More than 90 per cent of young Australians would like to do more to help refugees and only 9.4 per cent believe Australia is doing enough to help refugees through Australian aid, according to a new World Vision Australia survey.
The findings of the national poll, released ahead of next month’s 40 Hour Famine Backpack Challenge, also found that just 14 per cent agreed Australia is doing enough to help refugees by welcoming a “fair share” to settle while 83.5 per cent agreed that refugees are not “dangerous people”.
The data also shows that half of young Australians have wondered about the possibility of becoming a refugee while 20 per cent believe it is a definite possibility and could happen to anyone.
Meanwhile, the top three issues young people believe refugees face on settling in Australia including discrimination (57.1 per cent of those surveyed indicated this), language (56.1 per cent) and mental health (55.6 per cent). And if forced to flee, young Australians indicated they would take with them food and water (64.3 per cent of those surveyed indicated this), identification documents (56.6 per cent) and money (51.6 per cent) while a mobile phone ranked fourth on the list (23.6 per cent).
Claire Rogers, CEO of World Vision Australia, said the survey – conducted at a time when a record 68.5 million people are forcibly displaced around the world, clearly showed “we have underestimated the impact the refugee crisis has had on our youth”.
“With an unprecedented additional three million displaced in just the last year – images of families fleeing from war, conflict and famine have now become the daily norm for our children…” she said.
“There is a growing movement of young people – a community of change makers – wanting to make a difference in the world. We should all also ensure we lift our game to address these global issues so that not another child is effected or left with the burden of solving it.”
The 40 Hour Famine Backpack Challenge, to be held from 17th to 19th August, will see young Australians across the country will live out of a backpack for 40 hours and ‘step’ into the shoes of a refugee while raising funds for the crisis.
The survey involved 1,049 11 to 19-year-olds across 163 schools in several states including New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.
