Exploring law enforcement and public health as a collective impact initiative: lessons learned from Tasmania as a case study

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential benefits as well as some of the practical barriers to the implementation of a collective impact initiative in law enforcement and public health (LEPH) in Tasmania, Australia.

Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a review of programs, agencies and initiatives that are at the intersection of law enforcement and public health in Tasmania, through (i) an analysis of the findings in evaluation reports, and (ii) the views of practitioners identified at a workshop on LEPH held at a national AOD conference and facilitated by the authors.

Findings: The strengths of collective impact initiatives, particularly in law enforcement and public health, are presented and some weaknesses identified. Some major obstacles to the consolidation of law enforcement and public health initiatives include siloed ways of working and budgets, lack of leadership and political will. Some progress has been made in addressing these weaknesses, although addressing complex social problems by moving beyond inter-agency collaboration towards an integrated model of service provision remains challenging.

Practical implications: There are practical benefits to the adoption of a collective impact model to address problems in Tasmania that lie at the nexus between law enforcement and public health. In reviewing existing collaborations, we demonstrate the value of a structural mapping process to identify ways forward for government and non-government agencies that are inclined to go further in merging the two disciplinary areas. We offer some suggestions with respect to identifying the preconditions for a collective impact model and how to build on these to initiate action.

Originality/value: A significant proportion of the literature on law enforcement and public health remains at a conceptual and theoretical level. This contribution highlights some practical issues while looking at existing examples of collaboration across law enforcement and public health at a state level in Australia, and starts mapping a way forward for constructing more integrative LEPH initiatives.