End of school celebrations are officially underway on the Surf Coast and while the partying is off to a soggy start, the weather doesn’t seem to have dampened high school graduates’ enthusiasm.
Hundreds of teenagers have descended on traditional local hotspots including Lorne and Torquay, but police say they’ve been generally well behaved.
Patrols have been stepped up in coastal towns, despite expectations of smaller attendances this year.
The Surf Coast Shire said it is working with a number of service organisations including police, Ambulance Victoria, Barwon Child Youth and Family, Great Ocean Road Health and Red Frogs to help keep school leavers safe.
Police said the message to schoolies was that alcohol should never be mixed with swimming or driving, and to respect the local community.
But they say behaviour during schoolies has improved significantly over the years, and the celebrations are now largely “self-managed”.