01 S E C T I O N Introduction With the COVID-19 global pandemic, children and young people in Australia are living through unparalleled times. At the end of January 2020, on the back of the bushfires, the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 arrived in Australia. Community transmitted cases of COVID-19 were then reported in early March. Within weeks, governments started to implement widespread restrictions to protect our physical health and to stop the spread of the virus across all states and territories. This included border closures; closure of schools; limits to the number of people gathering indoors or outdoors; the closure of community sport; restrictions on leaving home except for essential reasons; social distancing measures; restrictions on restaurants and cafes; closures of pubs, gyms, cinemas, casinos and places of worship; self-isolation and quarantine of all travellers arriving in Australia. While restrictions have started to ease in some states and territories by the time of this report, in other states it continues to wreak havoc. In all locations, COVID-19 has made cataclysmic changes to everyday life as we all know it. In particular, it has seriously disrupted the routines and lives of children and young people, and the challenges of social isolation have at times been overwhelming. Children and young people have often been separated from family members – unable to be in close contact or visit relatives – and have been unable to engage in some of the most basic pleasures in their lives, such as playing with friends. The negative effects of these disruptions are exacerbated for children and young people already facing multiple challenges in their lives, including mental health issues, family conflict, abuse and neglect, poverty, and family and domestic violence. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has warned of the grave physical, emotional and psychological effects of COVID-19 on children and young people, and calls on States to protect their rights.1 It particularly asks for consideration of the health, social, educational, economic, and recreational impacts of the pandemic on the rights of the child, as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.2 Its recommendations include: • exploring alternative and creative solutions for children to enjoy their rights to rest, leisure, recreation and cultural and artistic activities (article 31) • ensuring that online learning does not exacerbate existing inequalities or replace student-teacher interaction (articles 28,29) • activating immediate measures to ensure that children are fed nutritious food (article 6) • maintaining the provision of basic services for children including healthcare, water, sanitation and birth registration (articles 6, 24, 7) 4