A brightly coloured bus travelling CBD streets at night will be the highly visible focus of Mission Australia’s new campaign to tackle drug, alcohol and homelessness among Adelaide’s youth.

The “Youth Beat Bus” – to be based in identified inner-city public spaces where young people congregate at night – is Mission Australia’s latest outreach initiative to help young South Australians with limited means of support.

Mission Australia is one of the nation’s most active and effective community organisations. Its strong presence in South Australia focuses on assisting Australians at risk due to problems including poverty, unemployment, drug and alcohol issues and homelessness.

The bus is being introduced in Adelaide after successfully helping young people in the inner-city areas of Hobart and Darwin over several years.

Mission Australia State Director Phil Leslie said the organisation was seeking sponsors and donors to help fund the “Youth Beat” bus, which will be staffed by professional youth workers.

“In Northern Territory and Tasmania, the buses serve as very appealing, memorable and easily seen centres of support that can move quickly if required,” Mr Leslie said.

“They work as drawcards for young people who have issues with trusting people older than themselves and are reluctant to share their problems with parents and other adults in their lives.

“We want to reach and help Adelaide’s young people before they are hurt or in crisis.”

Mr Leslie said the recent efforts of non-profit agencies working in and around Adelaide had highlighted the need for youth-focused support in the CBD.

He pointed to the Australian Government’s 2009 State of Australia’s Young People Report, which revealed that young men and women in the 15–19 age group had the highest hospitalisation rate for acute alohol intoxication – closely followed by the 20–24 age group.

The report showed that one in four young Australian men and more than one in seven young Australian women use alcohol in a way that jeopardises their safety, and that short episodes of heavy alcohol consumption are the major cause of accidents, domestic and  public violence, and crime among within the 18 to 24-year-olds.

“This new initiative has the support of police, churches, outreach and social workers and other organisations working for young people and for a safe Adelaide,” Mr Leslie said.

SA Police statistics show that excessive drinking accounted for 83.7 per cent of offences in Hindley St for 2009-10 – a figure largely attributed to extended hotel operating hours in the CBD and a lack of safe transport leaving the city in the early hours of the morning.

“The Youth Beat bus will take young people away from the alcohol-fueled environment and risky situations in the CBD in these hours,” Mr Leslie said.

“Interstate evidence shows the Youth Beat bus will reduce the demands placed on our police by young people who don’t have anywhere else to go – and so police can use their time on the more serious criminal problems of our society.

“It also reduces pressure on accident and emergency services, as our Youth Beat staff will be trained to assess who requires medical attention and who needs to be escorted to a safe place to ‘sober up’.”

Mr Leslie said the mobility of the bus would enable staff to transport young people to safe overnight care when required.

“For some young people, this care may be in the company of their family members,” Mr Leslie said.

“The reconnection of young people at risk with their families – if and when it is safe and suitable for them to do so – is a core function not only of this initiative, but of all Mission Australia’s work.”

For more information, please contact Mission Australia State Director Phil Leslie on 0407 748 098 or Chris Rann on 8211 7771.

Mission Australia is one of the nation’s leading not-for-profit community service organisations. It has more than 350 services across metropolitan, rural and regional Australia – in every state and territory – and last year assisted more than 300,000 people.

Mission Australia has been helping change the lives of individuals and families in need for 150 years and is committed to eliminating disadvantage and creating a fairer Australia.

Through its programs and services, Mission Australia aims to combat homelessness; assist families and children overcome hardship; support disadvantaged young people; deliver entry-level training; and help unemployed people find permanent work.

In South Australia, Mission Australia operates in metropolitan Adelaide and regional centres throughout the state, with strong expertise in homelessness, poverty, family disadvantage, youth issues and substance abuse.