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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-09-28 Daily Xml
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SCHOOLIES WEEK

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (14:58): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Consumer Affairs a question about safe partying for young people during Schoolies Week.

Leave granted.

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN: The question of binge drinking in our pubs, clubs and streets is recognised as being an important challenge for the state government. Schoolies Week has in recent years become an event in which young people can be exposed to excessive drinking, possibly for the first time in their life. Will the minister provide the council with information on initiatives to promote safe partying during Schoolies Week?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:59): I thank the honourable member for his very important question and his very youthful perspective on these matters, of which obviously other members opposite me are envious. We are approaching the time of the year when large numbers of students will gather to celebrate the achievement of completing high school. It is obvious that it is a tremendously important time of the year, when young people make one of the most important rites of passage in their lives from high school to the wider world, and we all want that occasion to be a significant and enjoyable period of their lives, but we also want that turning point to be a safe one.

To make Schoolies Week safe and fun, a $5,000 grant from the government's Office of the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner will support partnership with Encounter Youth to provide free seminars at 13 schools. Through the highly regarded Safe Partying Education Campaign, Encounter Youth will be talking to students while they are still at school and focused on their studies. The program will help them to plan ahead and to think about certain situations that they might find themselves in and give them some strategies to help keep themselves safe.

The program also gives students realistic information about responsible drinking and penalties for underage drinking and drinking in dry areas. Parents also have a role to play here, and I would encourage them to talk to their teenagers about the risks associated with excessive drinking and its impact on health and wellbeing.

In addition to the $5,000 grant to assist Encounter Youth, a number of other South Australian government departments and agencies devote considerable resources and activities to ensure that Schoolies Week is successful and safe. For instance, the Office of the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner will also be working with licensees in the area to ensure they are aware of their obligations under the Liquor Licensing Act and have their identification processes up to speed. SAPOL will also have an appropriate presence during Schoolies Week. A range of health-related agencies and services also participate in helping to make Schoolies a great success and a safe place to be.

These services are provided at some cost to the South Australian community, but it seems, I think, an appropriate cost to wear on such a significant occasion. As a result of this very successful partnership, schoolies' celebrations in South Australia become some of the safest and most well-organised in the nation. We are the envy of many other states in terms of how well our Schoolies Week event is organised and how safe we are able to maintain it, and I am sure I join the rest of the members here in wishing all the very best to the 2010 group of Year 12 students as they are about to embark on the next exciting stage of their lives.

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