Young South Australians living in rural and regional areas are more concerned about alcohol and other drug issues and coping with stress than their counterparts in Adelaide, according to community service organisation Mission Australia.

Young people in country South Australia are also more focused on finding a job and financial security than their city peers. But they share a focus on independence, family relationships, and friendships, and similar concerns about bullying, depression, discrimination, and family conflict.

“Alcohol use is clearly a major issue for young people in country areas, where it accounts for far more deaths than among young people in cities,” said Mission Australia’s State Manager Mark Herselman. “While the death rate of 15-24 year olds attributed to alcohol has been trending down over the past decade, the non-metropolitan rate remains 1.7 times higher,” he said.

“Young people are telling us through this survey that alcohol use is a serious issue in rural and regional communities and that we need to continue to target it on an individual and community level in the bush,” he said.

The findings are contained in a new publication based on Mission Australia’s 2005 National Youth Survey. Conducted on-line, through schools and colleges, and with the assistance of community organisations, government agencies and corporate partners, it’s one of the largest studies to be carried out each year of young Australians.

More than 11,000 young people aged between 11-24 years participated in the survey, which aims to identify and clarify key emerging issues for Australian youth. Forty-seven percent were from outside capital cities, including 800 respondents from rural and regional South Australia. Results which reveal the differences between rural and metro-based South Australians include:

• The issue of alcohol and other drugs was important for 37.6% of young rural South Australians, compared to 30.7% for their Adelaide counterparts.
• Coping with stress was a significant issue for 37.3 per cent of those respondents living outside of Adelaide, compared with 28.2 percent of city respondents.
• Physical and sexual abuse was rated as a more important issue in the city, listed by 43.2 percent, compared to 36.2 percent from the rest of the State.
• Financial security and getting a job were rated as important issues by 22.5% of country respondents, compared to 16.5% of those in the city.
• Involvement in sports was higher among respondents living outside of Adelaide (63.8 per cent compared to 58.8 per cent), as was the level of volunteering (23.0 percent and 18.6 percent).

Mr Herselman said there were many similarities also in what young South Australians in rural/regional areas and those in Adelaide are thinking and feeling.

“Regardless of where young people live, family relationships and friendships are what they value most,” he said. “They’re also involved in their communities, through sport, youth groups, arts and cultural activities and volunteering.”

“These are very positive messages for the wider community, as young people are often presented as being interested only in themselves or financial success.”

But he said the differences between the two groups emphasise, once again, that young people in South Australia are not a homogenous group.

“They show us that when tailoring programs to meet some of the problems facing young people – unemployment, drug and alcohol issues, suicide and depression – that one size definitely does not fit all,” he said. “Whatever the differences between city and country, we need to make sure our young people – and their parents and families – have the information they need to deal with the issues confronting them.”

Media please note, Mission Australia’s State Manager Mark Herselman and Mission Australia’s Research and Social Policy Manager Anne Hampshire are available for comment about the report.

For more information, or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Chris Rann, Rann Communication, (08) 8211 7771