A Void exisits in drug and alcohol treatment centres in the inner city

Dr Naomi Myers, Chief Executive of the Aboriginal Medical Service, said repeated calls have been made by Aboriginal organisations in Redfern to the State Government for an increase in the number of detox beds in the inner city. She said that, because of government inaction, many Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people are now struggling with intravenous drugs.

“The area health service at the time was talking about using Rachel Foster (Hospital) for about eight detox beds, with two of the beds promised for Aborigines,” she said. “That was almost 20 years ago and still nothing has happened.”

Dr Myers also said the State Government should give serious consideration to a self-injection room in Redfern.

These comments come after the release of a New South Wales study paper on the economic and social factors underpinning Indigenous contact with the justice system. The paper concludes drug and alcohol abuse is a key factor in Indigenous incarceration.

The paper, released in October by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), states that Indigenous Australians with drug and alcohol problems living in non-remote communities are most at risk of facing police charges or imprisonment. The likelihood of such Indigenous Australians receiving imprisonment is over one in fve - compared to one in 20 for non-users, the paper said.

BOCSAR Director Dr Don Weatherburn said this was because past Indigenous policy has focused on reform of the justice system, not on minimising drug and alcohol abuse.

Pubs serving patrons beyond intoxication, and those who facilitate drug use, should be further disciplined, he said. “We’ve encouraged the government to focus on reducing drug and alcohol abuse. It means giving more emphasis on stemming the tide of such substances.”

“The problem is not so much a lack of treatment facilities, so much as with restricting the supply of alcohol and illicit drugs. You can treat people all you like ... it’s supply, control, and prevention that needs to be focused on.”

However, he said the study highlights gaping holes in drug and alcohol detox services in many parts of Sydney’s inner city where users prevail.

Michael Englert, nurse unit manager with the Aboriginal Medical Service, said that where drug treatment services exist on Sydney’s lower north-shore - such as at Royal North Shore, Chatswood Drug and Alcohol Service and Phoenix House at Manly Hospital - equivalent services in areas such as Redfern and Waterloo were severely lacking. The bottom line is that there is quite a void in treatment services for the entire community in the vicinity, given the ... prevalence of substance misuse problems in the Redfern-Waterloo area,” he said.

Source: South Sydney Herald December 2006