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Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory: Implementation approach for the Alcohol Management Plan (AMP) Community Fund The Australian Government is publishing this implementation plan because it is committed to working with Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, their representatives and leaders to effectively implement Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory measures.

Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory

In 2011, the Australian Government released the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory discussion paper and held meetings in over 100 communities and town camps to discuss with Aboriginal people new approaches and ideas for the future. Aboriginal people told the Government that they were concerned about the devastating effects alcohol abuse is having on families and wanted more help to tackle alcohol abuse. The Australian Government has made a 10 year commitment to work with Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory to build strong, independent lives, where communities, families and children are safe and healthy. Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory is a $3.4 billion investment and responds directly to what Aboriginal people told the Government is important to them.

The Australian Government will work with Aboriginal people in both large and small communities to support local jobs, tackle alcohol abuse and encourage children to go to school, as well as provide basic services, including health, education and police. The Australian Government will talk to Aboriginal people in each community about how best to deliver services under Stronger Futures, providing Aboriginal people with more responsibility for services within their own community.

The Australian Government will support Aboriginal organisations to deliver services under Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory and all services will be expected to employ Aboriginal people wherever possible.

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Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory tackling alcohol abuse measure

The Tackling Alcohol Abuse measure is one part of the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory approach to address the serious levels of social and economic disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. The Alcohol Management Plan Community Fund is one element of the Stronger Futures Tackling Alcohol Abuse measure.

What is the objective of this measure?

The objective of the Tackling Alcohol Abuse measure is stated in the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Act 2012 which commenced in July 2012.

The objective is “to enable special measures to be taken to reduce alcohol-related harm to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.” This is aimed at improving the safety of the most vulnerable individuals, families and communities, particularly women and children.

This objective is being pursued through an integrated package of initiatives aimed at addressing alcohol related harm through reducing the demand for alcohol and limiting and monitoring the supply of alcohol.

Why is this measure included in the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory package of measures?

People in the Northern Territory have consistently expressed concern, including during the three formal Australian Government consultations since 2008, about the devastating effects alcohol abuse is having on too many families. Alcohol abuse is a major contributing factor to the high levels of Aboriginal disadvantage, including low life expectancy, poor health, poor education and poor employment outcomes, especially in the Northern Territory. The evidence confirms that alcohol abuse contributes to a significant harm on people, families and communities.

The Stronger Futures tackling alcohol abuse legislative and funding measures respond to calls for alcohol restrictions to continue; more policing and stronger penalties for grog running; and support for people with drug and alcohol problems.

Key elements of the measure

The Stronger Futures Tackling Alcohol Abuse measure comprises a range of elements that are either legislatively based or are to be delivered as programs or services with funding provided by the Commonwealth.

The overarching strategy is to work with communities to help them to develop community driven approaches to better deal with alcohol abuse, particularly through the development of Alcohol Management Plans.

This is supported by legislative provisions that are aimed at stabilising the environment to give time for the longer term community driven approaches to be developed and implemented.

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The key elements of the Tackling Alcohol Abuse measure are:

• alcohol restrictions; • Alcohol Management Plans; • more services and support to help communities manage problem drinkers,

including alcohol and other drug treatment services in areas with local plans and local workers to provide care;

• assessment of licensed premises; • respectful alcohol and prohibited material restrictions signage; • licensing and compliance activity; • collection, analysis and reporting of alcohol related harm data; • a review of the Northern Territory Liquor Act and the Stronger Futures alcohol

provisions commencing in the second half of 2014.

Consultations on draft Alcohol Management Plan minimum standards were held in November and December 2012. These consultations focussed on the Northern Territory and included discussions with community members. In February 2013, Minister for Indigenous Affairs, the Hon Jenny Macklin MP, announced the five minimum standards for Alcohol Management Plans in the Northern Territory. These are now enacted in the form of a legislative instrument under the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Act 2012. Funding to support community members to participate in plans that reduce alcohol-related harm will be available. This draft implementation plan provides a further opportunity to comment and provide ideas and suggestions on the implementation of the Alcohol Management Plan Community Fund.

As this implementation plan is concerned with the Alcohol Management Plan Community Fund, the focus is on Alcohol Management Plans and the reduction of alcohol related harm.

Alcohol Management Plans

What are alcohol management plans?

Alcohol management plans are intended to enable local people to have more say in how to control alcohol in their communities, through strategies to reduce the supply of, and demand for, alcohol. The ultimate aim is to reduce the level of alcohol-related harm, and provide greater protection for those who are most vulnerable, particularly women and children, and provide help for people with alcohol problems.

Alcohol management plans are voluntary – communities are not required to make them. It is a community choice.

An alcohol management plan is an agreement across a particular community or region to tackle the harm caused by alcohol abuse in a way that works for the community or group of communities. It must have a strong focus on reducing alcohol-related harm and improving community safety, particularly for women and children. It will help the community work together to find ways to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed, help problem drinkers to change their behaviour and minimise the harm caused by alcohol abuse in the community.

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Even if a community is dry, an alcohol management plan can help to identify support needs for vulnerable women and children and people with alcohol problems. This might include activities such as improving levels of participation in rehabilitation services for people returning to their community to stop drinking, or education about the harm that drinking has on young people’s health.

Alcohol management plan legislative provisions

The legislative provisions relating to alcohol management plans are set out in the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Act 2012.

To help ensure that alcohol management plans are of a high quality and strongly focused on reducing alcohol-related harm, the legislation provides that all alcohol management plans must meet stringent new minimum standards.

The Commonwealth Minister for Indigenous Affairs has the authority to approve an alcohol management plan if it meets the minimum standards. There are five minimum standards and these are designed to ensure that alcohol management plans are directed at the reduction of alcohol related harm.

Alcohol management plans are intended to work within, and do not automatically replace, existing alcohol restrictions in communities. Any proposals for lifting or reducing alcohol restrictions will be considered separately from the processes for development and approval of alcohol management plans.

Funding and governance arrangements

The Australian Government has allocated $23.6 million over eight years in the Alcohol Management Plan Community Fund for community based projects to support harm reduction and supply and demand reduction strategies as part of an alcohol management plan, and for governance and leadership support for people involved in alcohol management planning.

Table 1 below sets out the proposed funding, at the time of preparing this draft plan, across the eight years

Table 1: Alcohol Management Plan Community Fund

Year 2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

Total

Australian Government Funding ($m rounded)

0 2.5 4.7 3.8 3.6 3.7 3.7 1.7 0 0 23.6

Note: The figures above are subject to rounding

This grant funding is for the delivery of local activities and services specific to a community’s circumstances, and can only be accessed to complement the development and implementation of an alcohol management plan. Types of activities funded may, for example, include community development and governance capacity building, support for greater uptake and participation in alcohol rehabilitiation and treatment services and assessment services, health promotion and anti-violence

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education, referral and resource development, and early intervention, harm reduction and prevention activities.

The identification of suitable activities for this grant funding will arise during the alcohol management plan development and implementation phases and in the support processes between Government and the community. These activities will be varied and will:

• be community endorsed and driven, and support the community by providing for local solutions as part of the alcohol management plan development and implementation process;

• contribute to the safety of and provide support for vulnerable women and children and people with alcohol problems; and

• assist in the development of strategies for reducing alcohol related harm including reducing alcohol supply and demand in communities.

Further details on eligibility for this funding and the activities on which it can be spent are available in the program guidelines which will be published on this website shortly.

Expected outputs and outcomes Outputs The expected output is communities that are better supported to develop their own solutions to alcohol-related harm in their local area. It is expected the funding from the Alcohol Management Plan Community Fund would assist in achieving better community engagement and greater community capacity in the development of an alcohol management plan and the resourcing of strategies contained in alcohol management plans to reduce alcohol related harm locally.

Outcomes The expected outcome of the funding is alcohol management plans that include robust and effective approaches that have been identified and committed to by communities and key stakeholders to reduce alcohol-related harm locally. How will it be implemented? Community members will be supported to develop alcohol management plans by trained government workers who will also use the expertise of local service providers and health and education professionals in identifying services and programs that could support alcohol management plans. To assist communities develop alcohol management plans that are effective in addressing alcohol related harm, the minimum standards are being accompanied by a set of guidelines and tools such as checklists and templates to use when developing a plan to make sure the plans cover:

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• who is involved in developing and managing the plan; • how the plan will address alcohol-related issues in the community; • roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders; • how the plan will be reviewed; and • the geographic area that is covered by the plan.

Stronger Futures Commitment to Aboriginal Service Providers and Aboriginal Employment Under Stronger Futures, the Australian Government is strongly committed to developing the capacity of Indigenous service delivery organisations and increasing employment opportunities for Aboriginal people. Aboriginal employment targets are being set for all Stronger Futures measures to encourage service providers to invest in employing Aboriginal staff and developing their skills. Our approach to increasing Aboriginal employment through this measure is to look for opportunities in funded projects that provide employment for Aboriginal people. We will also be encouraging larger service provider organisations which receive funding through this measure and that do not have an Aboriginal employment strategy in place to consider developing a Reconciliation Action Plan as a first step towards employing Aboriginal staff. Tackling alcohol abuse – a shared responsibility of governments

The Commonwealth and Northern Territory Governments share the responsibility for dealing with the damaging impact of alcohol abuse on Aboriginal people and communities in the Northern Territory, working closely with Aboriginal people.

The Northern Territory Government has statutory responsibility for alcohol regulation and licensing arrangements, as do other state/territory jurisdictions within their borders. This includes responsibility for the administration and enforcement of the Northern Territory Liquor Act.

The Commonwealth assumes a strong leadership role in the development and implementation of strategies to close the gap on Indigenous disadvantage.

In recognition of the significant level of Indigenous disadvantage in the Northern Territory, the Commonwealth has committed to provide long-term funding through the Stronger Futures package complemented by legislation to work alongside and support the Northern Territory Government in meeting its responsibilities.

The long term funding is delivered through the National Partnership Agreement on Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory and the Tackling Alcohol Abuse Implementation Plan under the National Partnership Agreement. Links to other programs The Australian Government’s position regarding alcohol management is clear -approaches to alcohol management must focus on reducing harm and protecting vulnerable people, particularly women and children, from the devastating effects of alcohol. Under the Community Safety and Justice Implementation Plan under the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory National Partnership Agreement, the

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Australian Government is continuing funding for sixty additional police officers in remote areas for a further ten years. Under the Health Implementation Plan under the National Partnership Agreement, additional support is being provided for rehabilitation and treatment of people with alcohol and drug problems. Funding is also being provided to maintain community night patrols across eighty communities. The Australian Government is encouraging jurisdictions outside the Northern Territory to adopt the minimum standards in relation to alcohol management activities in Aboriginal communities. Evaluation, monitoring and review The Stronger Futures Evaluation Framework provides the broad conceptual framework for the evaluation of the National Partnership Agreement on Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory (Stronger Futures) and associated Implementation Plans. The framework provides guiding principles to ensure that evaluation is of high quality but flexible and improves ongoing system and program understanding and management for government, participants and stakeholders. The framework supports a co-operative, harmonised and transparent approach with evaluation as a partnership, including Indigenous communities as participants and collaborators in the evaluation process.

As outlined in the Stronger Futures Evaluation Framework, the government will publish six monthly public reports on progress in implementing the package. Implementation of the Alcohol Management Plan Community Fund will be reported in the six monthly Stronger Futures Progress Report.

The Stronger Futures legislation requires that the Tackling Alcohol Abuse provisions, which include the alcohol management plans provisions, be reviewed in 2014. The Alcohol Management Plan Community Fund will be part of this review.

Other evaluation of the Alcohol Management Plan Community Fund will be part of the evaluation of the Tackling Alcohol Abuse Implementation Plan, by the Implementation Plan owners, prior to the Stronger Futures mid-term evaluation in 2016-17 and the Stronger Futures outcome evaluation in 2019-20.

Lead agency

The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs is the lead agency for the implementation of this measure.

Contact and questions If you have any comments or questions please email: SFNTalcoholmanagementplanfund@fahcsia.gov.au or phone 02 6146 3600.