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Bendigo is one of more than a dozen Australian cities and towns to be chosen to take part in a risk prevention and social engagement program for young people.
The Communities that Care project, an initiative of Deakin University, will study the habits of the city’s young population, asking them to complete a survey about their drug and alcohol use and sexual practices.
It is also expected the questionnaire, which will be distributed through Bendigo schools, will inquire after students’ experiences of depression and anxiety.
Sample questions previously given to parents of participating students include “The last time you had alcohol, where did you get it?” and “How wrong do you think it is for someone your age to take a weapon to school?”.
Communities That Care deputy chief executive officer Bosco Rowland said the survey’s results would form part of a community profile pinpointing ways to reduce anti-social behaviour and better engage young people living inside the region.
“If you can reduce risk factors, and increase protective factors, the better the day-to-day outcome for kids,” Mr Rowland said.
He also foresaw the project creating opportunities for young people to take part in “altruistic” activities like volunteer work or tutoring.
Young people could even be urged to forgo schoolies celebrations in favour of community development work overseas, he said.
"These are ways we can produce kids who want to give back to the world,” Mr Rowland said.
“You want to get them to think about being pro-social, giving them opportunities to do that and letting them know when they're doing well."
Mr Rowland said areas chosen to participate represented a cross-section of the Australian community, taking into account different socioeconomic statuses and geographic locations.
At least one Bendigo school has already contacted its students’ families to seek permission for children to take part in the study.
The project has its roots in the United States where it has been in effect for at least 20 years. It was first brought to Australia under a joint initiative of The Royal Children’s Hospital and the Rotary Club of Melbourne in 1999.
Pilot CTC programs in Victoria include Myrtleford and the Mornington Peninsula Shire, Mr Rowland said, with the latter locale recording reductions in young people’s use of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis over that time.
In Bendigo, the CTC team is liaising with The First Quarter, a board of leaders from the community’s education and services sector who meet to discuss supports for vulnerable young people aged zero to 25 years old.
The City of Greater Bendigo, Bendigo Community Health Services, school principals and government departments are among the bodies represented on The First Quarter board, which met on Thursday to discuss its auspice of the CTC initiative.
Haven; Home, Safe and La Trobe University also have members on the committee.
The First Quarter chairwoman and BCHS chief executive officer Kim Sykes said most young people in Bendigo were already happy, healthy and kind.
She also said Bendigo services with a stake in the wellbeing of young people already collaborated well.
The project comes to Bendigo at a time when young people across Australia remain over-represented in mental health, suicide and drug abuse statistics.
Figures with which programs like CTC must contend include:
- More than one-quarter of Australians aged 16 to 24 have been living with a mental health disorder in the last 12 months
- Suicide accounts for the deaths of more young Australians than car accidents
- Drinkers between 15 and 24 years of age account for more than half of all alcohol-related serious injuries
- 16,500 Australian teenagers progressed from experimental to habitual smoking in 2014
A survey of about 2,500 young people for the City of Greater Bendigo’s Youth Strategy 2013-2016 showed many felt their community had a negative opinion of them and don’t always feel welcome in public spaces.
Crime, safety and violence was the number one issue of concern for young people in Bendigo at the time, followed by bullying.
Community wellbeing acting director Michael Smyth welcomed the arrival of CTC in Bendigo, saying built on the youth leadership and decision-making programs offered by the local government.
“So it will be a good opportunity to work more closely with other agencies and organisations which provide mental and physical health services aimed at young people and learn more about young people’s views and perceptions,” he said.