EDAS - Young People

What Does EDAS Offer Young People?

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EDAS provides a specialist youth service to young people aged between 12-21 years in the Eastern Metropolitan Region of Melbourne.

If you are in our area, and experiencing difficulties with alcohol or other drug use, we can offer you free and confidential counselling, education and support.

EDAS counsellors have professional qualifications and experience in supporting young people with alcohol and other drug issues. Young people who attend the service are encouraged to set their own goals, which they then work on with their counsellor. Our counsellors can meet with you in a range of settings, including the community health centre, other youth services or other locations to suit your circumstances.

Is EDAS the service for you?

EDAS may be able to help you if you:

• Want to cut down or quit alcohol or other drug use
• Have already cut down or quit and want to prevent lapses into higher levels of use
• Have concerns about their alcohol or other drug use
• Want information on safer use and other harm minimisation strategies
• Want information on the effects and potential impact of alcohol or other drug use
• Have concerns about another person's alcohol or other drug use.

Access to youth residential unit

Young people in the Eastern Metropolitan Region of Melbourne can also access the Youth Residential Unit for withdrawal or respite through our duty worker or their EDAS counsellor. The unit is managed by EDAS, the Youth Substance Abuse Service and St Vincent's Hospital.

Right Time Right Place

Eastern Drug & Alcohol Service (EDAS) MonashLink has piloted a program with Swinburne TAFE at Wantirna over the past three years. EDAS Alcohol & Other Drugs Counsellor, Marcel Koper, pioneered this program with Craig Jennings from Swinburne. The program has become known as the Right Time; Right Place (RTRP) and targets young people who have re-entered the education system via a year ten equivalent course in the TAFE system. After three years we are pleased to announce that this program has been successful in a recent funding round of the Victorian Law Enforcement Drug Fund. This funding will allow MonashLink EDAS the opportunity to engage a project worker to extend the program to other campuses of Swinburne in the eastern region. Since MarcelÕs departure from MonashLink, Naomi Adams and Jade Burgmann have taken over the project management. Many of the young people enrolled in this program have experienced a range of risk factors that vary from:

• mental health issues
• active alcohol and licit/illicit substance use
• homelessness,
• parental/guardian conflict
• behavioural issues
• contact with the courts and police
• bullying, victims of bullying
• risky sexual activity and more.

The RTRP project has already obtained significant partnerships with regional dual diagnoses workers, the Victoria Police, Eastern Juvenile Justice, and various other local relevant organisations. RTRP aims to build resilience and protective factors for young people aged 15-19 who are attending a Year 10 equivalency course, and considered to be at risk of school failure, delinquency, violence, alcohol and other drug abuse and criminal activity, thereby working to prevent these outcomes. The protective factors systemically built into RTRP improve relationships between the young person and the police, education system, their peers, wider community service agencies (especially drug and alcohol and dual diagnosis) and the development of life skills and increased self awareness.

The RTRP project involves three Swinburne campuses Ð Hawthorn, Wantirna and Croydon, with four hour programs run at each campus one morning per week. EDAS Monashlink welcomes RTRP Project Worker Jamie Bretman to the EDAS team. Jamie has experience working with "at risk" young people in a teaching unit and at recreation/support programs attached to the Prahran and South Melbourne high rise commission flats. He also has experience planning and running events with local government youth services. Jamie has obtained a Diploma in Youth Work, Certificate 4 in AOD, and Certificate 4 in Youth Work (Juvenile Justice). Jamie brings exceptional engagement and youth support work skills to the position, including a range of creative skills and strategies including music (guitar and percussion), circus and magic skills, as well as experience and interest in high/low ropes and outdoor adventure work. Jamie's hours will be 8.30am - 4.30pm Monday - Thursday. He will be based predominantly at the TAFE campuses but will also be spending some half days at Monashlink.

What other programs do we run?

Check out some of our other programs in the Projects section.

If you live elsewhere, and are experiencing difficulties with cannabis, check out Getting out of it: How to cut down or quit cannabis.

If you have alcohol or other drug concerns, are between 12-21 and live in the Eastern Metropolitan Region of Melbourne, you can call EDAS on: