Young Mothers in Greater Western Sydney – June 2025

Teenage pregnancy, as well as motherhood, is a highly complex social issue. In the past century, much has changed in both policy and discourse. This paper builds on an earlier WESTIR report on Targeted Earlier Intervention (TEI) priority groups and aims to analyse trends in the prevalence of teenage and young motherhood in Greater Western Sydney (GWS). It focuses on teenage mothers aged 15-19 and young mothers aged 20-24.

The data was sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2021 Census of Population and Housing and HealthStats NSW. The overview of the health context of teenage and young mothers is supplemented by an analysis of the social factors that may engender vulnerabilities of both cohorts, informed by a review of Australian and international literature. Overall, it aims to contribute to the broader understanding of young motherhood in the region.