Fourteen new initiatives to educate young Territorians about healthy lifestyles and alcohol and drug harms have received funding under NT Health's 2024-25 Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) Youth Grants Program.
A total of $252,782 has been awarded for locally-led initiatives which aim to provide comprehensive support and education for young Territorians aged between 12 and 25 years.
They will be delivered to young people by grant recipients through programs that involve art, sport and dance production activities and incorporate positive educational messages.
For the first time, some of the initiatives funded in this year's program will focus on the impacts of AOD on road safety, including strategies to reduce driver distraction and prevent pedestrian accidents and deaths.
In 2024, 58 lives have been lost on Northern Territory (NT) roads, compared to 31 last year.
This is the ninth round of the NT Health AOD Youth Grants Program. To date, about $2.35 million has been provided to support 139 projects to minimise harm associated with the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs across the NT.
A selection of the projects to be funded in this round include:
· An eight-week preventative intervention program by the Hub of Respect offering boxing, strength and conditioning training and mentoring to vulnerable youth in Alice Springs.
· An AOD Education Project by Life Education NT to empower young people in schools with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about alcohol and other drugs in both Alice Springs and the Greater Darwin region.
· A performance by SLIDE Youth Dance Theatre to educate NT youth by addressing the serious repercussions of drink and drug driving, speeding, and distracted driving in the Greater Darwin region.
· A production organised by 100 students of different abilities and special needs from Palmerston College depicting how drugs, alcohol and healthy eating can affect health and wellbeing.
