WA country teens are among the heaviest binge drinkers in the country, with some “pre-loading” on almost eight drinks before going out, a new study shows.

As school leavers celebrations begin tomorrow, the survey of 16-19-year-olds reveals the drinking habits of teens who regularly drank seven or more alcoholic drinks in one session.

The National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University found 43 per cent of these “risky” young drinkers — in Perth, Bunbury, Melbourne and Sydney — pre-drank during their most recent binge.

Although there was little difference between the drinking habits of teens in the three capital cities, Bunbury teenagers stood out as the worst – drinking more, and spending more time and money on pre-loading.

Bunbury teens averaged 7.9 standard drinks compared with Melbourne (5.36 standard drinks), Perth (5.76) and Sydney (7.9). Bunbury teens also spent 21/2 hours pre-drinking, compared with just over 11/2 hours elsewhere.

The teens in the South West city spent more than twice as much on pre-drinks ($46.83), compared with Sydney ($16.72), Melbourne ($18.54) and Perth ($20.82).

National Drug Research Institute fellow Tina Lam said there was arguably more of a drinking culture in regional areas.

She said Bunbury drinkers may spend more time pre-drinking if there were limited licensed venues to attend after pre-loading.

She said while the most popular reason for pre-drinking was the cheaper cost, the survey showed there were more Bunbury teens with a weekly recreational income more than $200 compared with their metropolitan counterparts.

Dr Lam said teenagers were less likely to be “risky” drinkers, having more than four standard drinks, if their parents discouraged them and were “non-approving”.

Meanwhile, authorities will not be doing anything different this year to combat a possible repeat of last year’s resurgence of “juvie leavers” celebrations on Rottnest Island.

A change introduced last year to open up the island to the general public during leavers will remain despite criticism from guests and residents.

Last year, about 600 students, some as young as 14, and their adult keyholders were drunk and causing mayhem on the island the week after leavers, resulting in the need for extra security and a late-night ferry to cater for evictions.

Rottnest Island Authority spokeswoman Suzanne Perry said “juvies” was not an official event and stressed the buck stopped with parents to ensure their children were properly supervised and not provided with alcohol.