Welcome to the
Teacher Resource Room
The Teacher Resource Room provides teachers, schools and community members with tools, information and resources to support young people to look after each other and make positive choices around alcohol & other drugs.
Below you’ll find activities that can be used in classrooms, links to reliable and evidence-based resources and programs, up-to-date research about alcohol, other drugs and young people and places to go for trusted help and support.
QUICKLINKS
Classroom Activity Sheets & Resources
Middle School
These Activity sheets are aligned to Encounter Youth’s Empower Education program for middle school students and can be used in follow-up lessons to consolidate and add depth to the topics that are explored in the program.
Senior School
These Activity sheets are aligned to Encounter Youth’s Empower Education program for senior school students and can be used in follow-up lessons to consolidate and add depth to the topics that are explored in the program.
Research-Based Programs
Empower Education
Empower Education is Encounter Youth’s Alcohol and Other Drug education program for secondary schools. Our in-person program includes separate age-appropriate seminars for any three consecutive high school year levels plus a seminar for either parents or staff. The program can also be delivered to students in a flexible, online format through our Online Learning Platform.
Smarter About Drugs
Smarter About Drugs takes an innovative approach to education around alcohol and other drugs. It is structured as a conversation pack and aims to encourage critical thinking and open discussions around alcohol, other drugs, drug policy and laws in Australia. It gives young people the tools to evaluate evidence and have a voice in the conversation around alcohol and other drugs.
Get Ready
Get Ready is a school-based curriculum program and provides a comprehensive suite of lessons for Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 students. It provides a range of knowledge-based, interactive, role play and critical thinking activities to help students appropriately assess and respond to alcohol and other drugs in social contexts. Research has shown it is effective at reducing alcohol and other drug use and related harms.
School Health Alcohol & Harm Reduction Project (SHAHRP)
SHAHRP is a school-based curriculum program that provides interactive lessons and activities aimed at middle school. The program aims to reduce the alcohol-related harm that young people experience when navigating situations involving alcohol and has demonstrated effectiveness at achieving this aim through a longitudinal study
OurFutures
OurFutures (formerly known as Climate Schools) is a school-based curriculum program that uses cartoon stories, online content and interactive exercises to educate students about alcohol and other drugs. Evidence shows the program reduces use of alcohol, cannabis and MDMA, as well as improving outcomes related to mental health and wellbeing.
Accurate Alcohol & Drug Information
Australian Alcohol Guidelines
The Australian Alcohol Guidelines are established by the peak medical body in Australia, the National Health and Medical Research Council. They are extensively researched and healthy adults drinking within the guidelines are estimated to have less than 1 in 100 chance of dying from an alcohol-related cause.
Australian Secondary Students’ Alcohol & Other Drug Survey
This is the largest representative national survey of young people’s use of alcohol or other drugs in Australia. It is conducted every 3 years with 20,000–25,000 high school students participating each time. The most recent survey was conducted in 2017, and the survey which was scheduled for 2020 will be conducted in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
National Drug Strategy Household Survey
This is the largest national survey of Australian’s alcohol and other drug use. Conducted every 3 years with 20,000 – 25,000 participants each time. This is the most reliable population-level survey data that is available in Australia.
AIHW Factsheets & Resources
Summaries of relevant data from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and other government and leading research groups. These factsheets and resources give up-to-date information on alcohol and other drug use in Australia.
Drug Facts
A comprehensive library of legal and illegal drugs including slang names, reliable data on how many people choose to use them and their effects. This is a great first point of call to get an overview of a substance and access basic, reliable information on its effects and risks.
Talking With a Young Person About AOD
The Power Of Words
This is a practical resource on the language that is used around alcohol and other drugs. It includes examples and modifications that can be made to our use of language to reduce stigma and reduce barriers to seeking help for people who use alcohol or other drugs.
The Other Talk
Most people are familiar with ‘The Talk’ about sex, safety, consent and relationships. This resource encourages parents and other influential adults in a young person’s life to have another talk – about alcohol and other drugs. This is a great resource for parents or other adult figures with young people who are just starting or in the high school years.
Party Safe Checklist
Planning for hosting or attending a party is one of the most natural times to have a conversation with a young person about alcohol, other drugs and safety. This checklist is a tool that can be used to facilitate this conversation and to assist in planning, critical thinking and things that can be done to keep everybody safe.
Accessing Help & Support
Emergency Plus
Not knowing an exact location can cause delays in responding to an emergency and this is more common for young people as they may have been dropped off to their location by their parents or a friend. The emergency plus app gives a person rapid access to emergency services and 3 words which they can give to a 000 operator to quickly and easily share their location.
Path2Help
If you want to point somebody in the right direction to get further support and help around alcohol or other drug use, it can be daunting to know where to start. Path2Help is a tool that asks a number of questions to match your need with the support services that are available in your area.
Alcohol & Drug Foundation Resource Directory
A summary of online and phone-based resources and numbers to access information and advice on alcohol, other drugs and reducing harm.
Member’s Area
Looking for even more? The Member’s Area of the Teacher Resource Room has modules on alcohol, other drugs and young people run by Encounter Youth’s Trained Education Professionals. You can sign up as an individual or access a group licence for schools or community groups.