The first stage of developing your Community Action Plan is confirming your local issue and target audience. This information will form the basis of your plan.
You may have already started to define the alcohol and drug-related issues to address. Gathering information from a range of sources will help you to develop an accurate picture of what is happening in your community and focus your activity on the most important issue.
For more information, including sources of local data, see also, identifying alcohol and drug issues in your community.
Your ‘target audience’ are the people who will directly benefit from your activity, and are identified according to age and priority population groups.
If the audience that your LDAT is targeting is more specific than the options provided in the Community Action Plan template (e.g. pregnant women, people who are unemployed) or unknown, then you can indicate this in the template.
In selecting your target audience and activity, it is important to understand which groups are affected by which issues, so your activity can be tailored and targeted appropriately. Different groups will have certain attitudes, behaviours and demographics that need to be considered.
The Alcohol and Other Drug Lifecycle Planner and supporting document outlines the alcohol and other drug issues at each stage of life and provides guidance on the activities best suited to support each stage.
Figure 1 indicates the alcohol and drug-related issues that can impact people at different ages.
Use this planner to guide the development of a Community Action Plan that addresses local alcohol and other drug (AOD) issues, by addressing risks and building protective factors using the range of evidence-based toolkits.
It is important to consult with others to be sure that your partners and community agree this is the right focus. Consulting with your community will assist you in confirming your local issue and target audience.
See our community consultation guide to understand how to consult with your community to better define the issue.