Schools are being given the opportunity to teach students about their rights in managing their digital health records, using a new resource designed by the National Children’s Commissioner, Megan Mitchell.

Under the My Health Record system, children aged 14 years and over can manage their own records. They may do so independently, or they can grant access to parents or guardians. They may also choose to cancel their digital records at any time.

Australia’s first Children’s Commissioner, Megan Mitchell will on Monday launch her final report – one of the most comprehensive assessments of children’s rights ever produced in Australia. 

The report makes clear that the mental health of Australian children is not being cared for sufficiently and that Governments must do more to ensure children’s wellbeing.  

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is calling on Australia to prioritise raising the age of criminal responsibility as part of its Concluding Observations on Australia's performance in protecting the country's children and young people. This comes at a time when there is a strong push around the country to improve our responses to juvenile offending and do more to divert children from criminal justice systems.

The current age of criminal responsibility in Australia is ten. The Committee has proposed raising it to fourteen.