School leavers with plans to celebrate overseas are being strongly advised to exercise caution following recent methanol poisoning incidents in Southeast Asia.

In November of the previous year, a tragic event occurred in Laos where six individuals lost their lives after consuming contaminated alcohol at a hostel.

Jones, reflecting on the incident, remarked, “It’s very raw, very upsetting, but we’ve got to do this for the greater good.”

This call to action is part of a campaign spearheaded by DrinkWise in collaboration with Smart Traveller. The initiative aims to implement a series of public information campaigns to raise awareness about the dangers of tainted alcohol.

DrinkWise has announced its collaboration with Smartraveller to coincide with the crucial schoolies travel date of November 29. On this day, personnel will be stationed at international airport terminals in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane to provide safety advice to recent graduates embarking on their travels.

The campaign will see targeted advertisements and messages sent to the phones of teenagers as soon as they set foot in Australian airports, with in-flight video messages also to be played on international Jetstar flights.

“DrinkWise research shows school-leavers are making safer choices at schoolies, but timely reminders remain critical,” DrinkWise chief executive Simon Strahan said.

“This is real, issues like methanol poisoning are real.”

Morton said she urged parents to have conversations about the safe consumption of alcohol with their children before they go on schoolies trips abroad.

“Be aware of the dangers, have a plan, talk to your children, make sure they do know what to do when they do get sick, it’s only going to help save lives,” she said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she is still seeking answers from Laotian authorities as to why no one has been charged over last year’s tragic poisoning.

She said she has reached out to representatives from Laos 50 times, but is yet to receive a response.

“We continue to offer AFP assistance, we’ve reiterated that offering including yesterday,” Wong said.