SSMART Answers Conference

SSMART Answers Community Conference event held at the Ballarat Mining Exchange 30 - 31 October 2007

 Background:

Strengthening Generations is a City of Ballarat program that is committed to using evidence to inform and implement programs that focus on prevention of risks and harms to youg people. Local research conducted in Ballarat discovered the following information:

• There is a significant increase in binge drinking from young people aged around 12 (Year 7) to when they are about 14 or 15 (Year 9)
• The increase in young people drinking so much that they are drunk, sick and even pass out is also significant for these age groups
• That young people will use a substance (alcohol included in this) if they don't think it is risky

What Strengthening Generations has done with this information is to form a Network call SSMART (Surviving Substance Misuse & Alcohol Risk Taking). The SSMART Network is a collaboration of local government with health, welfare, community, education and justice organisations and young people, brought together to tackle the issues of binge drinking and unsafe party behaviour. It is not about telling young people not to drink or party, it is about giving them the information and knowledge they need to reduce the risks  to themselves and their mates.

The SSMART Network was successful in receiving a grant from AER (Alcohol Education & Rehabilitation Foundation) to hold  a conference, whereby the community set the agenda. The idea of organising a conference was that it was largely driven and motivated by young people, with input from their families, schools and communities about the specific issues of binge drinking and unsafe partying. A focus group of young people was formed with a representation from all the secondary colleges across Ballarat, supported by a team of workers, this made up the conference team.

This conference team organised three interschool forums which involved over 240 young people across all Ballarat secondary colleges. These forums and along with parent forums also held, has led to a conference program that truly reflected the voices of the young people and some parents who have been involved.

Essentially the forums posed the questions and raised the issues that the conference provided some answers to and ways of tackling the challenges.

Conference participants ranged from young people representing all schools and alternative education programs along with education, health and community sector workers and community members. Overall around 160 people attended the SSMART Answers conference with a majority of youth delegates in attendance.

The conference program was highly interactive with workshops that were all about engaging young people in thinking about the issues in different ways.

Final Wrap Up

SSMART Answers was an exciting and innovative conference that has been possible with the fantastic support of the sponsors - AER (Alcohol Education Rehabilitation Foundation) the major conference sponsor as well as the City of Ballarat, Department of Education, Department of Justice, Department of Human Services and all the other agencies involved in the SSMART Network - UnitingCare Ballarat, Victoria Police, Child and Family Services Ballarat, City of Ballarat Youth Services, Ballarat Community Health Centre, St Johns Ambulance, the Secondary School Nurses program and of course the local schools and the young people who have made it happen.

Contact Details

For further information regarding the SSMART Answers Conference contact Cheryl Vincent by phone 03 5320 5593 or email cherylvincent@ballarat.vic.gov.au.