Community engagement and mobilisation toolkit
The Community engagement and mobilisation toolkit guides Local Drug Action Teams bringing their communities together to identify and act on local alcohol and other drug issues.
Community engagement and mobilisation
Local Drug Action Teams use community engagement and mobilisation to turn local concern about alcohol and other drugs into community action.
What is community engagement and mobilisation?
Community engagement and mobilisation refers to activities and processes that connect and motivate members of the community to take action towards a common goal. It generally covers a whole population within an area, such as a region, town or city. It brings a range of stakeholders together to identify an issue and use the best evidence of what works to address it.
It’s one of several community approaches to prevention.
How Local Drug Action Teams use it
Local Drug Action Teams use community engagement and mobilisation to identify a local alcohol or other drug (AOD) issue. They then engage and motivate the community to come up with solutions, and involve them in designing and delivering those solutions. This includes:
- identifying local issues
- raising awareness of those issues by engaging stakeholders and community, and building partnerships
- exploring the issues further with partners, stakeholders and community to understand them more deeply
- using these insights to build readiness for change and mobilise the community to act.
They cast a wide net for supporters, including groups outside health such as workplaces, sporting clubs, libraries and local councils, and they make sure people most affected by the issue have a say.
Where it fits in the LDAT program
Community engagement and mobilisation is the focus of an LDAT’s Engagement Community Action Plan (Type 1 CAP). It lays the groundwork for future Prevention CAPs by building partnerships and identifying the local issues and prevention approaches that matter most. At the end of the process, LDATs use the AOD Lifecycle Planner to choose the right approach, then draw on the other prevention toolkits.
How Local Drug Action Teams engage their communities
- Community voices in Meander Valley, Tasmania: a Type 1 CAP where the LDAT consulted young people to shape future activities
- Rochester and Elmore Ice Action Committee: four community meetings with 120 residents sharing ideas on preventing AOD harm
- Banatjarl Strongbala Wimun Grup, Katherine: women leading cultural healing on Jawoyn Country, with support from the LDAT program
Further reading
- Community engagement: improving health and wellbeing and reducing health inequalities (NICE, UK)
- Engaging communities to prevent underage drinking (Fagan, Hawkins and Catalano, Alcohol Research & Health)
- VicHealth Partnerships Analysis Tool (VicHealth)
What’s in the full toolkit
The full toolkit gives Local Drug Action Teams practical guidance, including:
- four steps: understanding local issues, building the right partnerships, running community consultation and engagement activities, and bringing it all together to mobilise action
- evaluation tips for each step, including measuring partner commitment and community awareness
- guiding principles for engaging and mobilising a community
- considerations for planning and delivery, including partners beyond health, resources, and how to talk about alcohol and other drugs without stigma.
If you’re part of a Local Drug Action Team, you can use the full toolkit on the LDAT platform.
Partner with a Local Drug Action Team
Local Drug Action Teams work with local organisations, such as schools, councils, sporting clubs and health services, to prevent alcohol and other drug harm in their communities. See where LDATs are on our map, and if your organisation would like to partner with one, contact us.
Last reviewed: 4 November 2026