Drugs and Community Action Strategy Information

Information about the Drugs and Community Action Strategy and the role of Community Drug Action Teams.

• What is the Drugs and Community Action Strategy?
• What is a Community Drug Action Team?
• What does a Community Drug Action Team do?
• Examples of Community Drug Action Team projects
• The benefits of being part of the Community Drug Action Team network

What is the Drugs and Community Action Strategy?

The Drugs and Community Action Strategy (DCAS) is part of the NSW Government Plan of Action, arising from the 1999 NSW Drug Summit.

The Government is helping to respond to problems associated with the misuse of alcohol and the illegal use of drugs in local communities.

Project Officers have been employed across the State to support the Strategy. Project Officers work with each community to identify drug-related concerns and help improve the way everyone responds to them. As part of this work, they help local people establish Community Drug Action Teams.

In August 2005, management of the program was moved from NSW Premier’s Department to NSW Health.

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What is a Community Drug Action Team?

A Community Drug Action Team (CDAT) is a group of people working together to take action on drugrelated concerns in their community.

Teams usually include community members, local residents, government agency representatives, local government and local non-government organisations.

There are currently 75 CDATs across NSW.

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What does a Community Drug Action Team do?

• identify drug-related problems in their local community
• identify gaps or potential overlaps in local services which work on drug-related issues
• work with organisations and other community members to meet community needs
• develop a Local Drug Action Plan describing how to take action on local drug-related issues.

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Examples of Community Drug Action Team projects

CDATs have run hundreds of local projects since 2000.

• Local information and promotional materials including:
  • flyers listing drug and alcohol services in the area
  • 'drug action' columns in the local newspaper
  • newsletters about the CDAT’s work
  • contributions to Drug Action(the Statewide newsletter) or to the Drugs and Community Action Strategy website
  • translations of drug and alcohol information into different languages.
• Community events and activities, such as:
  • alcohol and drug-free events for young people
  • local media launches on CDAT projects
  • community events to promote local drug treatment services
  • community meetings on key issues of concern, to drive and inform the activities of the CDAT
  • local training programs on drug and alcohol issues for organisations in the area.
• Supporting better service delivery through:
  • developing processes to assist the referral of people between local organisations and available services
  • research into local issues and checking trends relevant to drug and alcohol issues.

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The benefits of being part of the Community Drug Action Team network

CDATs provide an opportunity to do something positive about drug problems in your community. Many teams may wish to gain formal recognition - 'endorsement’ - from the NSW Government.

Becoming a member of an ‘endorsed’ CDAT has several benefits, which include:

• joining a Statewide network of teams taking action on drug-related issues and problems
• building links with others to share ideas and solutions in your region
• the opportunity to contribute to local, regional and Statewide action on drugs
• formal recognition as part of the Drugs and Community Action Strategy
• expertise and support from your Project Officer
• linking with other related activities
• access to small amounts of funding through the Drugs and Community Action Strategy Special Fund
• access to training and communication resources.

There are a number of information resources available to help CDATs, including:

• a website which provides on-line information on drugs and community action
• resources to assist CDATs to address local drug issues
• Drug Action, newsletter specifically for CDATs
• a range of information sheets.

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For further information

Contact	:	Assistant Project Officer
Phone	:	02 9424 5946
Fax	:	02 9424 5757