Communities around Australia are springing into action with the aim of tackling drug use by young people. The National Drug Research Institute has been appointed to evaluate the scores of new community projects that are taking place across the country as part of the Commonwealth Government's Community Partnerships Initiative, aimed at mobilising communities into helping prevent and reduce illicit drug use by young people. Associate Professor Wendy Loxley, deputy director of the National Drug Research Institute, said that thorough evaluation of the Initiative is needed to establish what strategies work best in the community, and the circumstances in which they work. Our research will identify areas of best practice so that the most effective and appropriate methods can be adopted in the future. The heart of the Community Partnerships Initiative is the funding of community-based projects, through the Prime Minister's Tough on Drugs strategy.
Funding is provided on a one-off basis for a period of up to two years.
Projects include community development, training schemes, peer education programs, information dissemination and resource production initiatives, drawn from rural and remote, regional, metropolitan and suburban settings. The following are just a few examples of the wide range of CPI projects. This project trained 37 young people as drug and alcohol peer educators, who then attended music venues and youth events to talk to their peers and pass on information about the risks and dangers of drug use during casual conversations. The DSP has gone on to be funded by the local community and councils, and continues to grow, demonstrating the degree of ownership which young people in the area have of the project and the extent to which it is supported. The North Richmond Community Health Centre, based at an inner-city housing estate in Melbourne, has received second round funding for the 'Youth Hype' project.