Youth Access to Alcohol: Early Findings From a Community Action Project to Reduce the Supply of Alcohol to Teens

Abstract

The Youth Access to Alcohol (YATA) project was implemented in 2002 by the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand (ALAC) in thirty communities in New Zealand, with the aim of reducing the harm experienced by young people as a result of alcohol misuse in New Zealand through reducing the supply of alcohol by adults to young people. The communities include a mix of rural and urban from both Islands in New Zealand.

The project uses a community action approach, which has included setting up collaborative partnerships of key agencies, the delivery of key strategies, and multimedia awareness raising campaigns. The communities are encouraged to identify unique issues in their community regarding alcohol abuse and young people and to develop action plans incorporating a range of strategies that include tested strategies as well as innovative ideas. Communities are trained to implement several tools to monitor changes in their community over time. The study's limitations are noted and future needed research is suggested.

Keywords:

• at-risk
• community action
• collaborative partnerships
• harmful drinking
• hazardous drinking
• risky drinking
• monitoring

Notes

Notes

1. For this project ALAC defined community as either a local area or district within defined boundaries or a group of people with a common sense of identity or interest, such as an iwi (tribal affiliation of New Zealand Maori people). In either case, the people in the community have an affinity to that area, a sense of community.

2. Whanau is a Maori word for family, including extended family grouping.

3. Rangitahi is the New Zealand Maori word for young people.