Alcohol and pregnancy toolkit

Partners, families and communities all play a part in supporting alcohol-free pregnancies.

What is the Alcohol and pregnancy toolkit?

The toolkit covers evidence-informed information, resources and activities that help people avoid alcohol before and during pregnancy. It’s for everyone who is pregnant, planning a pregnancy or could become pregnant, and for their partners, families and friends. Australia’s alcohol guidelines advise that people who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy should not drink alcohol, and that not drinking is safest when breastfeeding.

What is FASD?

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) describes the effects on the brain and body of people who were exposed to alcohol before birth. It’s a lifelong disability. People with FASD may need support with things like learning, memory, attention, communication and social skills to reach their full potential, and every person with FASD has their own strengths and challenges.

Talking about alcohol and pregnancy

How we talk about alcohol and pregnancy matters. Good communication is respectful, positive and supportive, avoids blaming or shaming anyone, and focuses on the person rather than their alcohol use. It recognises the role partners, fathers and friends play, includes everyone who can become pregnant, and is accurate and in line with Australia’s alcohol guidelines. Messages work best when they’re culturally safe and available in the languages people speak.

Support and information

• National FASD Hotline (NOFASD Australia): free, confidential advice about FASD on 1800 860 613.
• FASD Hub Australia: information for families and professionals, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resources.
• Every Moment Matters: information about alcohol, pregnancy and breastfeeding, in several languages.
• Strong Born: NACCHO’s campaign for culturally safe conversations about alcohol, pregnancy and breastfeeding in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

ADF’s FASD help and support page has more.

How Local Drug Action Teams use it

Local Drug Action Teams use this toolkit to raise awareness in their communities and to encourage open, respectful conversations about alcohol, pregnancy and contraception within families and with health professionals. They work with maternal and child health services, GPs, women’s health and Aboriginal community controlled health services, multicultural services and community groups, run activities such as awareness events on International FASD Awareness Day (9 September), and help people find support if they want it.

Where it fits in the LDAT program

Local Drug Action Teams use this toolkit as part of their Community Action Plan (CAP).

How Local Drug Action Teams are responding

• Condobolin Healthy Pregnancy Project: education for young women in Condobolin, NSW, who were pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding.
• Beautiful Bumps for FASD Awareness Day: exhibitions in Broome and Derby to raise awareness of FASD.
• Blacktown: FASD conversations through art: art workshops where women and girls from many cultures talked about alcohol, pregnancy and FASD.
• Goldfields women explore their greatness: a cultural photoshoot and workshops that built Aboriginal women’s confidence and connection to culture and community.

The full toolkit gives Local Drug Action Teams practical guidance, including:

• guiding principles for talking about FASD respectfully and working with key FASD organisations
• considerations for planning and delivery, including partners, resources, and cultural safety and inclusion
• key activities and measuring success
• key steps, from engaging the community and sharing evidence to following a model of FASD prevention and supporting partners with communication
• trusted resources for different communities.

If you’re part of a Local Drug Action Team, you can use the full toolkit on the LDAT platform.

Last reviewed: 4 November 2026