I jumped a fence for my first gig. Why are kids still priced out of live music?

It was a Saturday in November, and thousands of teenagers armed with their Metcards poured into Flinders Street Station to see The Living End, Frenzal Rhomb, Magic Dirt and a line-up of Australian artists.

As we wound our way through the Botanic Gardens, surrounded by a sea of mohawks, band t-shirts and Doc Martens, the air buzzed with excitement.

Unlike the thousands of ticket holders, I couldn't afford the price of entry. So I jumped the fence.

That one reckless moment changed my life. Under the hot Melbourne sun, with Snout's Got Sold on Heaven blasting through the Bowl, I realised I wasn't alone. I wasn't weird. There were other people like me.

Standing in those gardens, surrounded by people who loved the same things I did, I felt normal. I felt happy, truly happy, for the first time as a teenager.

That event gave me more than a soundtrack. It gave me lifelong friends, a career in music and, eventually, the chance to lead the very organisation that staged the event that day.

That's the power of music. Like sport, it transforms, builds community and - for a kid who doesn't quite know where they fit in the world - fosters a sense of belonging.

Fast forward 25 years, and I am now CEO of The Push. Our purpose is to make sure every young Australian has the chance to experience what I did that day - without needing to jump a fence.

This week, we've released new national data on how Australians aged 16 to 25 engage with music. The results are sobering: many of the same barriers I faced in 1998 remain in 2025.

Cost tops the list, with almost half of young people saying ticket prices are out of reach. For under-18s, age (36 per cent) and licensing restrictions (36 per cent) block access.

One in three young people say location is a barrier, with those in regional areas most affected by remoteness and lack of transport.

And while 70 per cent of young people now discover music on social media - nearly double last year's figure - that lifeline is about to be cut off.

With the federal government set to ban social media for under-16s in December, we face a new challenge: how to bridge the gap at a time when loneliness and mental health issues are already on the rise.

READ MORE: Fears for youth connection as the under-16 social media ban approaches

Young Australians have told us what they need. More than three in five 18-to-25-year-olds say live music is important to them. Eight in 10 want government programs that help them organise or attend gigs to stay connected without social media.

We have an opportunity now to act on what they are saying. While we support the government's goal of protecting young people online, we must go further. We need to create safe, affordable, real-world spaces for them to connect - local gigs, school and community programs, youth-led festivals.

Without accessible pathways into live music, we risk losing not just audiences, but the artists, industry workers and cultural leaders of the future.

It should not be the case in 2025 that a young person desperate to see a band has to sneak in because the ticket is too expensive.

Or that a teenager in regional Australia misses out on opportunities altogether because there are no local gigs, no role models, and no way to get there.

We can fix this. Governments, industry and communities can work together to:

Young people want local, affordable, inclusive spaces where they can gather, share experiences and belong. Just as importantly, they want to shape those spaces themselves, not just as audiences, but as producers, promoters and performers.

Music should never be out of reach. If we invest now in opening doors, we will protect the wellbeing of young Australians, keep them connected, and secure the future of our music industry.