International Journal of Drug Policy 10 (1999) 177 – 193 Evaluation of a national school drug education program in Australia Richard Midford *, Nyanda McBride National Centre for Research into the Preention of Drug Abuse, Curtin Uniersity, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia Received 22 August 1998; received in revised form 30 November 1998; accepted 4 January 1999 Abstract The National Initiatives in Drug Education (NIDE) project was an initiative of the Australian Commonwealth government, to enhance school drug education in all Australian jurisdictions. The project was implemented in collaboration with States and Territories and primarily involved professional training for teachers of drug education and the development of teaching resources. The project was evaluated towards the end of its implementation period. An essentially descriptive approach was adopted, using several different investigative techniques to confirm the strength of evidence and build a global picture. While there are inherent limitations to such a retrospective approach, considerable insight was gained as to the achievements of the project. In an overall sense, people in all jurisdictions, at all levels of involvement in drug education, considered NIDE a beneficial project. NIDE increased the quantity and quality of drug education. The teaching resource materials developed by NIDE were generally well regarded. The process of implementation was respectful and empowering. State and Territory representatives felt part of a coherent national project. The harm minimisation premise of the project was well accepted. NIDE also had a number of limitations, but it has contributed in a major way to the ongoing evolution of school drug education in Australia. © 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Australia; NIDE project; Drug education 1. The development of the project The National Initiatives in Drug Education (NIDE) project was a national initiative de- signed to enhance school drug education in all Australian States and Territories. The project and its subsequent evaluation had its origins in the National Drug Strategic Plan, which identified drug education in schools as a priority activity and made a commitment to develop a core set of educational resources (National Drug Strategy Committee, 1993). The then Commonwealth Department of Hu- man Services and Health had responsibility for implementing this aspect of national drug strategy and during 1993 and 1994 a series of exploratory meetings were held between se- nior Commonwealth drug strategy officials * Corresponding author. E-mail address: richard@ncrpda.curtin.edu.au (R. Midford) 0955-3959/99/$ - see front matter © 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII:S0955-3959(99)00006-7