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New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/community-organisations-respond-to-nsw-drug-summit-report/

Community organisations respond to NSW Drug Summit Report

Australia’s largest LGBTQ+ health organisation, ACON, has responded to the release of the recommendations from the NSW Drug Summit with a joint statement along with the Network of Alcohol and Other Drugs Agencies (NADA) and the National Users and AIDS Association (NUAA).

“We, as organisations and leaders in alcohol and other drug (AOD) services and supporting communities, call on the NSW Government to implement the report’s recommendations in full,” the three community health groups say.

“This is a critical opportunity to deliver real, evidence-based reform in partnership with people with lived and living experience, the health sector, and affected communities.”

Groups call on a dedicated Taskforce to rollout recommendations

The three organisations have urged the NSW Government to create a Taskforce dedicated to overseeing the rollout of the Drug Summit recommendations.

“This Taskforce must include representatives of people with lived and living experiences of drug use and other affected communities, health professionals, and justice and social services,” they said.

“The findings of the 2024 NSW Drug Summit Report underscore the urgent need for a comprehensive and coordinated response to drug-related harms. The report highlights the need for a whole-of-government strategy, increased investment in AOD services, enhanced harm reduction measures, and systemic reforms in policing and the justice system.

“It also reinforces the critical role of community-led and culturally appropriate solutions, particularly for Aboriginal communities, young people, and other priority populations. The report makes clear that achieving meaningful change requires a shift towards a health-focused approach, informed by the voices of those with lived and living experiences.

“As Summit participants and AOD sector leaders, we strongly endorse these recommendations and call for their immediate implementation.”

Drug reform needs a “health-first” approach 

ACON CEO Michael Woodhouse added that the Drug Summit Report reinforced the “urgent need for a health-first approach, including for LGBTQ+ communities.”

“The successful response to HIV in New South Wales shows us that a strong partnership between people with lived and living experience, government and community services providers is an effective to make progress on complex challenges,” Woodhouse said.

Recommendations that the groups singled out for urgency by the NSW Government include:

implementing a 10-year whole-of-government AOD strategy,

expansion of AOD services,

Aboriginal-led solutions,

strengthening peer workforces,

scaling up harm reduction initiatives,

criminal justice diversion and policing reform,

housing and social support,

youth and family support, and

addressing stigma and discrimination.

“The NSW Government cannot achieve these necessary reforms alone,” the three groups say.

“A truly effective response must be built on collaboration between government, non-government organisations, researchers, and the broader community. The evidence is clear: a harm minimisation approach saves lives, reduces the burden on the justice system, and improves health and social outcomes. Now is the time to act.

  Recommendations in NSW Drug Summit report includes need for intersectionality

The NSW Drug Summit Report recommends that the NSW Government engages with “culturally diverse communities and their leaders”. It must do this “to better understand how to use evidence-based treatments to reduce drug-related harms in their communities and enhance community awareness and acceptability of drug use as a health issue.”

It also recommends “specific and inclusive program delivery and service access to meet the unique needs of diverse communities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+), culturally and linguistically diverse and Aboriginal communities.”

Other recommendations in the report include:

Reducing the period for a conviction of drug use or possession to be considered spent from ten down to five years for adults, and from three years to one year for juveniles, where the offences are considered minor.

The NSW Parliament legislates a medical defence for people who are using medically prescribed cannabis while driving.

The immediate implementation of a pilot of drug-checking services at music festivals which would include a police exclusion zone and which could pave the way for permanent drug checking services for NSW.

The use of drug detection dogs and strip searches to be suspended during the trial of drug checking services at music festivals.

Remove the legislative restriction on more than one medically supervised injection centre operating in NSW.

For “comprehensive harm-reduction training for NSW Police officers and other relevant first responders and [to] equip them with naloxone to respond to opioid overdoses.”

The NSW Government had ruled out the decriminalisation of cannabis or any other drug before the start of the Drug Summit.