Account for the growth in Schoolies Week in Queensland.

Schoolies Week is actually a month-long graduation festival celebrated by Year 12 school leavers from all over Australia. It takes place after the Year 12 Leaving Certificate, between mid-November and mid-December. The event is predominantly held on Queensland’s Gold Coast, but alternative destinations include Byron Bay, Sunshine Coast, Airlie Beach, Magnetic Island and Lorne on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. Traditionally there are separate Schoolies Weeks for Queensland and New South Wales/Victorian Year 12s on the Gold Coast, so that at each one, students party with their peers. It is estimated that between 30,000 and 35,000 school leavers take part in the event every year, generating over AUS$60 million for Queensland’s economy.
Schoolies Week is one of the few ‘rites of passage’ remaining for Australian teenagers. The rites of passage concept implies a transition from adolescence to adulthood, an activity designed to enhance the development of a distinct selfidentity.
Such a transition can be seen as a basic human development stage characterized by a postponement of the taking up of adult responsibilities, a desire for novel and varied activities, interest in risk-taking and experimentation, and a desire to spend time socializing with peers