The Local Drug Action Teams (LDATs) support local organisations to build or extend partnerships in their community, and use its knowledge to deliver evidence-informed alcohol and other drug harm prevention projects, that are tailored to the needs of their area. 

Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall said the LDATs would be located in Moree, Inverell, Armidale, Tenterfield, with a fifth believed to be earmarked for Glen Innes. 

“That gives us great coverage of the region,” Mr Marshall said.

“You only need to talk to local police in the region to hear that drug and alcohol addiction, particular in young people, is a massive problem in a lot regional communities.”

A number of local organisations will be “backed by significant funding”, with each team receiving an initial $10,000 from the federal government.

“If they come up with a good local innovative, they have resources to fund that project,” Mr Marshall said.

Mr Marshall said locally-led initiatives were always more successful than those forced upon communities from high above.

“Rather than centralised agencies trying to apply what worked somewhere else to one of our communities, we have local solutions for local problems,” he said.

“When a community is involved in creating a solution, they have ownership over it. They believe in it and fight for it, which are the keys to success in my view.”

The lead organisations for the region’s new LDATs in tare Centacare NENW, NSW Police Force, Armajun Aboriginal Health Service, Moree Plains Shire Council and Tenterfield Social Development Committee. The number of LDATs across Australia has now more than doubled, with 92 new community partnerships joining 80 existing LDATs.