Appendix 3 | Applying the CRIA tool to COVID-19 pandemic policy and legislation relating to the closure of schools and early childhood education and care in Australia Article 24: Right to health • Poor mental health and wellbeing: Research broadly reflects that the COVID-19 pandemic had a strong negative impact on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, and exacerbated risk factors and experiences of poor mental health.155 Social isolation as a result of remote learning and lockdown mandates, worry and stress about catching or spreading the virus, and changes to daily routines have increased poor mental health outcomes among children and young people.156 • Reduced physical exercise: Research across Australia, and globally show that declining physical exercise and activity, and poor mental health has been a growing trend over the last decade.157 The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and social isolation mandates – including remote learning acted as a barrier to meeting health and development needs, exposed existing vulnerabilities, and widened gaps in services and supports, further exacerbating this negative trend.158 • Overwhelmed health system: With the increase in prevalence and exacerbation of mental health issues, mental health services across Australia saw a large surge in referrals and requests.159 Many service providers were overburdened and under resourced to support the influx of demand.160 As a result, many children and families reported inadequate access with long wait-time, high out-of-pocket expenses to access specialised or private services, and lack of tailored services to meet specific needs.161 Article 27: Right to adequate standard of living • Reduced access to fresh and nutritious food: Some schools provide breakfast and lunch programs. In Australia there are 1.2 million children living in food insecure households. Almost half of severely food insecure parents (45%) say their children go an entire day without eating fresh fruit and vegetables at least once a week. A similar proportion (43%) of severely food insecure parents said their children went a whole day without eating at least once a week.162 School closures likely placed many children at risk of not having enough food. There was a 200% increased demand for food relief reported by Foodbank NSW and ACT in 2021.163 Foodbank Victoria saw the same demand in its International Student Pop Up Store which experienced a 42% increase in students accessing free food relief.164 Safeguarding Children: Using a child rights impact assessment to improve our laws and policies | 73