Youth Hub in Alexandrina
Alexandrina Council is a regional local government area south of Adelaide, bordered on two sides by coast and Lake Alexandrina.
To support young people in the region, the Alexandrina Local Drug Action Team (LDAT) now runs the Milang Youth Hub and alcohol and other drug (AOD) sessions in schools – reaching students, teachers and parents.
Their challenge
Kylie Markow, Community Development Officer at Alexandrina Council, explains how the LDAT has evolved to meet community need.
“When the LDAT fell into hiatus due to COVID-19, the Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF), which operates the LDAT program, supported us to revive Alexandrina LDAT and Council took on the role as the lead organisation,” said Kylie.
“We reached out to a range of stakeholders to have conversations about the AOD issues we were seeing in the community, who was affected and what we thought we could do about it.”
Alcohol and cannabis were the most commonly used substances amongst young people and vaping was on the rise. School leaders were seeing the flow on effects for some young people, like more days missing school.
In response, two key activities were identified for the LDAT’s second Community Action Plan (CAP) – the Milang Youth Hub and AOD education in schools.
The Youth Hub came about because stakeholders saw that young people had nothing to do outside school hours and there were no youth sporting teams active in the community.
Instead, young people were congregating around the town’s Wi-Fi benches, including one opposite the pub. There were reports of negative interactions between adults drinking on the pub veranda and the young people at the Wi-Fi bench.
“Milang stakeholders were keen to create an opportunity for young people to do something positive, make social connections with peers, and have a positive influence from adult role models,” explained Kylie.
Their response
In 2023, the LDAT worked with Encounter Youth to deliver seminars to students, teachers and parents
Three out of the four high schools in Alexandrina participated, with two sessions at each school for Year 7 to 9 students. Two sessions for teachers and two for parents were also delivered in the Council area.
“This year for our third CAP, we’ve taken a different approach with delivery of AOD education over a series of lessons by teachers, who already have a relationship with their students,” said Kylie.
The LDAT has moved to trial the evidence-based drug, alcohol and health education program OurFutures, which centres on modules for students from late Year 6 to Year 10. All four high schools in the area are now on board, opting to deliver multiple modules.
“We were encouraged by our ADF Relationship Manager to have a look at OurFutures and the schools were open to giving it a go.
“It’s great that they have the opportunity to pick modules they feel are most relevant to their school – vaping has been popular.”
The Youth Group program, housed in the Youth Hub, was also offered in 2023 and 2024, for 10- to 18-year-olds.
Activities include table tennis, air hockey, basketball, cricket, soccer, card games, retro video games and cooking.
And, thanks to the Hub’s lakeside position, water activities are also on the bill, like kayaking, paddleboarding and fishing.
“The Youth Hub is in a unique position so we’re able to offer all these things onsite,” explained Lyall Willis, Youth Activities Coordinator for Milang Youth Hub, employed by Reclink SA.
Young people have been involved in deciding some of the activities offered as well as building equipment for the Hub. They’re encouraged to look after the space, which has helped to create a sense of ownership and respect.
A strong partnership between Reclink, Milang Old School House and Community Centre (MOSHCC) and Alexandrina Council has been behind the success of the program. Each partner brings different networks and resources to help promote the program and attract additional grants and donations.
The project has received strong community support of volunteer time and donated resources.
Their progress
In 2023, 324 high school students completed the education course, as well as 22 teachers and 19 parents.
Of the young people who completed evaluation, 63% reported an increase in knowledge of risks and harms associated with AOD. And, 76% reported an increase in confidence to support their peers to stay safe around AOD.
Young people said they found the information valuable and interesting.
"I learnt how many people had no experience with drugs and alcohol in my age group, because I thought there would be a lot more people that had experience with it or been around it before," said one student.
"I learnt how dangerous drugs can be for our brains and how long it actually takes our brains to develop, which surprised me," said another.
Parents and community members who attended the education sessions were highly engaged, showing lots of interest in the support resources from the Alcohol and Drug Foundation. Of those who completed evaluation, 100% reported an increase in knowledge of potential harms associated with AOD for young people.
Youth Hub attendance grew over time as more young people found out about it. There was an average of nine young people per session by Term 3 of 2023.
Through the program, young people were supported to get to know others - 91% of attendees reported an increase in social connection and 100% reported an increase in a sense of belonging and connection to community.
“There’s been a core group of regular youth who feel at home at the Hub. Their social skills in navigating friendships have grown. There’s been a number of home-schooled youth attend, finding it a safe place to make new friends,” said Lyall.
“Having worked in the Milang Youth Hub for almost two years, I have more awareness of the social and emotional needs that youth have in this challenging age group.
“I keep motivated by seeing their potential expand as they try new things and overcome personal barriers to engage in connection with peers and older staff.”
The LDAT is now working to increase the volunteer base for the Youth Hub to make it sustainable and it’s exploring opportunities for transport to help young people from surrounding townships attend activities.
Advice to other LDATs
Kylie’s advice to other LDATs looking to work with young people is to make use of the people and resources at the ADF – and lean on them for support.
“The support we’ve received from our ADF Relationship Managers over time has been excellent. There’s a clear process [through the program] that LDATs are asked to take, in terms of consulting with community about what the needs are.”
“The resources provided by ADF take the guesswork out of it. They’ve got a comprehensive review of the evidence of what works well. There are some options for LDAT activities that people can pick off the shelf, but there’s flexibility in the program to enable LDATs to tailor it to meet community’s needs.”
The Alexandrina LDAT used the Supporting Teenagers and Strong and Connected Communities LDAT Toolkits as guides for developing its CAP.
Kylie also recommends focussing on building partnerships locally.
“Our relationships with schools, community centres, mental health providers and others has meant that we’ve been able to pool our knowledge, skills and resources, and get more done together.
“Working together has helped to strengthen those partnerships and lead to even more opportunities to improve the wellbeing of our community.”