Launch of the YDHF Position Paper
Held Tuesday 22nd June 2010
Abbotsford Convent, St Heliers Street, Abbotsford
Launched by:
Professor David Penington AC
Senior Fellow of the Grattan Institute – Melbourne University and past Chair
of the State Government’s Drug Advisory Council 1995 – 1996.That Council
produced the Report “Drugs in our Community” otherwise known as the
Penington Report. Dr Penington was also Chair of the State Government's
Drug Policy Expert Committee 1999 – 2000, which produced the report
“Drugs: Responding to the Issues Engaging the Community”.
Chair:
Sam Biondo - Executive Officer, Victorian Drug and Alcohol Association (VAADA)
Commentators:
Professor Robert Power, Burnet Institute, one of the authors of the report. Robert has worked for 25 years in harm reduction, setting up London's first peer-to-peer outreach project in 1988, and was formerly Director of the Centre for Harm Reduction in Melbourne.
Dr James Rowe, Research Fellow with the Centre for Applied Social Research and a Lecturer at RMIT, School of Global Studies, Social Science & Planning. James used to be a regular injector of heroin.
In September 2008, the YDHF conducted a Community Forum about the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in Kings Cross, Sydney. That forum discussed the success of the facility in improving the amenity of the general public (including shop keepers) by removing injecting off the streets, in assisting to reduce the rate of drug overdoses and blood-borne viruses amongst injecting drug users, and in providing a venue where injecting drug users could gain support and information to move into a detox program.
As a result of that forum, a working group was established to investigate the possibility of establishing a Supervised Injecting Facility (SIF) in Melbourne. At the same time, anecdotal evidence from tenants attending Office of Housing Safety Working Group meetings kept raising the question of “why can’t there be a place where people can inject that isn’t in the open around the flats?”
As a first step it was felt by the YDHF Working Group that a Position Paper needed to be prepared to look into the potential and viability of establishing a SIF, whether it be static or mobile or a mixture of both.
In June 2009, the Burnet Institute was commissioned to write the Position Paper which was completed in October 2009 and was launched at this Community Forum.
Held Tuesday 23rd March 2010 at the Fitzroy Town Hall Reading Room.
Oration presented by Professor Robin Room.
This Community Forum was on Tuesday 23rd June (as a part of Drug Action Week 2009) at the Richmond Town Hall,
Below are the Presentations from the YDHF Community Forum.
Unfortunately we do not have a copy of Donna King’s presentation.
Not all of the “Hit and Miss” presentation is included because the project is not yet completed and so the interim
facts presented are currently not for publication.
Below is the Link to the additional video presentation
that Jenny incorporated into her presentation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do-RCrOrkpY
Date: Tuesday, 3rd March 2009
This Community Forum had two parts to it. The first part of the forum was a Power Point presentation by Georgie Hill outlining the background and research that took place in the City of Maribyrnong prior to the development of their Public Drinking Strategy 2008-2011 and the implementation of that strategy. The second part of the forum were presentations by Meghan Fitzgerald and Dean McWhirter addressing the question 'What role would a Local Law and a Public Drinking Strategy play in addressing the ‘Drinking of Alcohol in a Public Place’ in the City of Yarra?'
Guest Speakers:
Date: Wednesday 3rd December 2008
The Bill raises a lot of questions about the practice of AOD Services and the possible consequences for clients e.g. is it discriminatory under the Bill if a parent can't take their children with them into rehab.
Speaker: Moira Rayner is best known in Victoria as its last Commissioner for Equal Opportunity. She has also been the Acting Deputy Director (Research) of the Australian Institute of Family Studies; and a Hearings Commissioner of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
Date: Tuesday, 16th September 2008
The Purpose of the Community Forum was to listen to the speakers who provided us with first hand information about the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in Kings Cross, their involvement in the Centre and the impact the Centre has had on the community of Kings Cross and the wider metropolitan area.
The centre was originally funded by the NSW Department of Health in 2001 as the first and only medically supervised safe injecting centre in Australia. In June 2007 it was again funded for a further 4 years.