Martial Arts expert, Tiffany Hall appeared on the Today show with some self-defence tips - watch it here. She also runs TIFFXO which provides online fitness and health courses and includes her self-defence training.

In Australia, over 300,000* women experience violence (often sexual violence) at the hands of someone who is not their partner. It's not right and it's not fair but it is what it is. So for your own safety, always walk with someone you know and trust. There is safety in numbers.
* Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013.

Rips are the strong currents of water that suck the water from the shore back out to sea. The best way to stay safe is to swim between the flags at a patrolled beach. Surf Life Saving Australia performs 10,000 rescues each year (www.news.com.au). If you do find yourself stuck in a rip, here is what to do.

Leavers starts in Western Australia in Monday. Here are some tips to keep safe. For more information see www.leaverswa.com.au.

• Drink lots of water
• Wear sunscreen
• Stay with your friends at all times
• Carry photo ID and a list of emergency contacts
• If you are drinking alcohol have something to eat first
• Don't do drugs - just don't!
• If you feel unsafe, find a police officer or a volunteer from one of the support services, for example the Green Team.
• Have fun - here's the Don't Drink and Drown Mannequin Challenge from Dunsborough 2016.

The Carly Ryan foundation was started by Carly's mother after the 15 year old South Australian girl was killed by someone she met online. She thought she had met an 18 year old musician from Melbourne when in fact she was chatting to a 50 year old predator and paedophile. The foundation has information on how to stay safe online - you can find it here. According to the website, the first rule of online safety is to remain as anonymous as possible. You wouldn't give out your information to random strangers on the street and you shouldn't do it online either.

If someone has passed out and is breathing but not responding to you, would you know what to do? In young people, this is often due to alcohol poisoning. Once you have the person in the recovery position, ring 000 for an ambulance. Positive Choices has a fact sheet with illustrations or you can watch this short video.

It was reported in our local paper recently that a 19 year old male is facing child sex charges over  offences that occurred several years ago. He met a 14 year old girl online, persuaded her to send him sexually explicit photos of herself, then used them to blackmail her. He told her that he would release the photos unless she met him. She finally agreed to meet him and he sexually abused her. Your teachers and parents aren't paranoid freaks (at least not all the time). This does happen sometimes. There are several lessons we can learn from this unfortunate situation:

1. It's safest not to send explicit photos of yourself to anyone, especially people you have never met;
2. You do not know who you're talking to online - it could be a 50 year old creep;
3. It's not safe to meet up with someone you've met online, especially if you go alone.