How to Drug Proof your Kids is a program first developed by Focus on the Family Australia in 1999. Since then, the program has reached 52,000 parents in Australia. It has also been successfully implemented in eleven countries including Canada, New Zealand, the UK, France and the USA.

The program has undergone an extensive evaluation and revision process. Independent expert advice has been provided by Dr John Toumbourou, Professor and Chair in Health Psychology at Deakin University and a Senior Research Fellow within the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute at the Centre for Adolescent Health and John Bamberg, Research and Evaluation Consultant at the Western Region Health Centre. Mr. Bamberg has had more than 30 years experience counseling individuals and families with substance abuse issues.

The revised program is built around the premise that parents are the most influential factor in steering children away from drug use. Aimed at parents of children aged eight to fourteen, the program emphasises the risks of both illicit and licit drugs, with a special emphasis on alcohol. Issues covered include the latest NHMRC drinking guidelines, latest research around brain development in adolescence, binge drinking and parental and cultural influences