Gold Coast police report no incidents during first weekend of Schoolies

School leavers across Queensland are letting their hair down this week. But they’ve behaved so well Gold Coast police had nothing bad to say.

School leavers have been given an A for effort after their first weekend of schoolies celebrations, with police on the Gold Coast not having a single incident to report.

Young people have gathered in smaller numbers on the glitter strip this year after official celebrations were cancelled because of COVID-19.

Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler said while there had been some reports of public nuisance, it had been nothing more than a “fairly standard weekend”.

Maggie Peters, Aba Penclis, Sasha McCormack and Morgan Trevisiol celebrate Schoolies on Noosa Main Beach.

“Overall the atmosphere was one of friendship, it was one of mateship and it was one of fun,” he said on Monday.

Superintendent Wheeler said up to 200 people gathered on the beach at Surfers Paradise on Sunday night but dispersed after a few hours.

“They were young people having a good time, they were dancing on the beach and playing games,” he said.

“It’s a public space, so it’s really no different to going to any public space on the Gold Coast.”

It was a similar story on the Sunshine Coast, with up to 3000 revellers gathering on Noosa Main Beach on multiple nights.

Mounted police are monitoring schoolies at Noosa.

Acting District Superintendent Jason Overland said complaints from residents about the large numbers were unfounded.

“There’s no offence for gathering in a public place,” he said, adding similar reports of high volumes of rubbish being left on the beach had been “blown out of proportion quite substantially”.

When asked if the large gatherings adhered to COVID-19 restrictions, Superintendent Overland said officers had decided it was safer to keep them in a group.

“The alternative would be to displace them,” he said.

“On balance we think this is the right way to go.”

Sunshine Coast police issued 25 notices over the weekend, with just 16 of those relating to schoolies.

“Things are going as well as can be expected,” Superintendent Overland said.

Superintendent Wheeler said while officers would continue to monitor schoolies throughout the week, they also wanted them to have a good time, providing they did it safely.

“We don’t want to be the fun police,” he said.

Originally published as Gold Coast police report no incidents during first weekend of Schoolies