A new report by the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre has revealed that young Australians are feeling the squeeze from financial pressures, worsening mental health and declining trust in political institutions, with concerns about the cost of living now topping their list of priorities.

Socioeconomically disadvantaged groups may still be underusing emergency departments for potentially serious illnesses in the wake of the COVID pandemic, despite an overall rebound in emergency department use by 2022. Most of the rebound had been driven primarily by patients covered by commercial insurance or Medicare fee-for-service. When stratified by insurance type, however, the rebound was found to be significantly lower among patients covered by Medicaid or dual Medicare/Medicaid, who tend to be socioeconomically disadvantaged.