HEALTH & 

WELLBEING CENTRE

Protect Yourself Against the Flu this Season

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has warned of a more severe and earlier than expected flu season for 2025. More than 48,000 confirmed cases of influenza were recorded between January and March, representing a 59% increase from the same period last year.

The state government is again funding the annual free influenza vaccination program for all Queenslanders.

The strains of the influenza virus can change from year to year, so the vaccines may be updated from one season to the next. The influenza vaccine has been around for many decades and has a great safety record.

At St Augustine’s, we have already rolled out our annual staff and boarding community influenza vaccination clinics. This will assist in keeping our college community safer and reducing time lost from school or work with illness.

Talk to your health professional or local pharmacy about the influenza vaccine today.

Visit the Australian Government Health Department website for the latest information.

What to look for in preventing violence in young men

There is much abuzz surrounding the Netflix series, Adolescence. A four-parter that follows the Miller family, whose lives are blown apart when 13-year-old schoolboy Jamie is arrested in a dawn raid for killing a female classmate, Katie.

Adolescence has highlighted the nightmarish influence of the so-called manosphere – a collection of websites, social media accounts and forums dedicated to men’s issues, from health and fitness to dating and men’s rights. Many (though not all) manosphere communities have become spaces where explicit anti-women and anti-feminist sentiment abound. These include incels, men’s rights activists, red-pillers, pick-up artists and male separatists.

Adolescence is a cautionary tale about getting teenagers off screens and engaging with real life again. It'sa reminder that human contact and family time might help save them. A plea to support, talk and listen, not let them fall through the cracks and disappear down the digital rabbit hole. It will open conversations that desperately need to be had.

The College counsellors have just received the article below from clinical psychologist Andrew Fuller. He works with many schools and communities in Australia and

internationally, specialising in the wellbeing of young people and their families. He felt it was timely in that conversations are being had everywhere about the series.

Andrew’s article explores nine key predisposing factors, each is paired with an example and a research-based antidote or therapeutic approach. The aim is not only to understand, but to intervene early – before intense emotion becomes destructive action.

Violence and young men

It's timely that our Year 11s have recently attended the It’s a Man Issue presentationin their pastoral care lessons. It's a Man's Issue delivers trauma-informed, evidence-based workshops focused on consent, sexual assault, healthy relationships, toxic masculinity and active bystander training. This is the second year our Year 11s have been involved in this workshop. 

What parents should know about coercive control 

Adolescence is a unique and important stage of development in which respectful relationships can make all the difference. What makes relationships respectful and not respectful? And what does it look like when student relationships become controlling?

To help you feel equipped to talk to young people about respect, consent and healthy relationships, eSafety has developed a new webinar for educators and anyone working with young people.

Webinar: Recognising online coercive control in young people's lives

This 45-minute webinar explores how technology-facilitated coercive control impacts young people, the common red flags to watch for and practical ways to support those experiencing it.

• Thursday 20 May, 3.45-4.30pm AEST

Register now

Our contact details

Marijke Keller mkeller@cns.catholic.edu.au 4052 9134 

Br Roger brroger@cns.catholic.edu.au 4052 9133 

Sacha Donaldson RN sdonaldson@cns.catholicedu.au 4052 9132