Black market triggers security breach at Gold Coast Schoolies celebrations

Security measures in place at this year’s Schoolies event have been called into question after party-goers were busted flouting the rules. Find out what happened.

People have been caught trying to buy and sell Schoolies Hub wristbands in a major breach of security measures at this year’s Gold Coast celebrations.

The “black market” has sprung up in dedicated Schoolies Facebook community groups, which have been flooded with posts from people requesting to buy the bands or sell their own.

The Bulletin has sighted more than a dozen of these posts. Some are charging as much as $200 for a wristband, which are given to genuine school-leavers for free.

People buying and selling schoolies wristbands on Facebook community groups.

To collect the wristbands, Schoolies need to provide proof of identification to confirm they are a genuine 2022 Year 12 school leaver.

Once collected, the wristband holder is able to access the Schoolies Hub, touted by organisers as “the safest place for you and your mates to party in Surfers”.

The onselling of wristbands could result in toolies – older adults posing as Schoolies – entering the hub.

A schoolies 2022 wristband for sale onlline

A Department of Environment and Science spokeswoman said Safer Schoolies was aware of the online activity regarding wristbands.

“Several screenshots have been passed on to the Queensland Police Service,” she said.

“We take the integrity of the wristbands extremely seriously to ensure the nightly beach parties in the Schoolies Hub are attended by legitimate Year 12 school leavers only.

“Every wristband is checked at the point of hub entry. Our hub security is extremely tight.

“Any wristbands that have been tampered with, which would need to happen to be taken off the original wearer, are quickly detected at the point of entry, the wristbands are confiscated, and the purchaser is refused entry.

“Our strong message to anyone who purchases a wristband is you have wasted your money.”

Screenshots of people buying and selling schoolies wristbands on Facebook community groups.

Some Schoolies have also taken to social media to complain about their bands being fastened too tight around their wrists – a measure used to stop them from taking off their bands to transfer them to other people.

“How the f**k do I loosen my wristband or f**king take it off without cutting it,” one Schoolie complained on social media.

“It’s so tight on my wrist, I’m losing circulation ... help.”

People have also been caught trying to buy and sell tickets to other Schoolies events, including the Hilton Surfers Paradise hotel pool party passes.

Posts from those selling the passes have also appeared in Schoolies’ social media groups.

Schoolies at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast. Picture: Jason O'Brien

The Bulletin contacted the Hilton and the official schoolies accommodation and parties booking website, Schoolies.com, for comment but did not receive a response by deadline. The concerns about security breaches come after police slammed toolies for their bad behaviour during the first few days of celebrations.

On Tuesday, it was revealed police had arrested 67 people on 87 charges in the Schoolies precinct over the first three nights.

Only 18 of those people were official school leavers and the rest were adults.

Gold Coast police Superintendent Rhys Wildman said toolies had become the main cause of concern for authorities, while Schoolies had mostly been well-behaved.

“If you are misbehaving, you’re picking a very, very bad time to do so,” Supt Wildman said. “We have police everywhere.”