Media release

National Council contributes $70,000 to rural and regional AOD workforce development

The Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) today awarded grants to 23 rural and regional alcohol and other drug (AOD) workers across the country to enable them to undertake a range of workforce development activities.

Commenting on the $70,000 initiative the ANCD’s Co-Deputy Chair Mr Garth Popple said, “This is the sixth consecutive year that the ANCD has offered these rural and regional AOD workforce development grants and they continue to be one of the ANCD’s most popular initiatives. Since the inception of the initiative the ANCD has awarded grants to more than 125 AOD workers across rural and regional Australia, which represents an investment in the sector of approximately $400,000.”

Mr Popple added, “The ANCD is very aware that the budget for professional development in rural and regional AOD agencies can be limited and the costs to undertake workforce development activities are often exacerbated by the travel involved. As Co-Deputy Chair of the ANCD it makes me very proud to see that strategies such as our workforce development grants initiative can provide practical support to those AOD workers who are based in rural and regional Australia.”

The workforce development grant recipients for 2005 come from the following locations:

NSW

Lismore (Women’s Referral and Access Project (WRAP))
Bangalow (The Buttery)
Albury (Quamby House)

NT

Palmerston (Mission Australia)
Alice Springs (Alice Springs Youth Accommodation and Support Services)
Nhulunbuy (Department of Health and Community Services)

QLD

Charleville (Charleville Health Service District)
Toowoomba (Fresh Hope Association)
Goondiwindi (Drug Arm Australasia)
Biloela (Biloela Police Station)

SA

Port Augusta (Port Augusta Prison Health Centre)

TAS

Devonport (Youth & Family Focus)

VIC

Mildura (Mildura Base Hospital)
Bendigo (Bendigo Community Health Services)

WA

Kununurra (Miriwoong Night Patrol)
Geraldton (Rosella House)

The ANCD’s Executive Officer, Mr Gino Vumbaca, stated, “These grants are designed to facilitate networking within the wider sector; to provide workers with an opportunity to share their work practices and experiences with colleagues; and to increase the collective knowledge and skills of workers in the sector. Looking at the successful applicants for this year’s round of grants the ANCD is glad to see that these grants will eventually assist a range of people including: Indigenous people; homeless people; young people; incarcerated people; expectant mothers and their children; and people in treatment.”

In conclusion Mr Popple said, “On behalf of the ANCD I offer my congratulations to this year’s workforce development grant recipients. To those agencies that will host recipients I want to thank you in advance for your participation in this worthwhile initiative.”

For more information about the ANCD’s Rural and Regional AOD Workforce Development Grants please contact the ANCD Secretariat on 02 6279 1650.

24 August 2005

The ANCD is the principal advisory body to Government on drug and alcohol issues.

For further information, please contact:

Mr Garth Popple (Co-Deputy Chairman)
0419 319 121

Mr Gino Vumbaca (Executive Officer)
02 6279 1650 or 0408 244 552

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