The Young Australians’ Alcohol Reporting System (YAARS) aims to provide timely information on patterns of youth alcohol use and related problems. It is envisaged that this information will be used to inform policy, prevention and treatment initiatives and to provide indications of trends of consumption and harm over time. In this pilot year of data collection, the project surveyed 958 16-19 year olds from four Australian cities who regularly engaged in risky drinking.