More than 25,000 young people aged 15-19 years old completed the 2019 Youth Survey. The top three most important issues chosen by the young people are:
- Mental health (36%)
- The environment (34%)
- Equity and discrimination (25%)
While equity and discrimination is the third most important issue for females, alcohol and drugs is the third most important issue for males. Overall, alcohol and drugs came out as the fourth most important issue (21%) for young people in Australia today.
The top three issues identified by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people are:
- Mental health (28.9%)
- Alcohol and drugs (28.1%)
- Equity and discrimination (24.3%)
Not only is mental health more of a concern for young people than ever in the history of the survey, the top four personal concerns raised also relate closely to mental health: coping with stress, school or study problems, mental health and body image.
This year’s survey reveals young people’s great concern for the environment, as well as unacceptable levels of bullying. Positively, the survey indicates around six in 10 young people feel very happy/happy overall with their lives.
Results are shared with governments, Non-Government Organisations, schools and social commentators in an effort to influence the development of policies, services and programs to benefit and support young Australians.
Sir David Martin Foundation is the major Philanthropic partner of Mission’s Australia’s Triple Care Farm.
The pathway to recovery requires a deeper understanding of the young person’s readiness for change. A young person with alcohol and drug addiction will fall into one of the following five stages of change *:
Precontemplation
Young people are not thinking seriously about changing and tend to defend their current alcohol or drug use patterns. They may not see their use as a problem and as they see the positives outweigh the negatives of their behaviour, they are happy to continue.
Contemplation
Young people are able to consider the possibility of quitting or reducing alcohol or drug use but feel ambivalent about taking the next step. Although they still enjoy the positives, they are starting to experience some adverse consequences such as mental health symptoms, disconnection from friends and family, loss of housing or education or problems with the law, physical, legal, social or family problems.
Preparation
Young people have already made a recent attempt to change using behaviour in the last year. They understand the negatives outweigh the positive of their addiction. They are usually taking some small steps towards changing behaviour and understand that change is necessary and urgent. However, some young people at this stage may still decide not to do anything about their behaviour.
Action
Young people are actively taking steps to change their using behaviour and working towards goals and significant change. They are committed and may try several different techniques. However they are still at a high risk of relapse.
Maintenance
Young people are able to successfully avoid any temptations to return to using behaviour. They have learned to anticipate and handle temptations to use and are able to employ new ways of coping. If they have a temporary relapse, they can recover and don’t see it as a failure.
Learn more about how Sir David Martin Foundation helps save young lives through our support of Triple Care Farm – moving them from a high risk of suicide to seeing opportunities and building a brighter future.
source: Australian Government Department of Health
Only 25, Courtney’s life was taken away in just one night. The first shock was her brutal death – but the waves of shock about her being homeless, suffering with mental illness and struggling with drug addiction are only too familiar. She could well have been one of the young people that seek help through Triple Care Farm’s drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre.
Young people with mental health conditions are highly vulnerable – they often become disconnected from family and friends and end up homeless. Many are fleeing domestic violence and already frightened and misunderstood, they feel they have nowhere to go. If they’re lucky they can sleep on other people’s couches, or in youth shelters but sadly some end up in cars or using rough sleeping arrangements in parks, beaches or streets.
Without the safety of stable accommodation, these young people are at risk of violent crime. But they are also at risk of suicide. Life can feel overwhelming and as they are still evolving into adulthood they may not have the necessary resilience and life skills to cope. Addiction to alcohol and drugs are often a result of searching for a method to cope with their situation, to self-medicate.
Since the launch in 2017 of David Martin Place, a Detox centre at Triple Care Farm, over 70 per cent of the young people (aged 16 to 24) attending have, in the recent period prior to getting help, attempted to take their own life. The majority have been homeless. Being unwell and without an address makes it almost impossible to get employment.
At Sir David Martin Foundation we’re proud to enable best practice models of care for young people in crisis through rehabilitation. Only then can they build a pathway for their future. Having a secure home for now and the future is vital to keeping young people safe and healthy.
For more information on tackling youth homelessness and how to seek help visit our major partner, Mission Australia.
Sir David Martin Foundation is the major philanthropic partner of Mission Australia and enables best practice care for young people with drug and alcohol addictions. Our family foundation is the major funder of Triple Care Farm’s youth-specific drug and alcohol treatment programs.
Helen Connealy,
Sir David Martin Foundation General Manager
By Benjamin Law
Diving in bins for food; literally sleeping on the streets; having cockroaches crawl over my bare back; using a Sydney toilet that was so rotted and foul that it continues to haunt me now – all those experiences were pretty intense.
But in the end, I discovered I could handle all that. If you watch the show – still available on SBS On Demand – you’ll see what affected me most about experiencing various forms of Australian homelessness over 10 days was delving into the experiences of real homeless Australians.
One of the things that shocked me most was how young so many of them are. Singer and social media star Ally Simpson was one of my castmates, and only 19 when we filmed the show. However, as we learned during the show, statistically, she was actually quite old compared to actual Australians who first start living without stable housing. So many of the homeless adults I befriended during the shoot also started sleeping rough when they were in the early-to-mid teens. Many of them were kids.
So when Sir David Martin Foundation approached me to abseil down a building to raise awareness for their exceptional charity work, I didn’t even need to think about it. Only problem is, as much as I don’t fear roaches, gross toilets and rough sleeping, I do fear heights. I’m the kind of person who feels nauseous on balconies above the third floor. In large shopping malls, I have to approach the guard rails like I would a wild animal: hands out, using small steps, since I’m clearly stepping into a fatal situation.
At the same time, I do feel safe in a harness (from years of rock climbing with friends, you perverts), but a 135m skyscraper … is a different prospect. As I discovered on the day though, the biggest problem isn’t the height: it’s the rope burn. Turns out dropping from a building with nothing but gravity pulling you down, and nothing but your hands between you and certain death … causes quite a bit of friction and heat.
But I managed. And what was fortifying and encouraging was seeing people get over their fear of heights, their anxiety that they’d fail, and one by one reach the ground to peals of relieved laughter. I abseiled down the Market Street building with vulnerable young people from Triple Care Farm – the youth rehabilitation program for which we were raising funds – who were building the skills to work through a rough patch. And sometimes, as we learned on the day, there’s no better way to do that than staring at your fear directly, and diving right off.
And although many young Australians are half way through the first academic semester of 2019, it’s sad that not all our youth are getting that education. Exam results are not the sole focus of their future career direction but if they are denied the occasion and sense of achievement from graduating from school, they start adult life with an immediate disadvantage. One in four students drop out before the end of high school, leaving them vulnerable young people, with isolation from their communities and barriers to employment and affordable housing.
Keeping our teenagers in school is what most parents desire but as these young people grow, asserting their own preferences and choices, it is not always within parental or educators’ control.
Even with the best support networks, getting through high school is a challenge. According to the latest Mission Australia Youth Survey, the top three personal concerns for young people are Coping with stress, School or study problems and Mental health.
Family relationships and friendships are what they most value (though maybe they don’t always show it).
So what are the benefits of graduation?
- Belonging
- A brain full of useful, relevant information
- A sense of achievement and completion
- Recognition within a community
- A reason to celebrate
- A platform to jump to the next place – further education or employment
For those who don’t graduate, they are left to their own devices. If they have support they can do well but it’s harder. If they don’t have support, they are limited by isolation, limited by employment choice which then limits the amount they earn.
The majority of our rehabilitation students at Triple Care Farm have not finished year 10. That’s why we celebrate their graduation from the Residential Rehabilitation Program. We celebrate their commitment, their growing independence, their achievement and their belonging. This is often the first time they recognise their own value and potential.
Graduating is a shared experience of celebrating learning, courage and commitment.
In the words of Research Professor Brene Brown – Be here – be You – Belong – the classroom belongs to all of us.
If you are in crisis please call Lifeline 13 11 14
Sir David Martin Foundation is a national charity, dedicated to helping young people in crisis. We take young people from risk of suicide to seeing opportunities and building a future.
My partner and I signed up for Abseil for Youth a number of months ago, and while we are feeling a little (or very!) scared about stepping off a 33 storey building, we know that taking this challenge is a fantastic opportunity to help youth in crisis.
Luckily for us, when we take on the event we will have strong ropes supporting us and many experienced people guiding us down. I liken this to the work at Triple Care Farm and David Martin Place – where encouraging and experienced staff provide the right support, at the right time, to guide our young people to step up and into their best selves.
I joined the board of governors for the Sir David Martin Foundation a number of months ago as I am passionate about ensuring all young people have the opportunity to be the best they can be. I understand how traversing life’s path is not easy for many young people, particularly those experiencing mental illness, addictions and homelessness – and this is where the Sir David Martin Foundation comes in to help raise funds for the Triple Care Farm and David Martin Place.
The funds raised through Abseil for Youth go towards supporting these two programs, which provide effective, evidence-based interventions for young people to find their strengths, address their challenges (particularly to overcome addictions and mental health issues) and change their life trajectory. The results from the programs consistently show that this type of support provides real and lasting change.
Together with the other governors, I feel lucky to play a part in supporting the great work that the staff do at Sir David Martin Foundation, Triple Care Farm and David Martin Place.
Thank you so much to everyone who has supported Abseil for Youth and all the wonderful donors who have, and continue to support Triple Care Farm and David Martin Place.
Jess Parker,
Sir David Martin Foundation Board Member
I was completely captivated as each chapter delved deeper into the failings (and successes) of our society in managing drugs – urging us to re-think our approach to addiction.
There is a lot that can be said about drug prohibition – its history, evolution and case studies that ensue. But what I found particularly interesting was the challenge that Hari presented on our very understanding of addiction itself.
The challenge is that most of our perceptions of addiction are based on the ‘pharmaceutical theory of addiction’ – that chemicals are the cause of the addicted one’s habit.
I’ll clarify that chemicals in drugs can be addictive and that some are stronger than others. It’s just that this approach to addiction is far too simple and the repercussions include ineffective models of treatment and support for those struggling with addiction.
The book argues that nothing is addictive in itself. It’s always a combination of a potentially addictive substance or behaviour and a susceptible individual.
Problem drug use is a symptom, not a cause, of personal and social instability. It meets a need and takes away the pain, for a while.
American scientists carried out a study called the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study. These scientists discovered that for each traumatic event that happened to a child, they were two to four times more likely to grow up to be an addicted adult. Nearly two-thirds of injection drug use, they found, is the product of childhood trauma.
Simply cutting off access to drugs from an addicted person’s life will not solve their addiction issue. It isn’t the drug that causes the harmful behaviour – it’s the environment, the person’s history and mental health.
You may have heard about the Rat Park experiment from the 70s. If not, I recommend you watch this short summary. Essentially, it brings into focus the importance of one’s environment and sense of connectedness in preventing or overcoming addiction.
The connection that Hari makes between addiction and environment brings home to me the holistic approach that Triple Care Farm has to helping young people with substance abuse issues. Here, young people are provided with a non-judgmental environment to delve into the reasons for their addiction and are able to receive the right support to help them build a better life.
– Young people at youth drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, Triple Care Farm –
“Addiction is an expression of despair, and the best way to deal with despair is to offer a better life, where the addict doesn’t feel the need to anesthetize herself anymore.” – Jão Figueira (Chief of the Lisbon Drugs Squad)
If pain and isolation are major causes of addiction, inflicting more pain and more isolation not only doesn’t work, it actually makes things worse. Towards the end of the book, the case is made that treatment models based on love, compassion and support for people with addiction work, and models based on stigmatising and shaming make them worse.
I’ve been reminded to look with more compassion and complexity, at people struggling with addiction. I am encouraged by Triple Care Farm’s holistic approach to helping young people make sustained changes in their young and precious lives.
Addiction is complex because it intertwines with individual stories. The chemicals are only one part of the picture.
Megan Meyer
When individuals and groups are passionate about an issue, be it local sporting opportunities, environmental causes, or social justice issues such as helping disadvantaged young people, they engage with it, understand its place and impact on our community and they act quickly.
I always think of the Margaret Mead quote – “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has”.
That engagement, understanding and commitment to action can come in many forms. For the Farm it is primarily through volunteering and philanthropic investment. People’s willingness to give time and money to help young people they will never meet is inspiring philanthropy. These philanthropists bring about real change to the lives of young people challenged by addiction, homelessness, mental illness and social disconnection.
Philanthropic support enables Triple Care Farm to provide an innovative and responsive service to young people. The Farm has been providing services to help youth in crisis for almost 30 years. In this time, the program has evolved to better meet the needs of young people. Philanthropic support – which comes without restrictive conditions – enables flexibility and has ensured that the Triple Care Farm program can rapidly respond to the changing needs and complexities that young people face. For example, when the Ice Epidemic changed the issues that young people presented with at the Farm, the freedom and flexibility of philanthropic funding immediately allowed the Farm team to react as required, changing the intake process and altering the support provided in the first few weeks, enabling young people still going through late withdrawal to settle into the program.
It also enables program innovations and ‘additional’ elements and opportunities to be provided to Farm students. For example
- A sport and recreation program which helps young people recover their health and learn new ways of having fun – without drugs. Or an arts program that enables young people to express and then deal with issues and emotion. Potentially hard things for Government to agree to fund in a limited funding environment, but key elements of successfully helping young people escape addiction.
- For those people who have been to Triple Care Farm, the breathtaking piece of land on which the farm is situated – which is a key element of student’s rehab experience – was donated by the Fairfax Family almost 30 years ago. They saw a need and took action. Without that generosity and vision, there would be no Farm!
- More recently, the commitment of $1m of philanthropic investment was a contributing factor in the Federal Government providing $2m towards the building of David Martin Place. The vision of philanthropic donors in that way was leveraged to bring in additional funding.
These program aspects – all essential elements to the Farm’s unparalleled success in helping young people escape addiction – are unlikely to have been possible in a predominantly Government funding model. While Government support is greatly appreciated – and we hope that State and Federal Governments continue to address youth addiction through the National Ice Strategy and NSW Drug Package – movement is often slow, innovation is hard and funding is generally tied to short cycles and short term goals that do not allow for innovation in response to changing needs. Problems have often become cross generational and socially embedded before the government action arrives. In addition, Government funding can change with Government or policy changes whilst philanthropy is long term, constant and less reactive.
Philanthropy, being already connected and informed, understands and then activates before social problems spill out into frontage ink. Philanthropy is an investment, creating value that will continue to save the lives of young people into the future. It has been a blessing to see the pleasure that philanthropy has brought Farm donors over the years. They know how their support has changed – and saved – young lives, and when that ‘social return’ and joy comes through philanthropic investment, it is something to cherish.
There are plenty of reasons given for legalising – or decriminalising – drugs including eliminating the criminal market place and reducing crime, making drug use safer, de-stigmatising use, taxing drug sales in the same way tobacco or alcohol currently are. And there is certainly some truth and value in these arguments.
It has been interesting to watch the slow decriminalisation of marijuana use in NSW – maybe this is a sign that Governments and society are slowing moving to a more liberal position on legalisation or decriminalisation. However at the same time legalising something doesn’t stop it being a problem. Alcohol, tobacco and gambling have all been legal for a long time, but the costs and crimes associated with alcohol dwarf all other drugs. The results of tobacco smoke are one of the biggest drains on our health service. Gambling addiction is as big a societal issue as it has ever been. Despite all being legal, there is still huge stigma attached to these addictions.
It has been put to me that money spent on rehab services at Triple Care Farm might be better spent on anti-drug education that discourages young people from using drugs in the first place. But we as a community do spend a lot of money on anti-drug education and on education around alcohol, smoking and gambling. Yet there are still those who get into strife with all these issues.
So – should we pull all funding away from people who are in trouble with drugs, or drink, or gambling and who want to escape addiction in any form? Of course not. The role of services like Triple Care Farm is, and will always be, vital to support those who have fallen, to get back on their feet again.
Legalising or decriminalising drugs will not stop them being a problem. It may potentially create a bigger issue. Whilst some other countries have more liberal approaches to drug use, there is no clear precedent for what would happen should we go down this path.
The approach taken at Triple Care Farm is a non-judgemental approach based around addressing the issues that lead to drug use (incl mental health and social issues), that compound addiction (unemployment, homelessness etc) and that arise from substance use (via a harm minimisation approach).
Harm minimisation aims to reduce the harmful effects of substance use. It is a common approach based on the belief that drug use, both licit and illicit, is an inevitable part of society, and ranges from occasional use to dependent use, that a range of harms are associated to different types and patterns of use and a range of approaches can be used to respond to these harms.
The Triple Care Farm rehab program doesn’t expect young people will be 100% abstinent from addictive substances for the rest of their life. It is unrealistic and ineffective to expect young people never to have a beer, smoke a joint or take party drugs ever again. However by addressing the issues leading to addiction in the first place, and by supporting a harm minimisation approach, Triple Care Farm gives young people the opportunity to live their lives free from the harmful impact of addiction.
Alex Green