What We Want the Canberra Community to be by 2020: ATODA
 
The Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association ACT’s (ATODA) vision is a Canberra community with the lowest possible levels of alcohol, tobacco and other drug related harm, as a result of our sector and other stakeholders’ evidence-informed prevention, treatment and harm reduction policies and services.
 
The ACT has strong history of undertaking evidence-informed drug research, policy and practice initiatives. There have been a number of bold, innovative and complex programs initiated within the ACT, which have been found through formal evaluations to be highly successful.
 
Our sector leads Australia in many areas of drug policy, such as opioid maintenance therapy, needle and syringe programs, drug diversion and opioid overdose prevention and management.
 
While we have a strong record of achievement that provides a solid foundation for future progress, there remains much work to be done. Below are some evidence-based actions, initiatives and goals that we believe can be undertaken and achieved in the ACT by 2020:

• Develop, implement and evaluate formal mechanisms to support and embed consumer participation as core business of ACT Health funded and delivered specialist drug services (e.g. establishing funded consumer worker roles)
• Provide an enabling and health promoting environment, particularly with regards to preventing blood-borne virus transmission, amongst people who inject drugs and their families and friends by removing legal barriers (e.g. extended distribution of the needle and syringe program, removal of the offence of self-administration)
• Support specialist drug services work with relevant consumer groups and others to strengthen and expand existing services and infrastructure and promote innovation (e.g. strengthening withdrawal services, including establishing formal outpatient and comprehensive home-based services)
• Build the capacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander community controlled health services to deliver specialist drug and alcohol interventions (e.g. establishment of the Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm and facilitation of its integration into the specialist drug service system)
• Improve road safety by strengthening the ACT’s drink driving countermeasures (e.g. by implementing a performance measure on the number of random breath tests conducted in the ACT annually, per licensed driver)
• Reduce morbidity and mortality among people who inject drugs in collaboration with them and their families and friends by implementing evidence-based activities (e.g. alternative needle and syringe programs, expanded naloxone availability and other overdose prevention activities)
• Change the ACT’s drug driving laws so that they are effective, fair, just and consistent with the scientific evidence (e.g. establish a science based jurisprudence for drug driving)
• Ensure people with acute drug and alcohol problems are able to access treatment on demand (e.g. reduced waiting times, more treatment places, aftercare, counselling)
• Implement and independently evaluate a prison needle and syringe program
• Ensure people with alcohol and drug related disabilities are recognised as a priority group in the ACT Justice Reform and Justice Disability strategies
• Decriminalise drug use and possession
• Build the capacity of primary care services to undertake alcohol, tobacco and other drug Screening, Brief Intervention and Referrals to Treatment (SBIRT)
• Implement a drug checking and alert pilot program
• Undertake ACT-specific activities to move towards a lawful and compassionate medicinal/therapeutic cannabis regime
• Develop and implement strategies to enable more employment and training opportunities for people with current or past drug problems who have criminal histories, including reducing the negative impacts of criminal records (e.g. reform the Working with Vulnerable People Checking System so as not to penalise people for past behaviour that bears little or no relevance to their current or future employment)
• Ensure people who smoke from high-risk populations, including those who require more intensive support, have access to comprehensive smoking cessation and reduction support (e.g. workplace tobacco management policies for all non-government services funded by the ACT Government)
• Reduce recidivism, support community integration and increase community sentencing options for people with alcohol and drug related offences (e.g. implement and independently evaluate an alcohol and drug specific ‘swift, certain and fair’ pilot program; establish a ‘Health Throughcare Program’ to complement the existing Throughcare Program for ACT offenders)
• Eradicate hepatitis C amongst people accessing specialist drug services in the ACT (e.g. enable the provision of hepatitis C treatment as routine care in conjunction with alcohol and drug treatment)
• Further build and promote the alcohol, tobacco and other drug sector’s workforce to gain additional qualifications and to become the sector ‘of choice’ amongst the health workforce
• Support allied sectors (e.g. homelessness, justice, mental health) to better respond to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs by undertaking a program of capacity building to support screening, brief intervention and referrals to treatment

All of these actions (and more) can be progressed in the ACT over the next 4 years. Some will take significant leadership, such as reforming drug driving laws to reflect science and implementing Australia’s first prison needle and syringe program. All reflect the evidence and would result in a healthier and safer Canberra where limited public resources are more effectively and efficiently used.
Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association ACT (ATODA) website: www.atoda.org.au
 
To download the full ACTCOSS Update Journal, click here.

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Training and Professional Development

ACT Comorbidity Bus Tours
ATODA, Mental Health Community Coalition ACT and the Youth Coalition of the ACT

The Comorbidity Bus Tour seeks to increase the capacity of frontline workers to support people experiencing co-occurring ATOD and mental health issues (comorbidity). The Comorbidity Bus Tour visits a variety of services in the ACT from the alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD), mental health and youth sectors.
The next Comorbidity Bus Tour for 2015 will be Tour C on 27 April 2016.

Cost: Members of the Youth Coalition, ATODA or MHCC ACT $50, $60 Non-member or non-government organisations, $70 Government workers

For more information: Visit ATODA's website, email bustours@youthcoalition.net or call (02) 6247 3540


April - May 2016 Training and Professional Development Calendar
ATODA, Mental Health Community Coalition ACT and the Youth Coalition of the ACT

The ACT Training and Professional Development Calendar collates training and professional development opportunities for workers in the alcohol, tobacco and other drug, youth, mental health, family support and community sectors.

To get the April - May 2016 training calendar, click here.
 
To include your training in the next calendar, email info@youthcoalition.net or call the Youth Coalition on (02) 6247 3540
 

Cultural Safety in Policy and Practice
Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM) and Poche Centre Adelaide

Policymakers, community leaders, academics, researchers and health practice leaders are invited to this workshop as a series of guest speakers will explore how organisations make the transition from cultural safety policy to practice through a number of themes, including:

• Understanding cultural safety, what are the critical elements?
• Dealng with resistance - talking about race and racism. 
• The case for cultural safety, improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
• Exploring international models of training and lessons learnt from implementation. 

Date: 27 April 2016
Time: 10am – 4:30pm
Venue: AIATSIS, Mabo Room, 57 Lawson Crec, Acton
 
For more information: See the Eventbrite page, email seniorpolicy@catsinam.org.au or call (02) 6262 5761
 

Alcohol and Other Drugs Symposium
Australian College of Mental Health Nurses (ACMHN), Drug and Alcohol Nurses of Australasia (DANA)

This symposium will bring Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drug nurses together to discuss the team approach that is required to best meet the needs of consumers. It will assist delegates to identify the skills they have that are useful, and will assist clinicians to increase their confidence working with this client group. 
 
Date: 28 April 2016
Time: 9am – 5pm
Venue: Canberra Rex Hotel
 
For more information: Visit the Symposium webpage, see the flyer, or call (02) 6285 1078

 
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
Lifeline Canberra

ASIST is a two-day interactive workshop which aims to improve participants suicide awareness and prevention skills. The course is presented by LivingWorks-accredited facilitators, who use internationally standardised resources and materials. Participants are trained to recognise when a person may be at risk and how to respond to improve the immediate and long-term safety of the person at risk.
 
Date: 27 & 28 April 2016
 
For more information: Visit the Lifeline website, email training@act.lifeline.org.au or call (02) 6171 6300

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Conferences and Symposiums

ISSDP 2016 Conference: Sydney 
International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP)
The ISSDP is a society of scholars committed to advancing drug policy research. The ISSDP’s objectives are to: be a forum for high quality drug policy analysis; develop relations among drug policy analysts and thus strengthen the field; develop the scientific base for policy decisions; and improve the interface between researchers and policy makers. 

The conference will be hosted by the Drug Policy Modelling Program (DPMP) which is part of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), UNSW Australia.
 
The ISSDP Conference is a unique occasion to hear the latest findings in an intellectually engaged, diverse and dedicated scholarly community, and to immerse yourself in the state of the art research across the full spectrum of drug policy research, with the participation of leading international scholars.

For further information and registration visit: www.issdp2016.com

The ISSDP achieves this through its annual scholarly international conference, which is being held for the first time in Australia from 16-18 May 2016 in Sydney.
 

Workshop Series – Australian Winter School
Lives Lived Well

This two-day interactive workshop is focused on envisioning, creating, renovating and implementing innovative alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment services.
 
Date: 13 – 14 April 2016
Venue: Rydges South Bank, Brisbane
Cost: $450 per person
 
For more information: Visit the Winter School website, email aws@liveslivedwell.org.au or call  (07) 3834 0207
 
 
NADA Conference 2016—Integrated care: Working together to respond to complexity
Network of Alcohol and other Drug Agencies (NADA)
 
This conference will feature experts from across the AOD sector speaking on a range of exciting topics including domestic and family violence and drug and alcohol abuse; integrating sexual health and AOD treatment to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people; the intersection of father attachment and addiction; consumer perspectives: responding with integrity; responding to prescription drug misuse; and the impact of a cognitive remediation program on a therapeutic community.
 
Registrations close 31 May 2016.
 
Date: 6 – 7 June 2016
Venue: The Grace Hotel, Sydney
 
For more information: Visit the NADA website, email conference@nada.org.au or call (02) 8113 1317

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Resources and Publications

ICPS Quarterly Research Update
Institute of Child Protection Studies (ICPS)

The ICPS Quarterly Research Update provides an overview of research projects currently being carried out by the Institute of Child Protection Studies at the Australian Catholic University. Current projects at ICPS include:
 

• Managing Ethical Studies on Sensitive Issues (MESSI): Involving children in social research 
• kContact: Keeping contact between parents and children in care
• Developing an understanding of how children understand and experience safety in institutions
• Safe and Sound: The safety of young people in residential care
• Child Protection Practitioner Study
• 'Growing our Spirit': Improving the evidence base for community-developed assessments of kinship carers of Aboriginal children
• Evaluation of the Youth Hope Program

Building Capacity in Family Support Serivces: Provision of evaluative support services to FaC service providers

For more information: See the Update, email icps@acu.edu.au or call (02) 6209 1228

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Newsletters, Magazines and Updates

ACT Population Health Bulletin
ACT Government
The Population Health eBulletin is published quarterly and each issue has a theme and highlight a particular body of work, a key function or an emerging topic of interest relating to population health in the ACT.
For more information: See the latest issue
 
Harm Reduction Australia Newsletter
Harm Reduction Australia 
This newsletter provides current information on their work, their projects and national and international drug policies, programs and practices that help to reduce the harms associated with the use of drugs.  
For more information: See the latest issue
 

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Youth, Mental Health and Allied Sector

Annual Youth Week 2016
Youth Coalition of the ACT, Act Government
 
National Youth Week is an annual, weeklong celebration of young people (aged 12–25) throughout Australia. It is a joint initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments. In the ACT, National Youth Week is coordinated by the Youth Coalition of the ACT and the ACT Government. National Youth Week 2016 will be held from 8 - 17 April. Each year, all over Australia, events are planned and organised to celebrate and recognise the contribution of young people.
 
For more information: Visit the Youth Coalition of the ACT website, or call (02) 6247 3540
 
 
Annual Youth Week Event
Gugan Gulwan Youth Aboriginal Corporation
 
Gugan Gulwan will be holding their annual Youth Week event. There will be jumping castles, food, drink, live performances prizes and heaps more.
Date: 14 April 2016
Time: 11am - 3pm
Venue: Gugan Gulwan, Grattan Court, Wanniassa
 
For more information: See the flyer, or call (02) 6296 8900
 

Understanding Bipolar Disorder Workshop
Mental Health Foundation ACT, Mental Illness Fellowship

This is a one day workshop aimed at people affected by the condition, their carers, relatives or anyone else interested in it. It will be facilitated by a Peer Educator so participants will have the chance to learn from someone who has been in a similar situation.
 
Date:  27 April 2016
Time: 10am – 12pm
Venue: MHF Training Room, Chifley Health and Wellbeing Hub, 70 MacLaurin Cres, Chifley
Cost: $18 NDIS, $20 Concession, $22 General admission
 
For more information: See the flyer, email info@mhf.org.au or call (02) 6282 6658

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Employment
 
CEO Position
Inanna Inc.

This role includes aspects such as managing all aspects of the organisation and responsible for driving and implementing the overall strategic direction, managing and developing staff across all Program areas and having the foresight to implement appropriate policy and procedural changes to grow the organisation and improving the overall customer and staff experience. The selected candidate will be responsible for all operations; people, financials, marketing and new business ventures and will draw on business aptitude to make this opportunity a success.
 
Applications close: 26 April 2016
 
For more information: Email info@inanna.org.au or call (02) 6173 3433

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ACT Media
This section includes ATOD related media from or relevant to the ACT

ACT Government proposes 3am closing and bigger fees for bottle stores and later closing
Canberra Times, 6 April 2016
The ACT government is proposing 3am last drinks for bars and nightclubs in Canberra, with the possibility of allowing venues to serve later if they pay a massively increased licence fee.
For more information: See the article
 
Health staff call on government to protect them from violence, aggression at work
Canberra Times, 6 April 2016
Nurses and health professionals have called on the ACT government to launch an urgent review of safety and staffing across the territory, with documents revealing a monthly average of more than 100 workplace incidents. 
For more information: See the article
 
Canberrans drink more than average Australian and more than before, calls for alcohol crackdowm
Canberra Times, 4 April 2016
Canberrans drink more and at riskier levels than the nation's average, with more than one in five drinking themselves into danger of chronic long-term harm.
For more information: See the article
 
Group pushes for Canberra cannabis dispensary
Canberra Times, 3 April 2016
Medicinal cannabis supporters are pushing forward with plans to establish a dispensary in the ACT, similar to those found in some states of the United States where the drug is freely sold from shopfronts.
For more information: See the article
 
Mother’s warning after two cases of alleged drink spiking at Civic nightclub
Canberra Times, 2 April 2016
A mother has reminded partygoers of the fast impact of drink spiking after her 18-year-old daughter was one of two women allegedly targeted at a Civic nightclub on the same night.
For more information: See the article
 
Doctors urge radical reduction in blood-alcohol limits, increasing drinking age
Canberra Times, 2 April 2016
Access to alcohol would be drastically reduced under a radical rethink of liquor laws, taxes and sales being urged by one of the country's most influential groups of doctors.
For more information: See the article
 
Drunk driver appeals jury’s ‘mistaken’ verdict in fatal crash case
Canberra Times, 1 April 2016
A drunk driver whose friend died when his car crashed head-on into a tree has appealed a jury's "mistaken" guilty verdict, saying they were either wrong, speculated, or improperly excluded his innocent explanation for the collision. 
For more information: See the article
 
Jamie Michael Richardson guilty of fatal crash that killed friend in McKellar
Canberra Times, 30 March 2016
A drunk driver has been found guilty of causing a head-on crash that killed his mate two years ago.
For more information: See the article
 
Cut-price supermarket cigarettes not evidence of price war, says Cancer Council
Canberra Times, 28 March 2016
Cigarettes imported from Ukraine and sold cheaply in major supermarkets are not evidence of a price war, anti-smoking advocates say.
For more information: See the article
 
Cannabis haul found in Gundagai
Canberra Times, 27 March 2016
Police have uncovered a haul of cannabis at a property in Gundagai.
For more information: See the article
 
Incoming AMA president Steve Robson slams Andrew Barr for lock-out stance
Canberra Times, 26 March 2016
The new advocate for Canberra's doctors said he was surprised and disappointed Chief Minister Andrew Barr ruled out lockout laws in the face of evidence of their success.
For more information: See the article
 
Decision to rule out lockout laws shortsighted
Canberra Times, 26 March 2016
Lockout laws may have had a place in helping to curb alcohol-related violence in the city.
For more information: See the article
 
Some can’t get enough of the puff at Canberra Hospital, despite smoking ban
Canberra Times, 26 March 2016
There should be no ifs and butts about enforcing Canberra Hospital's smoke-free campus.
Yet on Tuesday afternoon, at least five visitors were lighting up at the entrance of the emergency department under no-smoking signs and next to patients. 
For more information: See the article
 
Andrew Barr rules out lockout laws in Canberra
Canberra Times, 25 March 2016
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has ruled out lockout laws in Canberra in a move that will be welcomed by the city's bars and clubs, but disappoints those who want action on late night alcohol-fuelled violence.
For more information: See the article
 
Another one-punch assault outside PJ O’Reilly’s Tuggeranong
Canberra Times, 24 March 2016
A man is now assisting police after CCTV footage was released of a sickening one-punch assault outside a Tuggeranong pub.
For more information: See the article
 
Prosecutors argue ‘sad and uncomfortable reality’ that drunk driver killed mate
Canberra Times, 24 March 2016
Prosecutors have argued compelling evidence proves the "sad and uncomfortable reality" that a drunk driver substantially caused a crash that killed his mate after a night of drinking in Belconnen.
For more information: See the article
 
Drunk driver says steering wheel ripped from him in fatal Belconnen car crash
Canberra Times, 23 March 2016
A drunk driver on trial for a crash that killed his friend has told a packed court that "the steering wheel was ripped out of my hands" before the car hit a tree head-on.
For more information: See the article
 
‘It’s a different kind of high’: from drug addict to marathon runner
Canberra Times, 23 March 2016
Next month Mr Veenker, 36, who now works in community health as a drug and alcohol counsellor, will take on the Canberra marathon as part of this year's Australian Running Festival.
For more information: See the article
 
Did you witness the latest clobbering outside PJ’s in Tuggeranong?
Canberra Times, 23 March 2016
ACT Policing is seeking witnesses to a ‘coward punch’ assault that occurred in Tuggeranong.
For more information: See the article
 
Canberrans most short-sighted in the nation
Canberra Times, 23 March 2016
Also, more than a third of ACT residents were drinking in excess of the National Health and Medical Researcher Council's guidelines of no more than four standard drinks on a single occasion.
For more information: See the article
 
Canberra’s epicentre of violence: where and when Canberra’s assaults happen
Canberra Times, 20 March 2016
Civic is becoming more dangerous as the number of assaults in the centre of the city increases by a third.
For more information: See the article
 
Canberra turns out in force for Skyfire fireworks display
Canberra Times, 19 March 2016
Police said they took one young person into custody for alcohol-related issues, compared with eight last year. Two other young persons were identified to be in possession of cannabis and fined and a man was taken into custody for traffic related matters.
For more information: See the article
 
Meet Thelma Weston, vibrant manager of the Winnunga needle exchange program
Canberra Times, 18 March 2016
As Canberra's indigenous community struggles with a surge in ice use and substance abuse, 80-year-old Thelma Weston sits unruffled in the midst.
For more information: See the article
 
Man charged over McKellar crash that killed friend goes on trial in ACT Supreme Court
Canberra Times, 17 March 2016
A drunk driver charged with culpable driving over crash that claimed the life of his friend has gone on trial in the ACT Supreme Court. 
For more information: See the article
 
$1.4 million of cannabis seized as police raid house in Burra, south of Queanbeyan
Canberra Times, 17 March 2016
Police found more than $1.4 million worth of drugs, mainly cannabis, while raiding a house south of Queanbeyan, they said.
For more information: See the article
 
Retailers unimpressed by potential $40 cigarette pack
Canberra Times, 17 March 2016
Australia's convenience stores and newsagents fear an increase in theft if the price of a pack of cigarettes hits $40, peak bodies for the industries say.
For more information: See the article
 
Roots of opioid epidemic can be traced back to two key changed in pain management
The Conversation, 17 March 2016
Theodore Cicero, Professor of Psychology, Washington University
Matthew S. Ellis, Clinical Lab Manager, Washington University
A drunk driver charged with culpable driving over crash that claimed the life of his friend has gone on trial in the ACT Supreme Court. 
For more information: See the article
 
E-cigarettes helpful
Canberra Times, 16 March 2016
The restrictions proposed by Ms Fitzharris and the consequent perception created in the public mind that e-cigarettes are as harmful as actual cigarettes risk closing off one of the most effective exits from tobacco smoking (for details, Google "Guardian Bauld e-cigarette").
For more information: See the article
 
New alcohol, drug and venue recording to trial at Calvary Hospital
Canberra Times, 15 March 2016
A man allegedly headbutted and punched a Mooseheads patron after accusing him of urinating on his shoe early Sunday morning, a court has heard. 
For more information: See the article
 
Licensed venues group concerned over Calvary drug and alcohol recording trial
Canberra Times, 15 March 2016
The association representing Canberra's licensed venues has concerns about a pilot study designed to record the drug and alcohol intake of every patient in Calvary Hospital's emergency department.
For more information: See the article
 
Marijuana-based drug found to reduce epileptic seizures in US study
Canberra Times, 15 March 2016
An experimental drug derived from marijuana has succeeded in reducing epileptic seizures in its first major clinical trial in the US, the product's developer has announced, a finding that could lend credence to the medical marijuana movement.
For more information: See the article
 
Canberra’s Calvary hospital to survey emergency patients on alcohol and drug use
ABC News, 15 March 2016
Canberra's Calvary Hospital will take part in an Australia-first study to record every emergency patient's drug and alcohol intake, and establish where they consumed it.
For more information: See the article
 
Danny Klobucar’s trial over drug dealer’s death disrupted by juror with suspected whooping cough
ABC News, 15 March 2016
The trial of Canberra man Danny Klobucar, charged with the murder of a 71-year-old man on New Years Day 2014, has been disrupted after a juror was excused with a suspected case of whooping cough.
For more information: See the article
 
‘You just pissed on my shoes’: alleged headbutt in Mooseheads fight
Canberra Times, 14 March 2016
The ACT government will become the first in the country to restrict the sale of e-cigarettes and vaporisers, banning their sale to under 18s and treating them like tobacco.
For more information: See the article
 
Tobacco consumption. ’New wave of quitting’ likely as we smoke less
Canberra Times, 13 March 2016
Plain packaging and higher cigarette prices appear to have done more than cut the number of people who smoke. They've also cut the amount remaining smokers smoke.
For more information: See the article
 
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