The Dalgarno Institute is one of the longest standing Not-for-Profit community-based, public interest, health education charities in Australia. Demand Reduction, Primary Prevention & Recovery Alumni are our Focus

As an Alcohol & Other Drug (AOD) Education – Advocacy and Resourcing Coalition, we are consistently working to make our communities and their families, safer, healthier, stronger, and subsequentially more resilient.

“Resilient communities don’t use drugs – Resilient families don’t want them!”
Dalgarno Institute


People power remains one of the greatest forces for change, even in our incredibly manipulated market driven culture. Yes, it's true that social media can and does sway the public perception, but it is people, good people, that care enough to put themselves 'out there' that make real a difference community life. One reason is that they realize for humanity to thrive, it needs support, education and understanding in making best-practice decisions on health and wellbeing.


The Dalgarno institute is made up of just such people.

Over the past 150 years and beyond, the Institute and its heritage have seen the collaboration of individuals, local government, community groups, service clubs, as well as religious and non-religious associations, come together to make our nation a stronger, safer, and healthier place. That committment and action continues today.

The Alt Tag

The Fence or the Ambulance is a poem written nearly a century ago, but one we felt summed up much of, not only community perspectives/debate, but encapsulated the posture we as an organisation/movement have. Prevention is always – always, better than cure. Whilst there are many who side with the, sadly, necessary ‘Ambulance’ cohort, there were fewer and fewer people building or repairing the proactive and preventative fences of protection at the ‘cliffs edge’. Better Prevention, less ambulances. Better Demand Reduction, less trauma. Better Protections, healthier and safer families and communities.

No Brainer is the Dalgarno Institutes community and school education resource site. It hosts and promotes most completely our education offerings, including a) School Incursions b) Community and Parent Seminars/Webinars c) Sporting Club Seminar/Webinars and d) Parent education. We have our own evidence based curriculum for secondary and tertiary students, coaching resources for teens and other community resilience building, Alcohol and Other Drug Education resources.

The Alt Tag

World Resiliency Day was founded by the Dalgarno Institute in partnership with national and international Demand Reduction and Prevention focused agencies. The intent of this platform is to further promote one of the key protective factors in denying and/or delaying uptake of Alcohol & Other Drugs (AOD) – Individual and community resilience building. Yes, we must (and will continue to) call out the harms of substance use, particularly for our children, but it is as imperative to promote proactive and preventative mechanisms that build strong and resilient emerging citizens. The platform is dedicated to this. The World Resiliency Day/Week is held on 26th - 30th of June each year.

“Resilient communities don’t use drugs – Resilient families don’t want them.” (Dalgarno Institute)

The Alt Tag
The Alt Tag

Welcome to the Unnecessary Harm Podcast. A powerful and provocative advocacy platform dedicated to shedding light on the culturally disturbing issues of alcohol and other drug use and policy, and its impact on communities and families. In collaboration with the esteemed Dalgarno Institute and influential podcast hosts, we bring you insightful discussions, impactful stories, and valuable insights aimed at reducing unnecessary harm caused by substance abuse.

Click here to watch video

The Alt Tag

People Against Drink Driving was started in Australia over 40 years ago with a key architect being Australian artist Donald Cameron. The group were for a long time a lone voice in the public space against drink driving but persisted. One great achievement over the decades was this community activist group being the main protagonists for introducing B.A.C Breathalyzer legislation (Blood Alcohol Content). In early 2011 the group came under the umbrella of the Dalgarno Institute with many adherents becoming life members of our movement. With the growing liberal attitudes for drug use and in many instances, now eclipsing alcohol in intoxicated driving, we added ‘Drug’ to the platforms brief.

Isabella’s List is an initiative of the Dalgarno Institute aimed at promoting the message of ‘prevention for life’. The list whilst focusing on the traditional gatekeepers of family health and safety, mums and women, it also relates to anyone who cares for the wellbeing of families, youth and children in our community. Being part of Isabella’s list means you are part of a proactive and preventative option for the emerging community.
As part of Isabella’s List we have initiated our Community Care and Responsibility Awards were set up by Dalgarno Institute to recognize the efforts of individuals and groups in the community that provide proactive and preventative alternatives to the cultural re-enforcers of both consumption and excess around both alcohol and other drug issues.

The Alt Tag
The Alt Tag

We have been fed, ad nauseum, for about 5 years now, that Cannabis is just a plant and relatively harmless, right? If you say it loud and long enough, you might believe it? We were told by the consensus manufacturing #420 activists and their propogandist promotors, the evidence ignoring media, that if we legalize this stuff ALL will be well – on every front! No more crime! Health will increase! Taxes and surplus revenue will be raised, well, so the cornucopian pronouncements went. Well, a chaotic conundrum has inevitably arisen. All promises have not only failed, but greater harms are being done to even more or our community and this is just part of that list of harms!

It is utterly mind-blowing that people have no idea that Cannabis has been part of the medical prescription landscape for over 20 years. That’s right T. G. A (Therapeutic Goods Administration) trialled and approved cannabis based medicines have been available as an option to alleviate, if only in small ways, some of the symptoms of a couple of diseases or help will recovery from treatment. However, the claims of this plant being a ‘miracle cure’ for just about everything, have existed for of 100 years… yet in no credible and advanced research has any of the properties of the Cannabis plant ‘cured’ anything, ever! This is a great place to start to get the facts….

The Alt Tag
The Alt Tag

If you were to read three evidence-based scientifically published journal articles and research on the inherent social, community, mental, environment, health and productivity harms of Cannabis every single day for 10 years, you still would not have read 25% of the current research!
So, get started, so you can make informed decisions about you and your family health and well-being.

This campaign and subsequent resource was launched in 2011 with our Television advertisement – ‘The Younger They Start – The Greater the Risk’. This was an era of accelerating youth use, alcopops and parentally ‘supervised’ drinking. The Dalgarno Institute successfully launched this in house production through Southern Cross Media, throughout Country Victoria. The web-platform was the accompanying ‘touchstone’ for parents and teens on safer and healthier engagement with alcohol.

The Alt Tag
The Alt Tag

Up until 1973, Australia had a Minimum Legal Drinking Age of 21. Because of the Vietnam war, it was argued that if someone was old enough to go to war, they were old enough to drink. Now, under an ‘ocker’ drink culture mindset, that may make some strange sense, but when one actually dissects that logic, all sorts of issues and concerns both arise and left un-addressed. Ah, but such is the power of ‘memes’ (made even more potent by social media manipulation) The campaign, as we understand it, started in about 1969 and South Australia was the last state to drop the age. It has not gone well for us as a culture, not least our youth.  In the United States, in most states you have to 21 to drink and that was essentially (if not introduced) enshrined in the 1980’s – The result was a stark difference in reducing the harms, that we Aussies had unwittingly unleased. The science now tells us that the delaying of alcohol use (or any other drug) to 21 is a very good start – 18 is too young. In the late 1980’s our movement initiated the 21 Be There campaign. It got no traction. However, when we re-ignited it in 2012, things were different. It culminated in a National Summit at Parliament House Canberra, received nationwide all medium coverage and saw a national poll saying that 50 percent of Australians thought raising the MLDA to 21 was a good more. Alas political will did not match and the target of raising the age did not happen. However – This campaign acted as a lightning rod for other alcohol change measures and we saw aggressive changes in alcohol and the young begin. The science is still there, the measure still valid and the campaign still continues.

Search The Site