Alice Springs AOD Agency Forum report

Alice Springs AOD Agency Forum report

Background

The Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) has commenced a process whereby it holds a local agency forum, in conjunction with its meeting in each State and Territory. Given the Council only meets 4 times a year a number of additional forums, in rural and regional Australia are now also being conducted. These forums form part of the Council’s strategy to fulfil its role of representing the views of non-government and community-based organisations working in the drug and alcohol field.

It should be noted that all the issues raised at the Forums are not necessarily areas that the Council will be able to address. They do however provide an important touchstone for the Council's members.

The Council also intends to prepare a report on the issues affecting the alcohol and other drug sector at the completion of its rural and regional consultation forums in December 2000.

Alice Springs – Alcohol and Other Drug Sector Agency Forum

Approximately 25 people from the Alice Springs and surrounding area drug and alcohol field, including non-government sector and government representatives, attended a forum hosted by the Council on the 20th of October 2000. In addition visits were made to some NGOs, some of which were unable to attend the Forum itself.

Mr Gino Vumbaca (ANCD Executive Officer) opened the Forum and introduced Major Brian Watters (ANCD Chairman) and Mr Scott Wilson (ANCD Representative).

Major Watters outlined the role of the Council, it’s Key Activity Areas and the membership of the Council. Major Watters also stressed the importance of working in partnership across sectors and the unique position of the ANCD being at the highest level of policy making. Major Watters concluded by outlining the recently commissioned projects by the ANCD such as indigenous programs research, rural study grants and papers on effective treatments, heroin overdose and policy achievements.

The floor was then opened for questions and comments, with discussion facilitated by Mr Vumbaca.

Forum participants provided the following background information on the alcohol and other drug scene in Alice Springs and surrounding areas:

Alcohol remains the major problem, although a range of illicit drugs are available including amphetamines and opiates.
There is almost a pride, making it a status symbol, in the drinking prowess of Territorians, which tends to provide a tacit acceptance of alcohol abuse and even use in dry communities.
Cannabis use is becoming more available and prevalent in use.
Alice Springs needle and syringe programs provided over 30,000 needles and syringes in 1999 with up to 10% of people identifying as Indigenous, up to 10% identifying as being under 25 years of age and 50% identifying amphetamines as the drug they were using.
There was a significant increase in opiate use throughout 2000 despite tightening up of morphine prescriptions.
People in this region tend to be very reluctant to disclose their drug use, particularly if they are from remote communities.

The following themes were raised and discussed throughout the forum:

There was a wide ranging discussion on the COAG Diversion Initiative which highlighted concerns about the proposed strict criteria for eligibility resulting in very low rates of inclusion and the exclusion of alcohol and petrol sniffing. The level of confusion about the initiative itself, and the mandatory sentencing diversion initiative was very high. There was a strong message for clear information for drug and alcohol workers on the principles and status of these initiatives. Communication to the remote communities was particularly highlighted given the perception that the initiatives were likely to be urban orientated due to the lack of service availability in remote communities. The inclusion of sports and recreational activities, given its often high impact on drug and alcohol use in the community, as part of diversionary programs was raised as an issue requiring more consideration. The lack of funding for sports and recreational activities and in particular staff to implement the activities was also discussed.
There is a lack of long term treatment facilities for people with drug problems (other than alcohol) in the area, resulting in many people being required to travel to Darwin or South Australia to receive ongoing treatment. There was a belief at the Forum that a drug treatment centre, if established, would be utilised by people in the area.
There was a strong theme within the Forum that Alice Springs needed to focus on its youth and in particular the lack of services available to this age group. In particular, youth sobering up and detoxification facilities were required. The need for a broad and co-ordinated strategy that included schools, youth centres and families, as well as dedicated resources was stressed.
There was strong support expressed for the volumetric taxing of alcohol to ensure that the tax is proportional to the level of alcohol in the product. Strong support for the continuation of the Living With Alcohol Program was also clearly expressed.
There already existed a large number of reports on alcohol that provided sound recommendations to reduce the impact of alcohol, however the implementation of the recommendations had rarely occurred due to a perceived political backlash. The need for the Territory Government to revisit these reports (eg: Alcohol in Alice Springs Survey) and reconsider the recommendations was highlighted.
In regard to petrol sniffing and other solvent inhaling problems the Forum noted that again a number of reports had been produced on this subject and that the implementation of a co-ordinated Territory wide approach was now required.
Concern was expressed about the lack of police services available in communities. This was impacting on the ability of services to attract suitably qualified staff to work in remote communities due to safety concerns. Greater support for Indigenous police aides was also discussed.
The limited hours of operation for the Alice Springs needle and syringe program and the potential public health implications of maintaining these hours was discussed.
The lack of facilities for remote communities was highlighted as a major concern. The provision of recreational facilities for youth was seen as a priority yet in many areas the positive impact of these facilities and services on drug and alcohol use was often unrecognised. There was also a level of anxiety about some important initiatives, such as
The involvement of the Northern Territory Sports and Recreation Department to ensure remote communities were able to develop appropriate facilities with appropriate levels of funding was highlighted at the Forum.

20 October 2000

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