Schoolies week

right|thumb|[[Cavill Avenue|Cavill Mall in Surfers Paradise during Schoolies week.]]

Schoolies or schoolies week (also known as leavers' or leavers' week in Western Australia and coasties in the Australian Capital Territory) refers to the Australian tradition of high-school graduates (also known as "schoolies" or "leavers") having week-long holidays following the end of their final exams in late November and early December.

"Toolies" refers to older revellers who participate in Schoolies week but graduated in an earlier year. "Foolies" refers to younger adolescents who participate in Schoolies week but have not yet graduated from high school. Schoolies week is seen as a final party with schoolmates before they head their separate ways.

History

There is a history of school leavers following their final exams with a holiday on the Gold Coast in Queensland from at least the 1970s. Over time, it acquired the name "Schoolies Week" and events specifically for schoolies week began to be organised. It is claimed the first organised event was in 1976 at Lennon's Broadbeach International Hotel, after manager Geoff Lewis visited Spring Break in Fort Lauderdale and promoted the idea to university students in Queensland. From then on the Gold Coast attracted schoolies from all over Australia for celebrations. Since then, the tradition has spread, and Australian high-school graduates celebrate their graduation with a week-long party at many popular tourist destinations around the country.

Schoolies week is considered by many teenagers in Australia as a cultural rite of passage. Schoolies week is seen as a transitional period from youth to adulthood, marking a change of state from the imposition of school discipline to the chosen freedom to have a body which is out of control.

Locations

The Gold Coast, Queensland, particularly Surfers Paradise, maintains its status as the largest single venue for this revelry, attracting tens of thousands of schoolies, mostly from Queensland and northern New South Wales. The Gold Coast is viewed as a liminal space, somewhere to get away, a city of theme parks and leisure by the sea where transitions are possible. In 2011, up to 40,000 students were expected to visit the Gold Coast. Around 16,000 schoolies visited the Gold Coast in 2021.

Schoolies are also present on the Sunshine Coast; this is an alternative for the graduates who fear the negative media attention attracted on the Gold Coast. According to the Sunshine Coast Region council the Sunshine Coast had about 500 schoolies visit in 2009. The local council on the Sunshine Coast stopped providing events for schoolies in 2007. In Western Australia, Rottnest Island off Perth and the South West towns of Dunsborough and Busselton are popular destinations. Also, Western Australians often go to Bali, as it is a spot for parties, late nights, and cheap shopping. In Tasmania there is not an established "Schoolies" location or tradition as such. Internationally, popular schoolies destinations include Bali, Fiji and Vanuatu.

Official destinations

According to Schoolies.com, there were 11 "official" destinations as of 2024. Of the 10 Australian destinations, three are in Queensland (Airlie Beach, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast (Coolum, Mooloolaba and Noosa Heads)), three are in Victoria (Lorne, Phillip Island and Rye), one is in New South Wales (Byron Bay) and one is in Western Australia (Dunsborough). Additionally, the list also includes three international destinations: Fiji, Vanuatu and the island of Bali in Indonesia.

Official Schoolies events

In South Australia, the annual Schoolies Festival at Victor Harbor is run by not-for-profit charity Encounter Youth (EY) and supported by the South Australian Government and South Australian Police. Free bus services to and from the festival are provided from 12 locations across the state, with shuttle buses throughout the event, seeking to minimise drink driving. EY's "Green Team" volunteers commenced in 1998 after locals raised concerns about the thousands of school leavers partying in Victor Harbor. Adelaide Pastor Frank Ahlin brought 40 volunteers to help. Nigel Knowles has been CEO of EY since 2008, and the organisation oversees the festival with input from local council, police and emergency services. It is funded by school leavers and volunteers paying to attend.

Leavers WA is a Western Australian state government harm minimisation and crime prevention strategy. WA Police and the Department of Health partner with numerous other agencies and organisations seeking to provide a safe event with bus services, wristbands, and an alcohol and drug free entertainment zone at Dunsborough.

From 1997 until 2003, an 'alternative Schoolies' was held on the Sunshine Coast with a week-long organised alcohol and drug free event. A strategy was developed by the Sunshine Coast Community Drug Awareness Network, who partnered with the Caloundra City, Maroochy and Noosa shire councils, local police, Sunbus, volunteer organisations and local businesses to run the festival, which attracted between 1000 and 2000 school leavers. The group aims to provide direct support to partying school-leavers through a positive presence. This might involve walking them home, cleaning or cooking for them. The network began at the Gold Coast in 1997. In 1995, they brought a Federal Court case against P&O Holidays for using the word in its brochures and magazines. P&O denied they had infringed the trademark, and brought a counter-claim asking for it to be expunged from the trademark register. In 2000, Justice James Burchett ruled in favour of P&O, saying the word was established in colloquial usage by the early 1980s and therefore "should not be the unique preserve of one trader". In 2005, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission accepted an enforceable undertaking from Break Free Holidays that it would no longer threaten legal proceedings against others who use the word.

The website Schoolies.com, despite sometimes being called the "official Schoolies website," is an accommodation and booking service operated by private company Group Travel Manager. Former AFL footballer, Matt Lloyd has been its CEO since 1996. The company provides photo IDs and security patrols, organises parties and partners with Red Frogs in some locations, providing free accommodation to volunteers. In 2019, the company promoted a partnership with dating app Tinder, a plan that was discontinued after receiving backlash from parents and the media. The company also received criticism in 2020 for giving credit vouchers rather than refunds to students who had to cancel trips due to the pandemic.

In 2008, Jot Lynas, Steve Pirie, and Bryan Scott cofounded Unleashed Travel, a company specialising in overseas destinations aimed at schoolies. The first year, they chartered a resort in Fiji and had 400 school leavers book in. By 2011, the company was named one of Business Review Weeklys 100 fastest growing startups with a turnover of AUD$6 million. They provide security, airport transfers, and ban duty free alcohol.

Toolies and foolies

Popular schoolies' (or leavers') venues are often attended by people well past school age, labelled by the media as "toolies" or "droolies". Toolies are associated with the targeting of drunk teenagers for sex, and are also frequently involved in disturbances taking place during the celebrations. and predictable media coverage of antics, accidents, and attacks has followed. The Queensland Government has been criticised for their efforts to stage-manage the event and limit celebrations.

2009 saw one of the most troublesome Gold Coast Schoolies celebrations in history, where in one night, police arrested 30 schoolies, and the number of arrests for the entire week doubled compared to the previous year. Superintendent Jim Keogh said that during eight days of 2009 schoolies celebrations, 217 schoolies had been arrested on 244 charges, compared with 94 schoolies arrested for the same period in 2006. Charges were laid against schoolies for serious assault, drunk and disorderly conduct, drug possession and obstructing police. The incidents prompted talks of banning Schoolies week. This has led schoolies to look at safer alternatives to ensure their wellbeing.

Problems and risks

Schoolies week celebrations can involve large volumes of alcohol and other drugs such as tobacco, cannabis and ecstasy. Confrontations between participants can occur resulting in violent assaults. Other problems and risk associated with schoolies week include sexual health and sexual assault. In 2010, the Queensland Police made 145 arrests of school leavers on the Gold Coast, down from the 220 arrests made in 2009.

Alcohol and other drugs

Widely considered a week long alcohol binge, schoolies week is most criticised for excessive drinking and problems that flow from this. A 2010 study found that almost two-thirds of schoolies will consume more than ten drinks per night.

One of the most violent Schoolies was in 2002 at the Gold Coast. and many violent altercations between youths. In one case death resulting from balcony fall in 2010 which has been claimed to be from planking. Climbing between apartment balconies is problematic. The offence can lead to arrest and is punishable by a fine of up to $2,875 and one year imprisonment.

Popular culture

Blurred is an Australian play about school leavers travelling to schoolies week.
Blurred is a 2002 Australian film based on the play.
Extensive footage of schoolies and schoolies week was featured in Fat Pizza Uncensored, a DVD collection of extras sold with some copies of the DVD for Fat Pizza: The Movie.
The band TISM recorded a song titled "Schoolies Week," which parodies schoolies week, describing it as having the same properties that would be found in hell.
Episode 8 of Season 3 of Heartbreak High (2022—2026) was set at Schoolies on The Gold Coast

References

External links

Queensland Government's Schoolies Week site
Victoria's youthcentral schoolies week resources
National Schoolies Website