Youth Facts and Stats

AIFS: teen-parent relationships
Research on how parents and teenagers get along together has been published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies. It draws on data from the Australian Temperament Project. Details ... (updated 2008-08-14)

Supporting the families of young people with problematic drug use
The 2008 ANCD report, 'Supporting the families of young people with problematic drug use: Investigating support options' describes how family members may need support to cope with the impact of a young person’s substance misuse on their day-to-day functioning. Family members are most likely to encounter alcohol misuse by a young person, with at least 1 in 5 young people consuming alcohol on a weekly basis by middle adolescence. Details ... (updated 2008-08-08)

Australia's Health 2008
'Australia's health 2008', the 11th biennial report in a series from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, charts the progress of Australians' health in the past two decades or more. It describes the health status of Australians as a population; disparities between particular groups of Australians; factors that influence health; specific diseases; expenditure and the workforce; and indicators used to monitor these. Details ... (updated 2008-08-08)

Injury among young Australians
The report, 'Injury among young Australians', released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in June 2008, draws together data on injury-related deaths, hospitalisations and incidence among young Australians aged 12-24 years. It examines the burden of injury among young people along with the following causes of injury: transport accidents, intentional self-harm and suicide, accidental poisoning and assault. Details ... (updated 2008-08-08)

Health 2008
Details ... (updated 2008-08-08)

Australian Democrats 2008 Youth Poll
Youth Poll 2008 is the final iteration of an annual survey of youth opinion, conducted by Australian Democrats since 1992, and the ninth to be conducted by Senator Natasha Stott Despoja. Youth Poll 2008 captures the perceptions of young people (15-20 years) about themselves, their place in society and the issues important to them. This year, family, health and education are at the top of their list. Details ... (updated 2008-07-19)

Statistics poster competition
This competition, run by academics from 7 universities and administered by the Australian Mathematics Trust, encourages students to experience learning and decision making through the collection and analysis of data. Details ... (updated 2008-07-19)

Sport & leisure, 2001-2007 information
Details ... (updated 2008-07-16)

Adolescent gambling in South Australia: SA Government Department of Education and Children's Services
A research project undertaken in 2007 in South Australian secondary schools found that the number of 13- to 17-year-olds gambling on a weekly basis decreased from 15% in 2001 to 6% in 2007. Of the 2,669 young people who took part in the study, 2.4% of respondents were found to be 'problem gamblers' and 6.4% were considered to be 'at risk' of becoming problem gamblers. Details ... (updated 2008-07-16)

Youth and gambling: 2001 information
Details ... (updated 2008-07-16)

Report: Adolescent Gambling in the ACT, 2003–04
Details ... (updated 2008-07-16)

Gambling problem among wealthy teens NSW, 2007
Details ... (updated 2008-07-16)

Canadian research on smoking and weight loss
Canadian researcy dispells a widely-held belief among girls that smoking keeps them slim. Details ... (updated 2008-07-16)

2007 information on literacy/numeracy
Details ... (updated 2008-07-16)

2003-2006 information on literacy/numeracy
Details ... (updated 2008-07-16)

Literacy and numeracy over two decades
A paper by the ANU's Research School of Social Sciences (How has school productivity changed in Australia?) shows that the literacy and numeracy skills of Australian teenagers (aged 13-14 years) have declined in comparison with those of their peers in the 1960s and 1970s. Details ... (updated 2008-07-16)

Public perceptions about alcohol
The ANCD commissioned Galaxy Research to conduct an online survey of public perceptions about alcohol. The report also found that 90% of respondents were concerned about underage binge drinking Details ... (updated 2008-07-08)

2008 items on alochol
Details ... (updated 2008-07-08)

Girl Guides 2008
In April 2008, Girl Guides Australia released the report National survey of Australian Girl Guides: Issues concerning Girl Guides, outlining results from their 2007 survey of the local, national and global concerns of their members. Close to 4,500 Girl Guides aged 5-17 years took part in the survey, which asked the question, 'What three issues in the world, in Australia and in your community do you care about?' Selected findings... Details ... (updated 2008-07-07)

2001-2007
Details ... (updated 2008-07-04)

2008
Details ... (updated 2008-07-04)

STIs in American teenage girls
Rise in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in American teenage girls: A nationally representative US study has found that one in four teenage girls has at least one sexually transmitted disease. Details ... (updated 2008-07-04)

CensusAtSchool: Improving students' statistical literacy
Details ... (updated 2008-02-23)

Sexual health
Details ... (updated 2007-02-14)

Unemployment
Details ... (updated 2006-12-05)

Other drugs: 2007 information and earlier
Details ... (updated 2006-11-30)

Mission Australia national youth survey 2007
Mission Australia released the report, 'National Survey of Young Australians 2007: Key and emerging issues', on 4 December 2007. It's their 6th consecutive annual survey of young Australians aged 11 to 24 years and seeks to identify the important and emerging issues of young people. Priority issues that emerged from the report are: body image, the environment, mental health issues, and alcohol and physical/sexual abuse. Details ... (updated 2007-12-04)

Election 2007
Details ... (updated 2007-12-02)

2008
Details ... (updated 2007-11-25)

International views
Details ... (updated 2007-02-23)

The quality of our information

1. ACYS receives press clippings of all youth research-related news stories published in Australian national and capital city daily newspapers. We read each of these stories to see if the content seems relevant to the youth studies field and is based on a reputable source. If so, we then do an internet search for authoritative source material that supports the facts contained in the news story, such as online copies of the source documents (reports, studies, briefing papers) and/or their accompanying media release.
   
   ACYS publishes items on the Australian Youth Facts and Stats website only if suitable supporting material is available online.
   
   
2. ACYS regularly checks the websites of relevant government departments and research organisations (see our links section) for any newly published youth-related data suitable for inclusion on the Australian Youth Facts and Stats website.

In both cases, links to online source documents are contained at the end of each Australian Youth Facts and Stats item for reader reference and further information. Citations for newspaper articles are also included in items sourced from our press clippings.

While ACYS takes great care to ensure that the information published on Australian Youth Facts and Stats is accurate and up to date, site visitors should exercise their own skill and judgement prior to using the information. Any inaccuracies on the Australian Youth Facts and Stats site brought to the attention of ACYS will be corrected as soon as possible.