A general question about junior mining in Australia

As I'm sure the overwhelming majority of folks on this board are based in Australia, I was wondering if anyone could share their opinions, even anecdotal, on what the general current sentiment is with the junior mining/mineral exploration sector in Australia? The Canadian junior mining sector is getting pummeled right now as hard as it ever has from what I can tell, especially relative to the price of gold in recent days.

I understand that most of the problems affecting the mining sector are global in nature (inflation, USD reserve status, U.S. Central Banking policy, etc,), however, my understanding is that, unlike Canada and the U.S., the mining industry is taken much more seriously in Australia and that, generally speaking, to the extent that it's more regulated, it's to the advantage of retail investors.

I wouldn't expect answers of green vs. brown pastures so much as I would expect frying pan vs. fire types of responses, if even that, but I am genuinely curious.