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National Drugs Campaign: Evaluation of Phase Two: March 2006

The National Drugs Campaign was designed to educate and inform young people and their parents and about the negative consequences of illicit drug use. Phase One of the campaign, launched in March 2001, targeted parents of children aged eight to 17 years and gave them the tools and the confidence to discuss drugs with their children. Phase Two, launched in April 2005, was directed at preventing young people from using drugs.

The Phase Two campaign highlighted the harmful effects of illicit drug use with particular attention to the three most commonly used illegal drugs: marijuana, ecstasy and speed. At the same time it offered hope and positive alternatives to drug use, information on counselling services for drug users and their families, and reinforced the message that parents should talk to their children about drugs.

A comprehensive evaluation of Phase Two is now complete. The evaluation report is an assessment of how effective the campaign was in achieving its objectives. To evaluate the campaign, quantitative surveys of parents and general community youth and Indigenous youth were carried out at different stages throughout June to October 2005.

Key findings:

Parents of 8 -17 year olds

More parents had recently spoken to their children about illegal drugs, and more intended to do so in the near future, than had been the case before the campaign was launched. Around two in three parents felt that the campaign had made it easier to talk to their children about illegal drugs . Of those parents who recalled seeing the campaign, four in ten reported taking action with respect to illegal drugs and their children, which typically involved talking to their children about drugs (82 %).

Youth aged 13 -20 years
The majority of young people who recognised the ‘Youth' TV commercials clearly recalled the main messages as the negative consequences of using the drugs, uncertainty about what effects they might have, and to avoid using them. Ninety-seven per cent of young people surveyed found the commercials believable. Around two in three young people felt the campaign had influenced what they do or think about drugs, most often to avoid drugs and to think about the consequences of using them, and more than half felt the campaign had made it easier to discuss illicit drugs with their parents.

Compared to findings from the pre-campaign survey, there was increased awareness among young people of mental and other health problems associated with using marijuana, ecstasy and speed. Encouragingly, fewer young people were at risk of accepting a friend's offer of marijuana or speed.

Among Indigenous youth, there was strong recall of the mainstream campaign, particularly the ‘Youth' commercials, and high recognition of the ‘Drug free and deadly' poster. Around three in four young Indigenous people felt the campaign had influenced them, most often to avoid using drugs. A significant proportion of attendees obtained campaign information resources at the ‘3on3 Hip Hop and Basketball Challenges' and the ‘Croc Festivals', events sponsored by the Australian Government through the Department of Health and Ageing.

The full publication is available in PDF format:

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