Facts & Figures

• Most Australian teenagers do not practise safe sex. Some of the commonly reported reasons for not using a condom include knowing their partner’s sexual history (35.2%), trust in their partner (33.3%) and having unplanned sex (33.1%).

• Over 18% of young people don’t use condoms because either they don’t like them (30.5% of males, 16.5% of females) or their partner doesn’t like them (24.6% of males, 15.3% of females). However, about three quarters of young people believe that most or all of young people around the same age who are sexually active use condoms.

• Young people know that intravenous drug use can transmit the HIV virus (97.4%), that women can be infected from heterosexual intercourse (95.4%), and that men can be infected from homosexual intercourse (87.4%).

• Australian teenagers aren’t very well informed about sexually transmissible infections (STIs) other than HIV/AIDS. Chlamydia is the most common STI among young Australians, with 15,400 new cases diagnosed in 2001.

• Many young people believe that all STIs apart from HIV can be cured (61.6%).

• Only one in five teenagers know that chlamydia can infect men as well as women.

• Only 36% of teenagers know that chlamydia can lead to infertility in women.

• 42% of teenagers believe that genital warts can only be spread by sexual intercourse.

• Less than one in 10 young people consider themselves at risk of infection with hepatitis B, hepatitis C, an STI or HIV.

• The majority of young people in Years 10 and 12 are sexually active in some way and this has increased over the last decade. The types of sexual activity reported include deep kissing (80%); genital touching (or being touched) (67%); and giving or receiving oral sex (45.5%). Vaginal intercourse was reported by approx-imately 25% of students in Year 10 and just over half of those in Year 12.

• Young men in Year 10 were most likely to report three or more sexual partners in the previous year. Among the students who were sexually active, approximately one in three young men in Year 10 reported three or more sexual partners in the previous year. In contrast, the proportion of young men and young women in Year 12 reporting three or more partners in the previous year has nearly halved since 1992.

• Just over a quarter (25.9%) of all sexually active students report that they have had unwanted sex at some time in their lives. The most common reasons cited for having engaged in unwanted sex were being too drunk (15.9%) and pressure from a sexual partner (12.6%).

• In relation to the most recent sexual encounter, 22.7% indicated that they were drunk or high at the time. However, the majority of students reported over-whelmingly positive feelings in relation to their most recent sexual encounter.

• Approximately 2% of the most recent sexual encounters were same-sex encounters. In all, some 3.3% of young men and 6.7% of young women report being attracted to their own sex, with an additional 1.3% of young men and 2.1% of young women being unsure.

• Young people report high levels of confidence in their ability to say no to unwanted sex and to convince a partner to use condoms. They are far less confident in their ability to discuss matters related to sexuality, including contraception, with their parents.

• One student in twenty (6%) reported having had sex that resulted in a pregnancy and a further 7.5% were uncertain as to whether this was the case or not.

• The use of condoms and other forms of contraception is common, with 65.8% of sexually active young people in Year 10 reporting that they always used condoms. This was lower among Year 12 students (51.8%) and this may be accounted for by higher rates of use of the oral contraceptive pill by young women in this group.

• In relation to the most recent sexual encounter, 72.4% of young people in Year 10 and 56.6% of those in Year 12 reported using a condom.

• Condoms appear to be primarily used for contraception rather than STI prevention. At their last sexual encounter 10% of students reported using withdrawal for contra-ception.

• Percentage of Year 10 students who have had vaginal intercourse: 25%; Year 12 students: just over 50%.

• Percentage of men born in the 1940s who had had sex before the age of 16: about 15%; men born in the 1980s: 30%.

• Percentage of women born in the 1940s who had had sex before the age of 16: 5%; women born in the early 1980s: 25%.

• Percentage of young people today who have had experience of intercourse or oral sex before the age of 13: 3-5%.

• Percentage of 16- to 17-year-olds who’ve had exposure to Internet pornography – boys: 84%; girls: 60%.

• Percentage of 16- to 17-year-olds who have watched X-rated videos – boys: 73%; girls: 11%.

• About 4-5% of boys identify as frequent (weekly) users of pornography.

• The reported average national abortion rate in 1997–1999 (based on Medicare claims, which are believed to be an underestimate) was 22 abortions per 1000 teenagers per year, compared with 19 live births. This indicates a higher teenage pregnancy rate than many other developed countries, and one of the highest teenage abortion rates in the developed world.