High school students in Northern NSW will get to learn and ask questions about drugs, alcohol, partying, peer influence and safe driving as part of the returning Reduce Risk and Improve Student Knowledge (RRISK) webinars.

Registrations are now open to high schools wishing to join the webinars, which will be held for year 11 students from 9am-10.30am on 13, 14 and 15 November 2024.

Northern NSW Local Health District’s (NNSWLHD) Acting Director, Integrated Care and Allied Health, Kathryn Watson said RRISK provides students with important information to keep them safe.

“The purpose of these webinars is to help young people stay safe on our roads and at parties. They learn how to support and look after their friends and make safer decisions,” Ms Watson said.

Across NSW in 2021, young drivers aged under 26 years made up 14% of all licence holders but accounted for almost 25 per cent of accidental road deaths.

RRISK was developed locally in NorthernNSW and has been delivered for over 20 years, with research showing it has a long-term effect on reducing motor vehicle crashes and severity.

A 13-year independent study found that RRISK participants were 24% less likely to have had any crashes and 42% less likely to crash in darkness than non-participants.

To support the learning, schools are provided with lesson plan ideas to use before and after the RRISK webinars.

“Lesson plans include how to put someone in a recovery position to save their life, how to respond to challenging situations involving drugs and alcohol and the risks of vaping,” Ms Watson said.

The webinars also feature engaging and popular safety advocate Paul Dillon from Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia, NRMA and Southern Cross University.

In 2023, more than 2100 students from 28 schools participated in RRISK.

Of the students who completed the evaluation, around 80% agreed or strongly agreed that RRISK made them more capable of being safe when celebrating and when driving.

Students were surveyed before and after the webinars and reported engaging in significantly more protective behaviours around five months after the webinars than before them.

Protective behaviours include agreeing with a friend to look out for each other at parties, identifying and looking after someone who is intoxicated and calling an ambulance for someone who is unconscious or severely drunk.

High schools can register now for the program by visiting https://healthupnorth.info/RRISK24