A Sutherland Shire teenager has relished the opportunity to give young people a voice on national television.
Lauren McGrath-Wild, 17, shared her opinions on a number of topics during the latest installment of ABC’s Q&A, including doing more to close the gap when it comes to issues surrounding Aboriginal people.
“I wanted to go on the panel to represent young people and the concerns that matter to them.”
It was the second time this year Q&A held a high school special featuring teenagers on their panel.
Lauren, from Sylvania Waters, said it was a great experience being part of the panel which included Federal Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham, Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek as well as a group of four high school students.
“We discussed private and public education, the postal survey, the dual citizenship saga and the Paradise Papers, which have revealed systemic international tax evasion,” she said.
“I largely supported the government's current position on these issues and presented a more right wing opinion than the other panelists.”
Lauren, who hopes to study law after high school, said closing the gap when it comes to issues surrounding Aboriginal people was something she was passionate about.
“I mentioned [on the show] the fact that Indigenous children are 26 times more likely to be jailed than non-Indigenous children and the systemic health and education problems among the Indigenous community.
“Political capital, resources and the time of our politicians should be spent trying to resolve this.”
Lauren goes to school at Presbyterian Ladies’ College in Croydon and is in Year 11.