This weekend will see thousands of students across South Australia celebrate the end of their Year 12 exams.
With about 5,000 young people travelling to Victor Harbor to celebrate the end of their school years, police are keen to encourage safe choices with regard to both travelling to and from the event and general behaviour across the weekend.
The traditional Schoolies event will take place under the watchful eye of the South Australia Police and volunteers from Encounter Youth, which coordinates the official Schoolies Festival activities that are confined within a fenced off area at Warland Reserve.
In particular, police will have a focus on behavioural offences, underage drinking, drug related offences and anti-social behaviour.
The Schoolies Festival, which is a ticketed event designed specifically for Year 12 school leavers, has activities taking place over three nights starting Friday (25 November).
Transport to and from Schoolies Festival is made easy with the free Schoolies Festival bus service supported by THINK! Road Safety. However, if you choose to take your own transport there and back, please be extra cautious on the road.
Superintendent Julie Thomas will be the Police Commander for Schoolies 2022. She said police would be proactive in their policing of the event, with a focus on safety and crime prevention and had a message for those attending the festival.
"We want attendees to have a good time, but we also want them to stay safe," said Superintendent Thomas.
"Police want to ensure behaviour of school leavers does not have an impact on the local community over this weekend. Please be considerate of neighbouring communities and do not hesitate to chat with a police officer that you see at the festival at any stage."
"If you are 18 or over and going to drink, please don't overdo it – set a reasonable limit and stick to it. Taking illicit drugs is illegal and a gamble with your life and can have catastrophic consequences. It's not worth the risk."
"Please look out for your friends, don't let them wander off or leave them with someone they don't know. Let's ensure everyone gets home safely."
The SA Police Road Safety Section will also be working hard from Friday to Monday, engaging with young people on road safety messaging. This will include members attending a range of caravan parks where they will engage with Schoolies.
Police will also interact with event goers over the three days educating them on the laws relating to dry areas and underage drinking, alcohol and drugs.
Police also remind festival goers that there are strict rules in place for holders of learner permits, provisional and probationary driver's licences. Some of these rules include:
- Learner permit and P1 licence holders cannot exceed 100km /h speed limit at any time.
- Learner permit and P1 licence holders cannot drive a motor vehicle with any concentration of alcohol or illegal substances in their blood.
- P1 licence holders must not drive between midnight and 5:00am.
- P1 licence holders must not drive with more than one passenger aged 16 to 20 years (excluding immediate family members) unless a Qualified Supervising Driver is seated next to you or you meet the exemption criteria.
For more information on licence conditions please visit www.mylicence.sa.gov.au.
Encounter Youth will also have their 'Green Team' volunteers who will be around the entire weekend at Schoolies Festival, ready to support event goers with any information or support they need.
Motorists are reminded there will be a number of temporary road closures throughout Victor Harbor over the three days. There will also be designated dry zone areas 24 hours a day over the three days.
