Victorian 'Safe Communities' Information Kit

Section 7 - Planning interventions at the local level

Community-based injury prevention/safety promotion programs involves community members at both the individual and the organisational level. They can be broadly described as any project that seeks to work with a community (usually a local municipality) to identify injury problems and ways to address these problems. The interventions developed by community-based projects usually involve environmental, knowledge and behavioural change strategies covering a wide range of complementary interventions implemented in an integrated and coordinated manner.

The Greater Dandenong Community Safety Program is an example of a long-standing integrated approach to creating a safe, healthy and enjoyable environment for the City of Greater Dandenong through community partnerships. The City of Greater Dandenong, over the last five years, has lead the development of a number of community-based programs and implemented a succession of concentrated efforts to improve community safety for its residents and other people using services within the City.

In 1997, Greater Dandenong launched a community safety strategy and community safety action plan that provide a City-wide blueprint for planning, coordinating and integrating all community safety activities. The community safety strategy and plan are designed to maximise the impacts of existing efforts to improve community safety through coordination and integration by promoting a sustained, carefully orchestrated community wide campaign in which every citizen plays a part. To this end, the action plan outlines community safety responsibilities for all Council business units with links to the Corporate Plan, Community Charter and Municipal Public Health Plan.

The ‘Safe Communities’ approach assists communities to develop effective ways of reducing injuries and their form has differed according to the culture and nature of the community in each setting. There are many opportunities for individuals, community groups and local government to reduce and control injuries and promote community safety at the local level.

The major priority areas for injury prevention in Victoria are:

(Department of Health and Community Services: Taking Injury Prevention Forward-Strategic Directions For Victoria 1994)

Community concerns related to violence and crime include:

Information on suggestions and opportunities to prevent and reduce violence and crime and promote community safety at the local level can be obtained from the Victorian Community Council Against Violence, Level 6, 232 Victoria Parade East Melbourne 3002, on telephone number 03 9412 6639.

Injury Prevention - How to get started?

Sources of data

The following databases are held at Monash University Accident Research Centre.

Data on deaths – Victorian Coroners’ Facilitation System – all deaths notifiable to the coroner 1989-1995

Hospitals admissions data – Victorian Inpatient Morbidity Database 1987-98 covers all public hospital admissions in Victoria

Hospital emergency department presentations – Victorian Injury Surveillance System 1987-1995. A new state-wide system covering 25 Victorian public hospitals commenced in October 1995 - present

General Practitioner presentations – Extended Latrobe Valley Injury Surveillance (ELVIS) – collection from Latrobe Valley GP’s – 1 year of data 1994-95.

Other data sources

Department of Human Services – Health Facts 1998 ( www.dhs.vic.gov.au)

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare – health and welfare statistics ( www.aihw.gov.au)

Australian Institute of Criminology – includes statistics ( www.aic.gov.au)

Department of Justice – Victoria Police Crime statistics 1995-96, vehicle theft, road toll 1996, court and criminal sentencing statistics 1995 ( www.justice.vic.gov.au)

Opportunities for Local Government to reduce and control injuries at the local level

Children’s injuries

Burns and scalds

Drowning and immersion

Dog bites

Falls in and around the home

Falls in playgrounds

Falls among older people

Sports and recreation-related injury-   http://www.general.monash.edu.au/muarc

Transport–related injury    

http://www.tac.vic.gov.au     http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au

General

Further information

Publications of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Community Safety Promotion, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. http://www.ki.se/phs/wcc-csp/publications.html

Community Based Injury Prevention: A Practical Guide, National Safety Council of Australia, South Australian Division Limited 1992, Cowandilla, S.A. ISBN 0 909670 28 5

Creating Your Safe Community: Making your community the safety place to live, work and play in the world, Safe Communities Foundation, Toronto, Canada. http://www.safecommunities.ca/guide

Young, A. You Can Do It: A Community Guide for Injury Prevention, Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Centre 1993, Seattle, USA. Email: hiprc@u.washington.edu

Injury Prevention Resource Package, Health Department of Western Australia, Perth, W.A 1996. ISBN 0 7309 8236X http://www.health.wa.gov.au/healthv/summer97/injury.html Telephone: 08 9388 4802

Australian Injury Prevention Database contains health promotion programs for injury prevention in Australia, University of Queensland, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine http://www.spmed.uq.edu.au/aipd/progs0.asp