Talking Point is a regular series of publicly available lectures that aim to inspire, inform and challenge our notions of what we know about addiction and its impact across society. Health and social sector professionals and the general public are all welcome to attend.

Can we really change behaviour at a population level?

The Communities that Care approach to preventing and reducing drug and alcohol-related behaviour in Australia, presented by Dr Bosco Rowland.

Originating in the US, Communities that Care is a public health prevention framework that has been operating in Australia for 25 years. Over 30 Local Government Areas have used the framework to reduce alcohol consumption, injuries and crime. In the US it has been used to also reduce smoking, cannabis and depression.

An Australian cost benefit analysis has shown that using the CTC approach to adolescent alcohol consumption has a return of investment of $2.60. This presentation will outline the Communities that Care model and how communities can use the model. It will also present findings from the National Australian Cluster Randomised Control Trial, and other national and international longitudinal evidence.

Dr Rowland is a Statistician and Senior Research Fellow with the Eastern Health Clinical School, at Monash University.

His research, teaching, leadership and service focuses on developing and testing social behavioural principles on real world public health problems. In particular, he examines behaviours associated with health, social and emotional development and the role of risk and protective factors, nationally and cross-nationally (Australia, India, USA, Netherlands and across the Asia Pacific).

Date: Wednesday 27th August 2025

Venue: Online

Time: 1pm to 2pm AEST

Cost: Free

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