For the first time since the Delta outbreak began in NSW, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has reached out to young people using Instagram to directly answer their questions.
In an exclusive interview, facilitated by NSW’s Advocate for Children and Young People, on fast-growing youth news platform The Daily Aus (@thedailyaus), Berejikliian addressed crowd-sourced questions about the Delta variant, HSC exams and vaccine guidance for young people in an Instagram-first interview with 24-year-old co-founder Zara Seidler.
In the full interview now available only on The Daily Aus’ Instagram, the Premier expressed how grateful she was for young people’s role in sharing health guidance with their families – many of whom are from linguistically-diverse backgrounds.
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Berejiklian addressed the important role young people are playing in the ongoing pandemic, saying: “I feel a courage coming from young people saying we want to beat this… Young people have been instrumental in sharing the facts with their families and making sure their families understand how to keep safe.”
Over 1200 of the 167,000 followers of The Daily Aus submitted questions on Instagram via the Q&A sticker and post comments to be put to the Premier.
The Daily Aus is Australia’s leading social-first news organisation, and one of Australia’s most-read youth news platforms. Their news recaps and explainers are read by over 167,000 Australians daily (85 per cent of whom are under 34).
The interview was released in full on The Daily Aus’s Instagram page at 5pm AEST on Wednesday 11 August, and on The Daily Aus’s daily podcast (available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts) on Thursday 12 August.
Zara Seidler, co-founder of The Daily Aus, said: “The opportunity to interview the NSW Premier at the height of NSW’s COVID crisis shows just how crucial young people are to beating this outbreak. The interview presented our readers, most of whom are not consumers of traditional media, the opportunity to ask questions of one of Australia’s key decision makers. It was a chance for them to feel seen – especially when so much is being asked of them. We have to remember that a lot of young Australians aren’t in a position to watch the daily press conference, so it’s important we provide them with the same access to elected officials. We believe the more we treat young people with respect – and that starts with how we present news to them – the more they will engage with the COVID recovery.”
Key quotes from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s interview:
● “I feel a courage coming from young people saying we want to beat this.”
● “People’s mental health really weighs on me personally.”
● “I just want to thank young people for helping keep their families informed, and families who have come from different parts of the world who have concerns of various degrees. Young people have been instrumental in sharing the facts with their families and making sure their families understand how to keep safe.”
● “The role that young people have played as community leaders is really important”.
Josh Machin, Head of Policy for Facebook Australia, said: “Instagram is an important source of reliable information for millions of young Australians. We’re thrilled to see leaders like Premier Gladys Berejiklian using Instagram to share health information around vaccines and offer relatable advice in partnership with The Daily Aus.”
