Australia has more than 3.2 million young people (aged 15–24), this represents one in every eight Australians, and one in five of the working age (aged 15–64) population.

The Australian government is committed to supporting young people and the issues they face with practical measures that reflect their priorities. Supporting them to develop the knowledge, skills and capabilities to be successful in education, work and life.

As part of this commitment, the government has released this framework, following consultations with young Australians.

The Australian government understands that young people have been particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. To capture this, the framework has been updated to ensure it accurately reflects the realities of the world in which young people live in 2021, including the impact of the pandemic and recent critical research.