Prevention Capacity and Infrastructure Survey

HOW TO APPROACH THE PREVENTION CAPACITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE: SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL:

The LGA Guide Tool 3 – Prevention capacity and infrastructure self-assessment tool is designed to guide you through the key domains for action evidenced to prevent and minimise alcohol-related harm on a local level, and connection you to sections of The Art of Community Alcohol Management: What local government can do to prevent and minimise alcohol-related harm (The Guide) to support the development and delivery of those actions.

These domains include:

• PART A: ASSESSING READINESS AND PREPAREDNESS FOR ALCOHOL PREVENTION WORK (NOTE LINKS TO ACTIONS LARGELY IN GUIDE SECTION 4)
• PART B: STRUCTURE AND ORGANISATION TO SUPPORT ALCOHOL PREVENTION WORK (NOTE LINKS TO ACTIONS LARGELY IN GUIDE SECTION 2, 3 and 4)
• PART C: DEMAND REDUCTION ACTIVITIES, PROGRAMS AND INTERVENTIONS TO SUPPORT ALCOHOL PREVENTION WORK (NOTE LINKS TO ACTIONS LARGELY IN GUIDE SECTION 2)
• PART D: MANAGING ALCOHOL AVAILABILITY VIA PLANNING, AVAILABILITY, LIQUOR LICENSING AND ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS (NOTE LINKS TO ACTIONS LARGELY IN GUIDE SECTION 2)
• PART E: CREATING SAFER AND HEALTHIER ENVIRONMENTS TO PREVENT AND MINIMISE ALCOHOL-RELATED HARM THROUGH ENVIROMENTAL SUPPORTS – LOCAL LAWS AND PUBLIC REALM DESIGN (NOTE LINKS TO ACTIONS LARGELY IN GUIDE SECTION 2)

Key steps to using the Self-Assessment Tool:

1. The Self-Assessment Tool is divided into five key domains evidenced to prevent and minimise alcohol-related harm as part of a comprehensive approach to alcohol prevention work.

(Note – when we refer to alcohol prevention work, we are considering all pillars of a harm minimisation approach including demand, availability and harm reduction. We are not referring to an abstinence approach, rather actions that support lower-risk behaviours designed to prevent and minimise alcohol-related harms).

1. The Self-Assessment Tool will prompt you with a series of questions connected to each domain, identifying recommended areas of action.
2. If answering NO to a self-assessment question, then this will prompt a recommended ‘Opportunity for Action’ for you to consider as an evidence-based action to support your suite of actions/action plan/strategy to address that specific domain.
3. The Opportunities for Action column describes that recommended action.
4. Each action is provided with a rationale for why this action is important to prevent and minimise alcohol-related harm.
5. Shortlisting your actions is important as acting on all recommendations is not realistic. All recommendations should be considered over a period of time based on your local government’s readiness and preparedness to take action on that particular recommendation. It is better to achieve some ‘low hanging fruit’ actions to gain support and implement a realistic series of actions over time rather than attempting all at once. Tick off actions that are realistic! The LGA Guide Tool 10 – Mapping alcohol-related priorities in a community will assist you to determine which actions are most important to your community to address the identified issues and risks you are trying to reduce, and protective factors you are trying to build.
6. Once your shortlisted actions are selected, the Quick Reference Guide to Support Selected Actions column will connect you to areas of the Guide that will aid the development and implementation of these actions.
7. Each Guide section has a selection of tools and useful links to assist in the development and delivery of that action to support you in your alcohol prevention work.

The table below demonstrates how this is laid out in the Self-Assessment Tool. (NOTE – WE NEED TO DESIGN THIS INTO A SURVEY BUT FOR NOW THIS WILL ASSIST WITH CONNECTING THE LOGISTICS OF HOW IT WORKS – ALL RED ITEMS NOTE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE REVIEWER AND WILL NOT BE INCLUDED IN THE FINAL VERSION)