Alcohol guide for local government

Councils are well placed to lead prevention in their communities. Acting on alcohol-related harm can help them with:

• fewer alcohol-related risks and liabilities, and lower costs for cleaning, waste and complaints
• social and cultural norms that don’t centre on alcohol
• cost savings, shared resources and improved revenue
• legislative compliance.

The guide comes with 10 tools that councils can adapt to their own needs.

Sample policies

• Tool 1: Council leases: alcohol availability, sponsorship and advertising (Word): a sample policy that gives communities more say over how alcohol is marketed and sold at sporting and community venues that council owns or leases. It covers alcohol sponsorship and advertising at local sporting clubs and venues, and helps councils align lease conditions with their Public Health and Wellbeing Plan. It explains why this matters: sport and community settings are a chance to promote health, and children and young people are particularly vulnerable to alcohol marketing. It includes a policy objective, rationale and how to apply it.
• Tool 2: Alcohol at council-run events, functions and meetings (Word): a sample policy to prevent and reduce harm from alcohol at council events, functions and staff meetings. It helps councils set standards for how alcohol is provided and promoted, support a safer drinking culture and low-risk drinking, and meet their duty of care for a safe and healthy workplace. It includes a policy objective, rationale and how to apply it.

Assessing your council’s capacity

• Tool 3: Prevention capacity and infrastructure self-assessment (Word): a detailed self-assessment that guides council through the key areas for action, from readiness and organisational structure to demand reduction and managing alcohol availability through planning and liquor licensing. It links each area to the relevant section of the guide.
• Tool 4: Short prevention self-assessment (Word): a shorter version of the self-assessment for a quick check of council’s capacity.

Consulting your community

• Tool 5: Survey for community members (Word): a survey template for asking residents how alcohol affects them and where they see problems.
• Tool 6: Survey for local businesses (Word): a cover letter and survey template for asking local businesses about alcohol issues and responsibilities.

Data and planning

• Tool 7: High-quality data sources (Word): a list of sources councils can use to track alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harm, licensed venues, crime and other local statistics.
• Tool 8: Developing a community alcohol profile (Word): steps to understand local alcohol issues and what council is already doing, as a first step to including alcohol actions in council plans.
• Tool 9: Local government alcohol-related data (Word): a support sheet to help councils collect their own alcohol-related data, to guide strategy and actions and to measure their impact over time. It gives practical examples of data councils already hold or can easily record, without complex systems: noise complaints, litter, community security patrol reports, alcohol outlet numbers and density, maintenance of public spaces, alcohol sponsorship of sporting clubs and events, community attitudes, and resident and business complaints. It recommends recording information by time of day and location.
• Tool 10: Mapping alcohol-related priorities in a community (PDF): steps to identify local priorities, align them strategically and develop a plan or strategy.

Other organisations can use many of the guide’s strategies and tools. Local Drug Action Teams working on alcohol can also use the Community action on alcohol availability toolkit.

If you’ve used the guide or tools, we’d like your feedback so we can keep them relevant. Contact us.

Last reviewed: 13 October 2026