The big issue Wyatt Roy raised with students at James Fallon High School was youth mental illness.

“If I had to say one issue for youth, it has to be youth mental health,” the fresh-faced 22-year-old said.

“There has to be something done because the expectations on our generation are different to any other generation.”

He told students from James Fallon, Murray High and Victory Lutheran that unlike their parents’ generation, where bullying stopped at the school gate, social media and mobile phones meant the torment could be relentless.

Mr Roy, who was invited to Albury by the member for Farrer, Sussan Ley, said he had witnessed bullying at school.

“I’ve seen it the same as every student in the country has witnessed it.

“Online bullying existed when I was at school in 2007. It didn’t exist when my colleagues were there.”

He told the story of a girl, 10 he had met, who kept her phone under her pillow.

It would buzz at 3am with texts and Facebook messages from her tormentors, who could get to her at all hours of the day and night.

One James Fallon student told Mr Roy about the Border’s campaign for a headspace centre and that she and other students had been collecting butterflies with messages for the campaign.

Later, Mr Roy signed a butterfly to show his support.

He’s all too aware of the effects of mental health issues in the community — his Queensland electorate of Longman has twice the rate of suicide of the average in Australia, along with a 10 per cent unemployment rate.

But he said if the Border was successful in getting a headspace centre, that should not mark the end of the fight against mental illness.

“It’s not the sole solution but it’s a great step in the right direction,” he said.