Needs analysis report 2011 2012

School Focussed Youth Service
Glen Eira, Port Phillip & Stonnington

Needs Analysis 2011 School Focused Youth Services
Kate Fennessy, SFYS Coordinator
Current and emerging trends in wellbeing issues for
Glen Eira, Port Phillip and Stonnington

Young people in Glen Eira, Stonnington and Port Phillip

School Focused Youth Service Coordinator
Stonnington Youth Services

SFYS: Needs Analysis Report 2011-2012

Acknowledgements:

Thanks are extended to all the young people who took the time to participate in the Youth Surveys and Youth
Forum. Your openness to identifying issues of concern, and your brave comments are what have made this
document meaningful, and given us a great insight into how schools and services can better support you.

Thanks also to those schools and services who took the time out of their increasingly busy schedules to
complete the Schools and Service surveys, sharing your experiences and wealth of knowledge of the youth
sector.

And finally, to acknowledge Kate Fennessey in her role as the previous SFYS Coordinator for her fantastic
work in starting this Needs Analysis, doing the 2010 surveys and Youth Forum, collating and analyzing the
2010 data and writing parts of the document.

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Table of Contents

1. Visual Summary

1.1 Key Themes…………………………………………………….………………………………….. 3
1.2 Emerging Trends…………………………………….………………………….……………….. 3
1.3 Summary of Findings……………………………………………………………….…………… 3
1.4 Recommendations…………………………………………………………….…………………. 3

2. Introduction

2.1 The SFYS Program…………………………………………………………………….…………... 4
2.2 The SFYS Needs Analysis…………………………………………………………..…………... 4
2.3 Aims and Intended Audience……………………………………………………………….. 4
2.4 Methodology……………………………………………………………………………………….. 5

3. Local Youth Profiles

3.1 Stonnington……………………………………………………………………………….…………. 5
3.2 Glen Eira…………………………………………………………………………………….…………. 6
3.3 Port Phillip………………………………………………………………………………….………... 6

4. Needs Analysis Findings

4.1 School Survey Findings……………………………………………………………….……….. 7
4.2 Service Survey Findings…………………………………………………………………..…… 8
4.3 Schools and Services Visual Summary…………………………………………………… 9
4.4 Youth Survey Findings……………………………………………………..……………….…... 10
4.5 Comparison to 2006-2007 Needs Analysis……………………………………………. 14
4.6 Overall Data Interpretation…………………………………………………………………... 15

5. Recommendations

5.1 What is working well? ………………………………………………………………………….. 17
5.2 Recommendations for the Service Sector and Schools…………………………. 17
5.3 Recommendations for Partnerships.…….………………………………..….…………. 18
5.4 Recommendations for Youth Participation……………………………………………. 18

6. Bibliography 19

7. Appendices 19

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Visual Summary
This diagram shows the summarised findings of the Youth, Schools and Service surveys in
conjunction with VCAMS data and an analysis of the youth service sector.

Key Themes Emerging Issues

Mental health and wellbeing issues remain the most Schools and services are seeing anxiety emerging
prominent issues for young people. as a key issue impacting on young people. This is
Young people are most concerned about illicit likely linked to increased experiences of pressure to
drugs, smoking and alcohol. perform well at school, as well as young people
Schools and services are most concerned about the experiencing multiple life stressors.
impact of anxiety and depression on young people. Increased pressure to do well at school is from both
There is increased pressure to perform well at parents and from young people also pressuring
school from both parents and youth themselves. themselves.
Specific youth cohorts are highly impacted by Grief and loss is an issue being reported as an
racism and bullying. emerging concern for young people.
Young people are concerned about health and Racism is becoming an increasing high-level
fitness but lack recreational options. concern for some young people.
There is high educational engagement across all 3 Young people are more concerned about the impact
LGAs due to availability of alternative education of smoking than they were 5 years ago.
pathways and engagement services Concerns about parenting appear to have
Young people want more access to services and diminished, as have body image concerns overall
information. (but body image issues still rates high for females)

Summary of findings Recommendations

The DEECD Adolescent Community Profiles show Strategies to inform youth on resources and support
that most young people have unhealthy lifestyle services available to promote wellbeing and
behaviours over multiple indicators. address current issues.
Young people are concerned about these unhealthy Develop a resource guide for services, schools and
lifestyle behaviours such as drugs and alcohol, young people.
smoking, and lack of exercise. Continue investing in alternative education
Young people are experiencing multiple stressors, pathways and innovative engagement programs for
which has an impact on them, and often results in youth at risk.
reactive behaviours. Increase opportunities for fitness and recreational
Girls are generally more concerned than boys activities for young people and makes these
overall about youth issues. affordable and accessible.
Overall the majority of young people are at least Ensure schools have an early intervention and
moderately concerned about multiple issues which prevention approach to youth mental health issues.
impact on their health and wellbeing. Promote a youth participation culture in the sector
Schools, services and young people mostly agree Enhance partnerships between schools and the
on what they are concerned about. service sector with a focus on making services more
Young people are positive about services they have accessible to young people through schools.
accessed but want more information on issues and Ensure municipal health campaigns include a focus
how to access services that are available. on youth for issues such as smoking and alcohol.
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2. Introduction
2.1 The SFYS Program

School Focused Youth Services (SFYS) is a state government initiative that was originally established in 1998 as part of
the Suicide Prevention Taskforce. In the last twelve years, the program has developed a focus on all young people
aged 10-18yrs at risk of disengagement from education, and is now administered by the Department of Education and
Early Childhood Development (DEECD), in partnership with the Catholic Education Office (CEO) and the Association of
Independent Schools Victoria (AISV).

In the Inner South, School Focused Youth Services (SFYS) is a partnership between the cities of Glen Eira, Port Phillip
and Stonnington, and DEECD. The SFYS Coordinator is based at Stonnington Youth Services.

The primary aim of SFYS is to strengthen the connection between services and schools, and to develop an integrated
community response for young people who are at risk. Establishing and enhancing relationships and partnerships is an
integral part of the SFYS role, and the coordinator works across the education, health, welfare, community and
government sectors to improve service responsiveness for youth across the three municipalities.

The SFYS program also administers annual brokerage funds of $50, 000, which support local partnership initiatives that
enhance the school-service connection and wellbeing of young people at risk in the education system. Supporting the
SFYS Coordinator with the brokerage process is the Local Advisory Group (LAG), consisting of a representation of
workers from the youth services and education sectors.

2.2 The SFYS Needs Analysis

The Needs Analysis is part of the service agreement with DEECD, and provides strategic focus for SFYS, particularly in
regards to developing priorities for the expenditure of brokerage. The Needs Analysis will inform the development of
the SFYS Strategic Plan for 2011 – 2012, and it is hoped will also become a point of reference for local government,
community agencies and schools in developing their plans and policies in regards to their localised understanding of
issues impacting on youth wellbeing.

The process of developing the Needs Analysis also ensures that SFYS is connected to young people, schools and
services, and has an up-to-date understanding of the current and emerging well-being issues for young people, both
from quantitative data sources and from local sources, including youth participation.

The previous Needs Analysis document was produced in 2006 in conjunction with Stonnington Youth Services, and
previous to that in 2003. This Needs Analysis includes for the first time direct consultation with young people, in
partnership with the Stonnington Youth Council (SYC) and the Student Representative Council (SRC) from Bentleigh
College, in addition to youth surveys across the three municipalities.

2.3 Aims and Intended Audience

The core aims of the Needs Analysis are:

To ensure that SFYS for Glen Eira, Port Phillip and Stonnington continues to address current and emerging local
trends in regards to young people’s well-being and educational engagement.
To identify key themes and priorities for young people living or accessing education in the municipalities of Glen
Eira, Port Phillip and Stonnington.
To develop the SFYS Strategic Plan for 2011 – 2012 with support from the SFYS Local Advisory Group.
To provide a succinct and easy to read analysis of local youth needs- as such the report presents summarised
findings with comprehensive data presented in the appendices.
To be a useful resource for schools and services when determining priorities and strategies; in particular the
addition of the Youth Issues section which highlights the youth voice.

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2.4 Methodology

The 2011-2012 SFYS Needs Analysis utilises data collected from surveys targeting youth, schools and the service sector
conducted in 2010 and 2011. The three 2010 surveys were all online surveys, developed with the support of the
Corporate and Community Planning Department at Stonnington Council. The youth survey was developed in
consultation with the Stonnington Youth Council and Bentleigh Secondary’s Student Representative Council. The 2011
surveys were abbreviated versions of the 2010 surveys intended to assess whether issues affecting youth had changed
in both type and severity over the past 12 months.

The 2010 Youth Survey was followed up with a Youth Forum held on July 22, 2010. Secondary school students from
nine local schools participated and the qualitative data has also been included in this report. See Appendix 1 for more
information on surveys and methodology.

There are several limitations with the data collected from the survey, including the paucity of response from schools
and services. The consistency amongst responses that were received is, however, a good indication that the data has
some capacity to demonstrate the main issues concerning schools and services. Youth survey data has been analysed
as a whole to give a snapshot across the municipalities, and as such no multivariate analyses have been done.

3. Local Youth Profiles

3.1 Stonnington

General Information
Covers an area of just over 25 square kilometres
Population now over 99,000 (2010)
27% born overseas
52% of households are families; 31% are lone person households
1,239 dwellings are government housing (3%)
th
SEIFA index: 1,088 (4 highest in Victoria)
15% of households are low-income; 37% high income

Youth Demographics
6 157 residents are aged 10-17years old
18 Primary Schools (8 government, 9 private, and 1 specialist)
9 Secondary Schools (8 private and 1 government- select entry)

Youth Health & Wellbeing
Eat Recommended daily fruit and vegetables 18.1%
Do 60+ minutes of exercise daily 12.3%
Complete Yr 12 or equivalent 96.8%
Report being bullied 34.5%
Report high psychological distress 11.6%
Report high emotional wellbeing 75.0%
Quality of life satisfaction 82.7%

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3.2 Glen Eira

General Information
Covers an area of about 38 square kilometres
Population now over 136,000 (2010)
32% born overseas
437 dwellings are government housing (0.9%)
th

Youth Demographics
11 544 residents are aged 10-17years old
29 Primary Schools (12 government, 16 private, and 1 specialist)
16 Secondary Schools (11 private, 4 government, and 1 specialist)

Youth Health & Wellbeing 17.3%
Eat Recommended daily fruit and vegetables

3.3 Port Phillip

General Information
Covers an area of about 21 square kilometres
Population now about 96,000 (2010)
27% born overseas
1,981 dwellings are government housing (4.5%)
th

Youth Demographics
3442 residents are aged 10-17years old
10 Primary Schools (5 government, and 5 private)
6 Secondary Schools (2 private, 2 government, and 2 specialist)

Youth Health & Wellbeing
Eat Recommended daily fruit and vegetables 20.4%
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4. Needs Analysis: Survey Results

4.1 School Survey Findings

All primary and secondary schools across Stonnington, Port Phillip and Glen Eira were invited to participate in the 2010
and 2011 Schools Survey. Below is the list of schools’ top 10 issues of concern for 2010 and 2011:

Table: Issue Ranking – Schools

Rank 2010 (n=57) Rank 2011 (n=10)
1 Anxiety 1 Anxiety
2 Body image 2 Alcohol
3 Pressure to do well at school 3 Depression
4 Depression 3 Family Conflict/Breakdown
5 Parental expectation 3 Poor parenting of students
6 Cyber-bullying 4 Self-esteem
7 Alcohol 5 Self-harm and suicide
8 Self-esteem 6 Pressure to do well at school
9 Peer pressure 6 Family with mental health issues
10 Family breakdown 6 Cyber-bullying

Note: these results should be considered an estimation as the number of responses was not adequate to quantify the data.

Issues of student anxiety are reported as the main concern for teachers in both 2010 and 2011, and this finding is
consistent with SFYS discussions with school teachers and welfare staff regarding concerns. Anxiety is a stress based
reaction to negatively perceived life circumstances, and it appears that schools are seeing students experiencing high
levels of stress across the three municipalities. The other main issues of concern for schools are also mental
health/wellbeing related. These can be grouped into 3 main categories:

Stressors: body image, parental expectation, pressure to well at school, cyber-bullying, poor parenting, peer pressure
and family breakdown.

Impacts: anxiety, depression, self-esteem

Reactions: alcohol, self-harm and suicide

The schools data is relatively consistent across 2010 and 2011, with 7 issues being in the top 10 both years. ‘Poor
parenting’, ‘self-harm’ and ‘suicide’, and ‘family with mental health issues’ feature more strongly in 2011 than 2010,
however it is difficult to draw conclusions from this data due to inadequate responses.

School staff were also asked to report, qualitatively, on where they felt there were ‘gaps’ in the service system and in
which areas they would like more information support. The responses showed that schools mainly have good
relationships with generalist and mainstream services, but little relationship with specialist services. Schools want
more support and information on most areas of student wellbeing, with a particular focus on mental health. Most
importantly, was the consistent response from schools for better service coordination and access to up to date
information on resources and services available, with support for the continuation of the SFYS Weekly Newsflash and
newsletters.

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4.2 Service Survey Findings

Services that provide support to young people and their families across Glen Eira, Port Phillip and Stonningston were
invited to participate in the Services Survey. Below is the list of services’ top 10 issues of concern for 2010 and 2011:

Table: Issue Ranking – Services

Rank 2010 (n=11) Rank 2011 (n=18)
1 Anxiety 1 Anxiety
1 Self-esteem 1 Pressure to do well at school
1 Depression 2 Self-esteem
1 Social skills 3 Family Conflict/Breakdown
1 Body Image 4 Social Skills
1 Bullying 5 Bullying
5 Cyber-bullying
6 Anger Management
6 Depression
6 Poor parenting of students

Note: these results should be considered an estimation of services concerns as the number of responses was not adequate to
quantify the data.

Services, like schools, are also seeing anxiety as a prominent issue for young people across the municipalities of
Stonnnington, Glen Eira and Port Phillip. While it is acknowledged that services tend to see a cohort of youth who are
not representative of the general population of young people across the region, there is some consistency between
the concerns schools and services have for young people. Services are also seeing a combination of stressors, impacts
and reactions in their main concerns for young people.

One notable area of difference between schools and services is the result across both 2010 and 2011 of social skills
being seen as an area of high concern for services, but not for schools. While conclusions cannot be drawn from the
data, it is worth hypothesising whether competence in social skills is a protective factor for young people in managing
life stressors, with those youth lacking in social skills being more likely to require support services. Research shows
that emotional intelligence, of which social skills is a component, is corrleated with positive wellbeing outcomes. If
having high competence in social skills is a protective factor for young people this is possibly an area where schools can
implement some early intervention and prevention strategies to help increase social skills.

Services were also requested to provide qualitative responses regarding their perceptions of service gaps across the
region. The majority of responses focussed on barriers to accessing support such as cost and waitlist times. There were
also concerns about suitable supports for youth who aren’t suited to mainstream services or education. A number of
services commented on the need for better integration between the Youth and Family Services sectors given the
priominence of family issues, such as poor parenting and family conflict/violence, impacting on youth wellbeing.
Services were supportive of the SFYS Newsletters and SFYS Weekly Newsflash and felt this was a good method to
disseminate relevant information to schools and support services.

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4.3 Schools & Services Visual Summary

SCHOOLS SERVICES

Main Concerns Main Concerns
Anxiety Anxiety
Pressure to do well at school Pressure to do well at school
Depression Depression
Self-esteem Self-esteem
Family breakdown Family breakdown
Cyber-bullying Bullying
Alcohol Social Skills

Why might this be so? Why might this be so?

Schools are seeing young people under large Services are also seeing the impact multiple life
amounts of stress from various sources. stressors are having on young people. Their
concerns for young people are very similar to
Anxiety, which can most easily be described as schools’ concerns.
‘fear regarding the future’, is an impact from life
stressors and circumstances. Anxiety can be a The one main area of difference is that services
result of stressors such as pressure to do well at are concerned about the impact that lack of
school, family breakdown and bullying. These social skills has on young people, whereas
stressors can also result in depression and low schools are more concerned about alcohol use.
self-esteem.
Services see a specific cohort of young people,
In society a lot of people use alcohol to manage and it is possible that they see young people
their stress and anxiety. It seems likely young experiencing exacerbated issues due to a lack of
people are following this role-modeling and using social skills. Social skills (a part of emotional
alcohol, both a coping mechanism for general intelligence) are a strong protective mechanism
stress, as a social activity, and also possibly as a for preventing mental health and social
way of managing social anxiety. difficulties.

Qualitative Responses Qualitative Responses

More support and information on most Services are concerned about the impact
areas of student wellbeing is required. service waitlists and cost of service has on
young people
Schools are well linked to mainstream but
not specialist services Better integration of the Youth Services and
Family Services sectors are required
The biggest need for schools is service sector
coordination and access to resources and SFYS Newsletter and SFYS Weekly Newsflash
information available. are useful tools for disseminating
information.

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4.4 Youth Survey Findings

Issues of General Concern

Below is a list of the 2011 top 10 issues of concern young people identified ranked by overall concern*. This is
calculated by allocating a score of
3 points for ‘highly concerned’
2 points for ‘concerned’
1ponts for ‘somewhat concerned’
0 points for ‘not at all concerned’

Table: Youth Top 10 Issues of Concern 2011

Rank Issue by overall rating Average rating
1 Illegal drugs 1.67
2 Alcohol 1.64
3 Smoking (cigarettes) 1.64
4 Self esteem 1.63
5 Depression 1.62
6 Anxiety 1.60
7 Self harm & Suicide 1.55
8 Body Image 1.53
9 Health & Fitness 1.51
10 Sexuality & Identity 1.49
*This information was not available for the 2010 data

‘Alcohol’ is an issue which youth in 2011 generally have a high level of concern about, but with only a third of youth
being either very concerned or concerned about the issue. The majority of youth (n=100) reported being somewhat
concerned about ‘alcohol’, and this possibly reflects the mixed messages regarding alcohol in society. Alcohol
consumption is conspicuous across the 3 municipalities, particularly in the entertainment districts on Chapel Street and
Fitzroy Street. As well as alcohol use being normalised by its pervasive use across society and the ease of availability of
alcohol, young people are also exposed to the detrimental effects that misuse of alcohol can have. In contrast ‘illegal
drugs’ are the highest issue of concern in the general youth population in 2011, and also had 54% of youth in 2011 and
38.1% of youth in 2010 reporting the issue to be either very concerning or concerning, showing that most young
people are moderately to highly concerned about ‘illegal drugs’.

‘Illegal drugs’ and ‘smoking’ are not surprising results given both the level of campaigning and visible harm these issues
are associated with. Young people generally see anti-smoking campaigns in the media, and the highly visible and
graphic nature of these campaigns have potentially increased levels of concern regarding smoking. The various
campaigns regarding the detrimental effects of illicit drug use, as well as potential experiences of seeing people
affected by drugs in the municipalities, also means young people are exposed to the issue of ‘illicit drugs’ in a variety of
ways. The self-reported rates of young people using tobacco and illicit drugs are quite low across the 3 municipalities,
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ranging from 1.9%-18.8% , indicating that youth concern around ‘smoking’ may relate more to other people smoking
as opposed to youth self-identifying an issue they have.

The level of concerns around ‘self-harm and suicide’, as both an issue of broad concern and high concern is more
unexpected given that incidents of suicide and self-harm are not as widely prevalent in society. It is not possible to
deduce from the data the reasons for this level of concern, but it is possible that the ‘ripple effects’ through society
when a suicide does occur, and the level of impact suicide and self-harm has on those associated with the affected
young person, makes this an issue which a lot of young people are worried about.

1
See DEECD Community Adolescent profiles for more comprehensive data on youth smoking and drug use.
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The finding that ‘health and fitness’ is a broad issue of concern for young people has both positive and concerning
aspects. It is good that young people are identifying that health and fitness is a significant issue to them, and shows a
potential awareness amongst young people of the importance of having good physical health and fitness. That young
people are concerned about ‘health and fitness’ also indicates a possibility that young people are experiencing
negative health, or lack of fitness. Multiple young people also indicated in the qualitative data the lack of opportunities
for physical recreation due to a combination of cost and lack of safe and accessible recreation spaces, which may be
related to this issue being of high concern for youth.

Issues of High Concern

The Youth survey data indicates that young people in the municipalities of Stonnington, Port Phillip and Glen Eira are in
general quite concerned about multiple issues relevant to their wellbeing. Responses in the 2011 surveys showed that
every issue had at least a third of participants either concerned or highly concerned, with the top 10 issues all having
50% or more. This was higher than the 2010 data.

Below is a list of the top 10 issues of concern young people identified for 2010 and 2011. The issues have been ranked
according to the percentage of young people who identified themselves as being ‘very concerned’ or ‘concerned’:

Table: Youth Top 10 Issues of Concern 2010

Rank 2010 Issue % Rank 2011 Issue %
1 Pressure to do well at 43.3 1 Health & Fitness 56.1%
school
2 Health & fitness 42.3 2 Pressure to do well at school 55.4%
3 Smoking (cigarettes) 40.2 3 Self harm & Suicide 54.6%
4 Grief & loss 38.6 4 Smoking (cigarettes) 54.1%
5 Illegal drugs 38.1 5 Illegal drugs 54.0%
6 Self-harm & suicide 37.4 6 Bullying 53.3%
7 Mental health 36.6 7 Grief and loss 53.1%
8 Racism 36.1 8 Caring for others 52.8%
9 Expectation to achieve 36.1 9 Violence 50.5%
from parents
10 Bullying 35.2 10 Racism 50.0%

The issues identified in the 2010 and 2011 youth surveys are fairly consistent across both years, indicating that the
results are both an accurate reflection of youth concerns, and that these concerns are remaining consistent. The only
differences between the years are ‘expectations to achieve from parents’ featuring in 2010 and ‘pressure to do well at
school’ featuring in 2011. It is possible that these are related issues, and that the issues of ‘pressure to do well at
school’ could have been interpreted as pressure from self, parents or school. ‘Mental health’ features as an issue in
2010 but this was not included as a category in 2011, with the issues being listed instead as ‘anxiety’, ‘depression’ and
‘family with a mental health issue’ being included to get further details on concerns related to mental health. Instead
of ‘mental health’, ‘caring for others’ featured in the 2011 top 10. It is hypothesised that this may be due to the 2011
survey responses being from an older cohort of youth than the 2010 responses, and that issues of caring for younger
siblings or aging parents might be more relevant to this age group.

General Concern vs High Concern

Issues that score highly in the very concerned/concerned rankings, but not so high in the overall ratings indicate that
there is likely a polarised response to the issue. These issues are a priority for certain groups of young people and likely
impact on them significantly, whereas they are issues that have little impact on those youth not directly affected.
Given that SFYS is aimed towards achieving positive outcomes for at-risk young people, and it is acknowledged that
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this involves issues which impact on specific cohorts of youth and not just the general youth population, it is important
to take these cohort effects into consideration.

Issues that feature in the top 10 for both general concern and high concern include,

Illegal drugs
Smoking
Self-harm and suicide
Health and fitness

These are issues which most young people are most highly concerned about, and as such warrant being considered by
schools and services as a priority for youth wellbeing interventions. They are issues which impact most young people
surveyed, and a broad response including education/information, discussions, events and specific support would be
useful in addressing the level of impact these issues are having on young people.

Issues in 2011 that feature strongly in general but with lower levels of ‘very concerned’/’concerned’ responses include

Alcohol
Self-esteem
Depression
Anxiety
Body Image
Sexuality and identity

These are issues that appear to moderately impact most youth, and as such are useful topics for schools to consider
when planning whole of school approaches to wellbeing. Addressing these issues in a broad and systematic manner
that reaches all students is likely to have the best outcomes in regards to these issues, with group and individual
support being more suitable for youth directly and significantly impacted by these issues.

Issues of high concern to more than 50% of youth surveyed in 2011, but not in the Top 10 overall include

Pressure to do well at school
Bullying
Grief and loss
Caring for others
Violence
Racism

These issues appear to be significantly impacting on a large cohort of youth, but not on the whole population. Given
this, it would be most suitable for projects and strategies addressing these issues to target youth who are directly
impacted, while also looking at whole of school approaches to education on the impacts of such topics as bullying and
racism, as the youth engaging in these activities are not likely to be self-identify it being an issue of concern to them,
and may not be aware of the impact their behaviour has on the wellbeing of their peers.

Gender Differences

There were pronounced gender differences in response to the youth surveys. The 2011 youth survey data shows that
females were more concerned than males about every issue with the exception of ‘smoking’ which males were slightly
more concerned, and ‘alcohol’, in which both males and females were equally concerned. There are also differences in
which issues were of most concern to females and males.

The following table highlights the differences between the 2011 Top 10 issues for males and females based on general
level of concern for the issue.
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Table: 2011 Top 10 Concerns for Females and Males

Rank Issue- Females Rank Issue- Males
1 Health & fitness 1 Smoking
2 Self-harm & suicide 2 Illegal drugs
3 Pressure to do well at school 3 Pressure to do well at school
4 Grief & loss 4 Career path pressure
4 Caring for others 5 Grief and loss
5 Depression 6 Self-harm and suicide
6 Illegal Drugs 7 Parental expectation
7 Body Image 8 Health and fitness
8 Bullying 8 Bullying
9 Violence 8 Racism

Females were more concerned about ‘caring for others’ and ‘body image’, which have traditionally been seen as
gendered issues. This contrasts with males having more concerns regarding ‘career path pressure’ and ‘parental
expectation’, which are also stereotypically gendered issues. Females were more likely to rate ‘depression’ as an issue,
however, males did rate issues such as ‘grief and loss’ and ‘self harm and suicide’ highly, indicating that while they
don’t necessarily identify with the word ‘depression’, they are still experiencing difficult and distressing emotions and
are highly concerned about these issues.

‘Smoking’ is a significant issue of concern for males (rated 1.67), and while this did not rate in the females top 10, it did
rate at 1.64, indicating that there is a similar level of concern for the issue amongst the sexes. It is concerning to note
that ‘violence’ was a top 10 issue for females and ‘racism’ a top 10 issue for males, given the detrimental impact both
of these issues have on youth wellbeing. Males may have rated racism as more of an issue than females given that
most youth from non-English speaking backgrounds surveyed were males.

Despite these differences in response from males and females, there are 6 issues they have in common in their top 10
concerns,

Health and fitness
Self harm and suicide
Pressure to do well at school
Grief and loss
Illegal drugs
Bullying

This show that most of the issues impacting on young people are not gendered issues and are relevant to most young
people surveyed. In regards to service delivery and wellbeing interventions, this data highlights the importance of
considering whether providing gendered responses to an issue is most appropriate, or whether there would be greater
benefit in involving both males and females. Given the complexity of some topics and of the dynamics and potential
impacts of mixed service delivery it is suggested that this decision needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis.

Qualitative Youth Data

As part of the 2011 Youth Survey, young people were given the opportunity to respond to the question,

“What do you think services could do better to address issues for youth in your area?”

This was to elicit information regarding young people’s experience of the service sector and areas where they feel they
need either more support (increased access to service) or better support (quality of service).

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There were 161 qualitative responses from youth in regards to the question. These responses were qualitatively
analyzed and grouped into 11 themes (see table on following page). That 161 responses could be quite easily
categorized into 11 themes shows there is a consistency of experience for young people in regards to the service
sector and where they experience the service gaps to be.

Table: 2011 Themes from Qualitative Data

Theme Number Comments
Information & education 47 The majority of youth want more education and access to
information on managing issues pertinent to them. This includes
awareness of services available, provision of information, and
more services visiting schools.
Safety in public spaces 23 Safety in public was a major theme for young people with requests
for self-defense classes, more police and better safety at train
stations.
Recreational 15 Multiple young people requested more recreational space and
activities/spaces activities, with skate parks being mentioned three times. Young
people would like more youth events to attend, especially on
school holidays and weekends/evenings.
Underage drinking & 9 Some young people feel there needs to be a stronger approach to
smoking combating underage drinking and smoking, with harsher penalties
and more information on the negative consequences.
Strength based 9 Nine young people requested supports that focused on early
interventions intervention topics such as building self-esteem, teaching life skills
and problem solving skills.
Homelessness 9 Nine young people felt there needed to be more don’t to address
homelessness
Sexuality 9 Young people requested more sex education, access to free
condoms, and more open dialogue about unwanted sexual
experiences.
Access to support 6 Access to services which offered free support was highlighted as
an area of need.
Employment services 3 Some young people felt there needs to be more employment
support services for job seekers.
Body Image 3 Education on body image and the impacts of the fashion/media
industry on girls body image were requested.
Parenting 2 Two young people felt there needed to be more parenting
programs and support for parents.

Access to information was the strongest theme for young people in regards to service requests, and young people
mostly felt that schools were the best medium for this to occur. A lot of young people responded that they didn’t know
where to access information and support. Given that Glen Eira, Stonnington and Port Phillip are relatively service rich
areas with multiple options for youth support, this indicates that there needs to be more advertising and education
regarding available services for young people.

Safety was the second highest mentioned issue in the qualitative data, with issues concerning safety at train stations,
requests for more police presence in public places, better street lighting, and safer public places to be at night. The
need for safe and accessible recreation spaces for youth was also highlighted, with requests for more youth events and
skate parks. This finding is supported by the DEECD Adolescent Community Profiles which showed that while most
young people felt safe in the municipalities during the day time, they largely felt unsafe in the evenings, particularly for
youth residing in Port Phillip and Stonnington.

14


4.5 Comparison to 2006-2007 Needs Analysis

The 2006-2007 Needs Analysis found that the main issues for young people were,

Mental health and wellbeing
Social skills
Challenging behaviors
Parenting skill development

With emerging issues of,

Body image
Bullying and friendships
Self harm
School Reluctance

While it is acknowledged that different methodologies were used in the 2006-2007 and 2010-2011 surveys the results
show the continued concern regarding mental health and wellbeing issues for young people. This finding is not
surprising given the relationship mental health has with physical health, drug and alcohol use and young people’s
social and family situations. Mental health issues can be conceptualized as the ‘end product’ of the impact of life
stressors on young people, which further enhances the importance of early intervention and prevention strategies in
conjunction with increased access to coping strategies and support services.
2
Looking at the data from the 2006-2007 , there are some shifts in regards to young peoples’ concerns. For example,
the following Top 10 issues from 2010 and 2011 were all not raised in the 2006-2007 Stonnington Youth Issues
Findings report:

- Pressure to do well at school
- Health & fitness
- Smoking
- Grief & loss
- Racism
- Expectation to achieve from parents

While these issues may have been of some concern to young people back in 2006-2007, they are now appearing to be
of stronger concern and indicate areas where supports and interventions may need to either be established, or
increased in order to address these issues.

That ‘mental health and wellbeing’, ‘social skills’, ‘body image’, ‘bullying’, and ‘self-harm’ have continued to be issues
of significant concern for young people over the last 5 years demonstrates that schools and the service sector need to
continue to work towards addressing these issues and ensuring that programs and services are targeting the impacts
these issues have on young people.

2
The 2006-2007 Stonnington Youth Issues Findings data was from 10-25 year olds connected to the City of Stonnington
15


4.5 Overall Data Interpretation

There are approximately 21, 143 young people aged 10-17 years living in the municipalities of Glen Eira,
Port Phillip and Stonnington. There is a combined total of 88 primary and secondary schools in the
region, not including alternative education options, which increases the number to 99.

The 2011 Needs Analysis is a snaphot of issues which are of most concern to young people in the region,
and to the schools and services that work with these young people. The data shows that young people
across Stonnington, Port Phillip and Glen Eira are concerned about the impact that mutliple life
stressors such as school pressure, family and peer relationships have on their wellbeing. These stressors
are having impact s such as anxiety, depression and low self-esteem, resulting in young people either
engaging in, or becoming concerned about, reactive behaviours such as alcohol, illicit drugs, and self-
harm and suicide.

Services and schools are particularly concerned with the levels of anxiety they are seeing young people
experience, while young people are generally more concerned about illegal drugs, alcohol and smoking.
Young people are also generally concerned about self-esteem, depression and anxiety. The data shows
that there are a significant cohort of young people who are highly concerend about pressure to do well
at school, health and fitness, racism and bullying. While these issues might not appear in the top 10
general concerns, they are issues that require support and intervention given the impact they can have
on young peoples’ developmental trajectory.

Services and schools are generally in agreeance with the issues they are most concerned about
regarding young people, with the exception that schools are more concerned about alcohol and
services more concerned about social skills.

While there are some differences between the concerns schools and services have for young people,
and the concerns young people themselves have, there are more similarities than differences. This
shows that there is a general consensus on which issues are most impacting young people, and this is
positive in terms of providing programs and services to young people.

Young people are also clearly articulating a desire for more access to information and coping strategies
to help them address issues. Schools and services are in agreeance with this need for better access to
information and service coordiantion, particularly for specialist services.

Young people also want more information on available services as they don’t always know where to go
for support. As a region with a rich service sector and a broad array of support services for young
people, it would appear there is a need to further strengthen the partnerships between schools and the
service sector in a manner that is visible and engaging of young people. This indicates that a shift is
required in strategic planning from ‘increasing links between schools and services’, to ‘increasing links
between youth and services through schools’.

The findings of the 2011 Needs Analysis when compared to the 2006/2007 Needs Analysis suggest that
the landscape of wellbeing issues and concerns for young people is constantly evolving, with some
fundamental issues remaining consistent across the 5 years. This highlights the importance of
conducting youth, service and school surveys so there is a clear and accurate picture of the issues
impacting young people in the municipalities of Stonnington, Port Phillip and Glen Eira.

16


5. Recommendations

What is working well?

The municipalities of Stonnington, Port Phillip and Glen Eira have a vast array of youth services and
projects across the entire service spectrum from recreation through to crisis response. Detailing all of
these services and initiatives is beyond the scope of this document, however, inferences can be
deduced from various data sources to highlight areas where youth issues are being effectively
addressed.

The DEECD Adolescent Community Profiles for 2010 indicate that all 3 LGAs are performing well in

-providing mainstream and alternative education pathways for the completion of yr 12 or equivalent.
-reducing youth crime rates- a likely outcome of increased educational and vocational engagement.
-creating a sense of community safety during the daytime (after dark is still an issue)

In addition to this, qualitative responses from the Youth Survey indicate that the services young people
come into contact with are meeting their needs and they have a positive experience of them. The issue
for young people and schools is in gaining knowledge of, and accessing, these services, as well as
receiving information and support at school before the issues require external intervention.

Recommendation for the services sector and schools

1. Increase availability of information and education sessions, coping strategies (particularly for
anxiety), and strength-based activities within the school environment to assist in combating
issues before students resort to reactive behaviours such as alcohol, school refusal, or self-
harm. There should be a focus on building young people’s self-esteem and resilience as an
early intervention, as well as targeting issues highlighted by young people in the youth surveys.

2. Continue to invest in alternative education pathways and innovative engagement programs
for youth at risk of disengagement in order to maintain high rates of Yr 12 completion across
the three municipalities.

3. Develop and implement strategies to increase the physical activity levels of young people
through increased youth events, access to recreational facilities and within the school
environment. Physical activity is highly correlated with both physical and mental wellbeing,
and is an important preventative measure against chronic illnesses such as obesity, heart
disease and depression.

4. Increase education on safe sex and access to contraception given that almost a third of
sexually active young people across the region are not using contraception (DEECD Adolescent
Community Profile), and young people are stating the need for sex education and free access
to contraception.

5. Provide young people with information on the negative effects of alcohol, cigarettes and illicit
drugs, and ensure that campaigns targeting these issues include a youth focus.

17


Recommendations for partnerships

1. Produce a regularly updated service guide for Glen Eira, Port Phillip and Stonnington, like
the Inner Middle Southern Region Service Guide 2011-2012 recently released by the Bayside
Youth Charter. Ensure there is web access to this information that it is youth-friendly and
easily accessible.

2. That SFYS encourages schools to ensure that their partnerships with external agencies
involves youth participation and enhances youth access to information and support. In this
way schools are the conduit through which young people can access information and
services.

3. That SFYS continues to produce both Service and Student newsletters quarterly, and the
SFYS Weekly Newsflash, to ensure information on supports and services is disseminated to
schools and students across the region in a timely fashion, and increase schools’ awareness
of specialist services and programs.

4. For the SFYS Coordinator to continue quarterly meetings with the Youth Services
Coordinators from Stonnington, Port Phillip and Glen Eira to increase communication and
collaboration on key strategic directions and initiatives for the SFYS Program.

5. Encourage schools to consider having (or sharing regionally) a dedicated member of staff in
the role of Community Liaison to assist with building relationships with services.

Recommendations for Youth Participation

1. A SFYS-led Youth Forum to be held at least every 2 years to access the youth voice, obtain up-to-
date information about youth issues, and give young people the chance have their say and
contribute to decision-making about youth strategic planning.

2. Schools to consult with their student committees, or use other methods of youth consultation,
when developing wellbeing initiatives and projects in their school to ensure they are addressing
the localised needs of young people.

3. Future SFYS surveys used for the purposes of Needs Analysis involve consultation with young
people to ensure that any emerging issues are captured in the survey questions.

Please contact Holly Carpenter- SFYS Coordinator on 8290 7026 if you would like to suggest any further
recommendations, or comment on the current recommendations. Input from services and schools would be
highly valuable in building a picture of how schools and the service sector can best meet the needs of young
people in the cities of Stonnington, Port Phillip and Glen Eira.
18


6. Bibliography

DEECD (2010) Adolescent Community Profile: City of Stonnington. Compiled using VCAMS data
from the Victorian Department of Education & Early Childhood Development, the
Department of Human Services, the Department of health, Victoria Police, and
the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

DEECD (2010) Adolescent Community Profile: City of Port Phillip. Compiled using VCAMS data

DEECD (2010) Adolescent Community Profile: City of Glen Eira. Compiled using VCAMS data

ABS (2006) Census of Population and Housing: Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA).

7. List of Appendices

Appendix A: Survey Methodology

Appendix B: Survey Templates 2010

Appendix C: Survey Templates 2011

Appendix D: Comprehensive Youth Data 2010

Appendix E: The 2010 Youth Forum

Appendix F: Comprehensive Youth Data 2011

Appendix G: Comprehensive School Data 2010

Appendix H: Comprehensive School Data 2011

Appendix I: Comprehensive Service Data 2010

Appendix J: Comprehensive Service Data 2011

Appendix I: Funding Opportunities / Grants

19

Needs analysis report 2011 2012

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