Victorian Research

The Australian Drug Foundation has been working in the sports setting since 1996. Good Sports is a researched based initiative that delivers a range of benefits to the community. The following research projects underpinned the development of the program.

1997 Sporting Clubs Alcohol Project
This paper details the work conducted by the Australian Drug Foundation to assist eight community-based sporting clubs to adopt responsible alcohol-related practices. Findings from this research show clubs require resources to address the responsible management of alcohol. As a result, in 1999, the 'Staying Fit & Surviving' kit was developed. The focus was on information and practical strategies to assist clubs develop a policy that reflects a responsible attitude towards alcohol.

See link below to view the report:
The Sporting Clubs' Alcohol Project: 'Creating a New Culture'

1999 Gippsland Football Leagues Project
The Gippsland Football Leagues project aimed to ensure that four football leagues developed responsible alcohol management policies. One winter season was insufficient time for leagues to complete policy development. However, each league reviewed their alcohol management practices. Key findings were:

Major sports bodies can influence affiliated clubs to responsibly manage alcohol.
Developing and implementing a league alcohol management policy is a task that can be undertaken successfully only after a revision of league practices.
There is great deal of community support for this work.

See link below to view the:
Gippsland Football Leagues' Alcohol Project Report

1999 Alcohol Use in Metropolitan Sporting Clubs
This survey was conducted to identify attitudes and concerns relating to alcohol consumption in sporting club settings, and to gauge actual levels of alcohol consumption in the clubs. The survey was conducted in seventy-three clubs of a metropolitan Melbourne football league.

The 2000 Metropolitan Football League Survey
The findings of the Alcohol Use in Metropolitan Sporting Clubs project (1999) raised a number of questions about the situation in metropolitan amateur sporting clubs. In 2000, the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences at Deakin University, approached a metropolitan football league to develop and implement the research methodology.

See link below to view the:
2000 Metropolitan Football League Survey

2000 Pilot
During 2000 the Australian Drug Foundation conducted a pilot project to trial a club accreditation program across four rural regions in Victoria . This gave participating clubs a mechanism for monitoring their policies and practices against three levels of accreditation. Twenty-four rural football/netball clubs participated in the project, which ran for nine months. Baseline data was gathered regarding club demographics, alcohol policies and management practices. In the intervention phase, two project workers liaised with club and league representatives to provide resources and advice that would help them satisfy the accreditation criteria.

See link below to view the:
2000 Pilot Evaluation Report

2002 The Culture of Alcohol use in Victorian Sporting Clubs: an examination of consumption levels, attitudes and club policies
This research project was conducted by the Centre for Youth Drug Studies. Surveys were distributed to community cricket, lawn bowls and golf clubs to identify attitudes and concerns relating to alcohol consumption, and to gauge actual levels of alcohol consumption within these clubs. Research was completed in the second half of 2002 and was funded by Victorian Traffic Accident Commission (TAC).

See link below to view the report:
The Culture of Alcohol Use in Victorian Sporting Clubs

Victorian Program Evaluations

2001 Good Sports Program Evaluation

Following the launch of Good Sports in March 2001, additional monitoring was completed with thirteen of the original twenty four rural football/netball clubs in Victoria who trialed the program during 2000. The Community Partners, whose role it is to support community clubs implement the program, were also evaluated.
Download the 2001 report [PDF: 224 KB]

2002 Good Sports Program Evaluation

'The Club's Just a Better Place to Be': an evaluation of the Good Sports Accreditation Program in Victoria.
Download the 2002 report [PDF: 302 KB]

2003 Good Sports Program Evaluation

An independent evaluation of the Good Sports Program was funded by the Alcohol Education & Rehabilitation Foundation (AERF) and conducted by the Australian Institute for Primary Care at LaTrobe University. Recommendations prompted the AERF to fund the national roll out of the program in 2004.
Download the 2003 report [PDF: 827 KB]