Communities That Care (CTC) is an innovative training and consulting program that helps communities target risk and protective factors by developing evidence-based prevention programs tailored to local conditions. The program has been based mainly on United States research and initially aimed at substance abuse prevention. This paper describes recent experience at the Centre for Adolescent Health in Victoria relevant to the Australian implementation and evaluation of the CTC program. It describes stages in the CTC approach and considers evidence for a practical fit in the Australian context. The paper concludes that the Victorian experience with the CTC youth assessment instrument supports the relevance of the instrument in Australia. However, implementation of the CTC program in Australia will need to take a long-term view and place a heavy emphasis on assisting communities to engage in service innovation and evaluation. The CTC program cannot succeed in Australia unless it firmly engages the commitment to social justice, and community participation articulated by advocates of the new public health. Tables, figures, references