The Australian Drug Foundation (ADF) produces information and resources that can help students and families prepare for schoolies week. The ADF's DrugInfo Clearinghouse offers many free resources about teenage parties, many of which can be downloaded from the DrugInfo website at http://tinyurl.com/6d5yem.

Underage drinking has received a great deal of publicity lately.  The topic is often framed as a ‘youth binge-drinking crisis’ or ‘epidemic’.  This article by Clarissa Hughes in the July edition of Of Substance briefly outlines the social norms approach to supporting young people to make healthy choices about alcohol - by affirming the fact that most young people are already making healthy choices about alcohol.

Beyond "That's so Gay" is a short paper that discusses a range of strategies that can be used to combat homophobia.  According to the author "It seems thewonders of mass media have joined forces with our fear, hatred and ignorance in relation to homosexuality in order to create a new derogatory term for just aboutanything – the all-pervasive ‘gay’."

The 2009 National Survey of Young Australians, conducted by Mission Australia, tested the views of close to 48,000 young people – the biggest group since the survey began in 2002 – between the ages of 11-24 (97.9 per cent aged 11-19).

Drugs, suicide and body image were the most common concerns raised by young people in the survey.

The report Juvenile justice in Australia 2007–08, released earlier this month by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), shows that the number of young people in juvenile justice detention in Australia is increasing.

by Christine Halse, Anne Honey and Desiree Boughtwood

While the primary focus of media attention and medical treatment is the individual's battle with anorexia nervosa, research from University of Western Sydney reveals that anorexia can have a long term impact on the physical, social, and psychological well-being of the entire family.

by Kylie Hillman, Sheldon Rothman, October 2008. (LSAY research report n.53)

This report is part of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth analytical program. The report examines young people's use of career advice activities while at school and their perceptions of the usefulness of that advice. The data are from the 2003 15-year-old cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY).

The 'ARACY Report Card' presents a summary of the wellbeing of Australia's young people. It provides an international perspective and sets a baseline for future monitoring.

How Young People are Faring 2008 provides information on how successfully our education and training system is working to meet the needs of young Australians as they make the transition from school to further study and work. It provides up-to-date analysis of the effectiveness of transitions, including information on who is doing well and who is not doing so well in negotiating the various post-school pathways.

The report has been published by the The Foundation for Young Australians in alliance with the Education Foundation .

The Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies (TILES) and the Department of Rural Health at the University of Tasmania have recently conducted the first major Australian trial of the ‘social norms’ approach to health promotion. The results are outlined in a briefing paper by Clarissa Hughes and they provide some useful insights into the application of the Social Norms approach.

Download the Social Norms Analysis Project Results, insights and future priorities from http://tinyurl.com/4vgdc9 (PDF).

The Inspire Foundation (www.inspire.org.au) has recently released a new research report titled 'Young people's perspectives on taking action.'  The report argues that the phrase "taking action" to marginalised young people means something quite different to traditional definitions of social and political participation.

The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) recently released Reform Issue 92, ‘Children and Young People' which examines the current treatment of children and young people in the legal process.

A recent edition of Crime Facts Info published by the Australian Institute of Criminology presents evidence from two recent reports showing a steady increase in assaults against young Australians recorded by police and an increase in the incidence of assault-related injuries to young Australians that result in hospitalisation.

Read the full briefing at http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/cfi/cfi177.html.

This report was produced by the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA) at Flinders University. It comprises a comprehensive literature review addressing a wide range of social and cultural factors that potentially impact on young Australians aged 14- 24 in relation to their use and non-use of alcohol.

The Key Centre for Women's Health in Society has released a report entitled Making it Real:  Sexual Health Communication for Young People Living with Disadvantage.

The report is based on research that gathered evidence on how young people access, interpret and implement sexual health messages, and which evaluated of a range of current interventions.

Our children, our future: achieving improved primary and secondary education outcomes for Indigenous students (PDF) outlines eight interventions aimed at improving the educational outcomes of Indigenous children and young people. It covers current educational challenges and provides a framework for making philanthropic investments that will produce sustainable outcomes.