Sex, Drugs, and Rock'n'Roll (Big Day Out Study)

This project aims to understand young people’s health and behaviour.

2005–⁠ongoing

For more than a decade, Burnet’s researchers undertook the yearly survey at the festival. Since 2015, the Sex, Drugs, and Rock‘n’Roll surveys have been completed online.

Since 2005, we have surveyed over 20,000 young people aged between 15 and 29 years about sexual behaviours, alcohol and other drug use, pornography use, social media and mental health. We have learnt a great deal about the types and prevalence of risk behaviours among young people from these surveys, and can monitor changes in these over time. These data have been used to evaluate public health policies and programs. The study has also collected novel data on emerging issues facing young people, such as sexting, pornography, and COVID-19, which has been used to inform public health policies.