Section 7: How the pandemic affected children’s mental health and wellbeing When children were directly asked about why they felt unsafe at home during the last two years, they raised a range of concerns, including family stress, conflict and violence in their freetext responses. These were not always explicitly raised in reference to the pandemic. Some children also indicated that they were scared of a parent, with some describing emotional or physical abuse occurring in the past two years: ve ents ha My par ing a to ugh av been h ly an d I’m te time la bo ut that. da wor rie –11, SA —Girl, 7.5 Safety at home Children were asked in the survey about whether they had felt safe at home over the past two years. The majority of children (59%) stated ‘yes’. However, 10% of children indicated that they only felt safe ‘sometimes’, and 3% said ‘no’. 5% did not know whether they felt safe at home and 23% did not answer the question. Figure 19: Children’s survey: did you always feel safe at home over the last two years? 23% 5% 59% 10% aged 9 Having a stres se d mu an d a lot of fights m hard, I was t of it w hink by the e en each o got a bit sic d ther a k of n d tha really t was to ugh. I strugg ling me was also nt was ha rd to f ally so it eel saf even b e y myse lf real l y . —C hild non-bin who identifie s as ary or other, aged 16–17, NSW Yes (n=2695) No (n=154) Sometimes (n=464) I don’t know (n=216) Did not answer question (n=1030) 3% 78 | ‘Mental health shapes my life’: COVID-19 & kids’ wellbeing • 2022 | 79