By Dr Joe Milton, the Australian Science Media Centre

The Burnet Institute's 'Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll' report, which surveys young Australians about drug and alcohol use, sex, and mental health and wellbeing, was released at an AusSMC Briefing this week.

The annual survey began at the Big Day Out in Melbourne in 2005, hence 'rock 'n' roll', but has continued online since the music festival folded in 2015. This year, it captured responses from 1,049 young Aussies aged 15 to 29.

Head of Young People’s Health at the Burnet Institute, Associate Professor Megan Lim, told journalists at the briefing that the survey participants rated the harm of vaping at an average of 89 out of 100, but around 63% had tried e-cigarettes. That's a big increase since 2019, when just 5% said they'd vaped.

“I guess it's a lot more than knowledge required, really, and it's around social norms,” said A/Prof Lim. “Young people clearly understand that vaping can be harmful, but that knowledge alone isn’t enough to prevent use.”

The survey also found that 95% of the young people drank alcohol in the past year. That may sound high, but "alcohol use has been declining among young people across a whole range of measures", said A/Prof Lim.

"[The 95% figure is for] drinking alcohol at all in the past year. But if you look at different measures, like drinking a lot of alcohol in one go, that sort of thing, generally, this is declining across the world, among young people."

However, the same can't be said for illegal drugs, added A/Prof Lim. "Illicit drug use has not changed - 45% of people reported using an illicit drug in the past month", she said. And the report found more than 70% had used drugs at some point over the past year.

So why are young people shunning alcohol but not other drugs? There are probably many reasons, said A/Prof Lim. "When I was young, to have fun and socialise involved alcohol, but now there's, I guess, a lot more options for young people," she said.

Marijuana was the most popular drug, but A/Prof Lim highlighted worrying increases in the use of cocaine and ketamine.

"Ketamine was negligible 10 years ago, like one or two people might have reported using it," she said. "It's become one of the most popular drugs recently."

On sexual behaviour, the survey revealed changing habits and attitudes.

"Younger people are reporting an older age of first sex and reducing vaginal sex partners as well," said A/Prof Lim. "One really good outcome over the last 10 years has been an increase in long acting reversible contraception, so that's things like the implant and IUDs."

But several gaps in young people's knowledge were identified. Just 50% were aware that chlamydia can cause infertility in women, with 56% knowing it can be diagnosed with a urine test.

Questions about sex education suggested some topics, including consent, are covered well in Australian schools, but others are being overlooked. Different types of sex, abnormal period symptoms and sexual pleasure, for example.

No mention of pleasure is probably a hangover from more prudish times, said A/Prof Lim.

"The traditional sex ed when it was first taught was just 'here are all the terrible things that will happen to you if you have sex' with no consideration of the positives of sex," she said. "It's not realistic, and it alienates young people from the messages. You need to know what good sex is supposed to be like."

You can read about the AusSMC Briefing here

This article originally appeared in Science Deadline, a weekly newsletter from the AusSMC. You are free to republish this story, in full, with appropriate credit.

Contact: Dr Joe Milton

Phone: +61 8 7120 8666

Email: info@smc.org.au