Victoria Minister for Higher Education and Skills Peter Hall

Report Into The Wellbeing Of Victorian Teens Released

Victor P Taffa

Minister for Higher Education and Skills Peter Hall today released comprehensive profiles about Victorian teenagers for each local government area.

The Adolescent Community Profiles equip communities with the information they need to identify areas of strengths and vulnerabilities for teens within each of the state’s 79 local government areas.

The profiles include data about numeracy and literacy levels and information on topics such as the:

• proportion of adolescents living in clean neighbourhoods;
• proportion of adolescents who report bullying;
• proportion of adolescents who are exposed to tobacco smoke in the home;
• proportion of adolescents who have someone to turn to for advice when having problems.

Mr. Hall said the profiles, which were released at todays joint Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and Municipal Association of Victoria Youth Forum, would provide the evidence local communities and all levels of government need to help inform program planning and identify areas of need across the state.

“The 2010 Adolescent Community Profiles include information about 58 indicators of adolescent health, development, learning, safety and wellbeing.” Mr. Hall said.

“They are designed to guide decision-making across government so we can more effectively set priorities and allocate resources.”

Detailed reports and summary sheets have been prepared for each local government area and for nine regional areas throughout the state.

They will be sent to local councils and regional offices of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, and have been published on the Victorian Child and Adolescent Monitoring System website.

The Adolescent Community Profiles include data from the Victorian Adolescent Health and Wellbeing survey of more than 10,000 students in years 7, 9 and 11 from Victorian Government and non-government secondary schools, as well as a range of additional data held by government departments.