoria’s housing stock, with a focus on public, social and community housing and First Nations housing.

Recommendation 8: Establish a climate resilient infrastructure fund to support local government and community organisations to mitigate the consequences of climate change on public infrastructure through resilience upgrades. To focus first on infrastructure that supports priority groups such as young people, those in high-risk locations and marginalised communities.

Recommendation 9: Upgrade youth-specific organisations and buildings with solar panels, batteries and generators to ensure they can continue to provide connection, belonging and support to young people during times of disaster.

Recommendation 10: Ensure the roll out of the minimum energy efficiency standards for rental homes and boarding houses includes renter protection – specifically against arbitrary rent raises and/or evictions, combined with strong investment in compliance and enforcement activities. 

Recommendation 11: Deliver a public information campaign to inform young renters of the new minimum energy efficiency and safety standards for rental properties and rooming houses. To include information about renter’s rights, legal and non-legal supports and landlord responsibilities. Information to be delivered in an accessible youth-appropriate format – including through digital platforms, to reach young people where they work, live, study and play.

Recommendation 12: Develop minimum disaster resilience standards for all rental properties (location relevant), including heat, bushfire, flood, storm and sea level rise.

Recommendation 13: Establish a formalised network of cooling spaces, by funding local councils to develop place-based cooling space models as part of their heat wave action plans. 

Recommendation 14: Create a comprehensive place and needs-based analysis of the public transport needs of young people in rural and regional areas, through codesign with young people and the sector. 

Recommendation 15: Invest in new public transport routes and increased timetabling that supports access to community cooling spaces in rural and regional areas.

Recommendation 16: Improve urban green spaces and tree canopy cover, this includes:

• Increasing the tree planting target made under the Land use, land use change and forestry sector emissions reduction pledge by 1o million.
• Dedicating 10 million trees specifically for urban hotspots to further reduce emissions and on the ground temperatures
• A priority focus on areas projected to experience greater average warming, the places where children and young people frequent for recreation, and in lower socio-economic areas. 

Recommendation 17: Strengthen community engagement in urban green and tree canopy cover through investment in Council-led community greening projects and public information campaigns.

Recommendation 18: Strengthen youth engagement in urban greening through a school-led greening project fund, including flexible learning and alternative education settings. 

Recommendation 19: Meaningfully engage young people in future disaster preparation, mitigation and recovery strategies at all levels of government, including: 

• A statewide forum for young people to talk about and generate new ideas on responding to climate change in their communities
• Infrastructure Victoria to establish a Youth Advisory Group, ensuring diverse representation especially from young people in low socio-economic environments
• Incorporate youth-specific roles and responsibilities into local Emergency Management planning, to bring their unique perspectives and skills to community decision making.

Recommendation 20: Strengthen qualification pathways for young people in disaster resilience, to include peer worker positions, traineeships, apprenticeships and fully funded courses in emergency management, agriculture and industry, land management, youth work and mental health to enhance the human infrastructure of communities and capacity to plan, prepare, respond and recover from disaster event.

Recommendation 21: Invest in climate change literacy education to support young people to be change agents and increase community buy-in for climate adaptation and resilience actions. Including education that is:

• Place-based and community specific. 
• Practical and action focused.
• Accessible, age-appropriate and reaches young people through platforms that are credible and relevant to young people, including digital technologies. 

Recommendation 22: Embed a duty of care in Victorian government legislative decision making to protect future generations from climate harm.

Recommendation 23: Establish a Victorian Commissioner for Future Generations.