NCETA has recently commenced several new research projects including:
- Indigenous AOD Workers' Wellbeing, Stress and Burnout
- Drug Testing in Schools
- Young People and Alcohol
Indigenous AOD Workers' Wellbeing, Stress and Burnout
The National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA) at Flinders University has been funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing to undertake national research on the wellbeing of Indigenous and non-Indigenous health workers (who see a high proportion of Indigenous clients) working in the Alcohol and Other Drugs field.
Online survey
NCETA is currently undertaking a survey which follows on from the call for submissions in April - June 2008. The survey aims to investigate the issues that workers and organisations raised in those submissions. This survey will also be complemented by a series of in-depth interviews and focus groups which will be conducted with frontline workers later in 2008.
NCETA would like to invite interested Indigenous and non-Indigenous health workers (who see a high proportion of Indigenous clients) working in the Alcohol and Other Drugs field to let us know their views on the level of stress and wellbeing that they experience by completing the survey.
| Please click here to participate in the survey |
If you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact Ms Donna Weetra.
Drug Testing in Schools
An assessment of the impact, implications, viability and effectiveness of drug detection and screening measures in Australian schools
NCETA was recently contracted by the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) to undertake an independent, comprehensive and critical review of the potential effectiveness and impact of drug detection and screening measures in schools.
The review had two key objectives:
- To examine the positive and negative impacts and implications of the range of drug detection and screening measures currently available for schools in Australia
- To assess the viability and effectiveness of alternatives to drug detection and screening programs for schools.
Project tasks involved:
- a search and review of the relevant published literature, other reports and documents on this topic
- analysis of existing datasets on patterns and prevalence of AOD use by school-aged persons
- compilation of input from a wide range of key informants in this area (including parents, teachers and principals, students, alcohol and other drug experts i.e. researchers and clinicians, police, criminal justice workers, youth services workers, legal experts, civil liberties commentators, policy advisers, politicians, and health economists)
- a survey of perceptions of the general community.
Submissions CLOSED on Friday 27th July 2007. If you would like to see the submission package please click here to download. Thank you for your interest.
Online survey entries CLOSED Friday 24th August 2007. Thank you for your contributions.
The report is now complete and is being launched by the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD)on Wednesday 26th March.
Key findings from report:
- Most drug tests are insufficiently reliable for testing in a setting such as schools.
- The cost of testing was found to be very large and would represent a substantial impost on any education system’s budget.
- A wide range of moral and legal issues act as serious concerns, if not impediments.
- Prevalence of illicit drug use by schoolchildren has been declining for over a decade; current levels of regular use are very low, making detection a technically challenging task.
- Highest prevalence of drug use occurs among high-risk and vulnerable groups of children, including the poorer academic performers and Indigenous students, indicating that punitive and inquisitorial methods of deterrence are ill-advised.
- Evidence indicates that drug testing is an ineffective deterrence mechanism.
- Two thirds of submissions received from professionals were opposed to drug testing in schools.
- The majority of survey respondents were opposed to testing in schools.
- An effective array of school-based prevention interventions are now available to schools which focus on building positive relations and developing pupils’ sense of connectedness with the school.
- Effective mechanisms exist to target and intervene in appropriate ways with high risk students and/or their families.
For more information contact Dr Petra Bywood.
See ANCD website to download the full report.
To download the media release click here.
Young People and Alcohol
An investigation of the cultural drivers of alcohol use among young Australians
NCETA has recently commenced a 2-year project to examine the wide array of cultural factors that influence drinking among young Australians ( 14-24 years).
This project is a 2-stage process involving:
Stage 1:
- comprehensive literature review
- quantitative examination of existing data sets
Stage 1 is complete. A report of findings was released Friday 28th March 2008. Please contact NCETA for information on how to gain a copy of the report.
Stage 2:
- broad qualitative approach including: focus groups, participant observation, in-depth interviews.
Project objectives:
To explore the:
- cultural drivers that underlie risk-taking behaviours particularly drinking alcohol at risky levels
- perceptions, motivations, attitudes and behaviours towards risky alcohol use
- differences in gender-related attitudes to drinking alcohol
- perceptions of consumerism and individualism and how they influence risk-taking and drinking patterns
among young Australians aged 14-24 years.
To download the media release click here (PDF 24KB).
To download the full report click here (PDF 1249KB), or email NCETA for hard copy.
For more information click here (PDF 26KB) or contact Dr Joseph Borlagdan.
