ACT Inquiry into the Drugs of Dependence (Personal Use) Amendment Bill 2021

In February 2021, The ACT Legislative Assembly established a Committee to conduct an inquiry into the drugs of Dependence (Persona Use) Amendment Bill 2021. The committee received more than 50 submissions from both organisations and individuals.

The Salvation Army’s submission focuses on issues specific to the drug treatment and intervention sector, including models known to best suit people’s needs. The submission discussed best-practice approaches in the provision of Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) treatment programs that should be considered in service redesign to ensure better access, improved outcomes, greater cost effectiveness and reduced barriers to access.

We argued that an effective AOD treatment system must be able to support people as they engage with multiple systems, such as criminal justice, mental health, and welfare systems, to better engage in and successfully exit people from treatment. By doing this, this effectiveness can also be translated in creating significant ripple effect in terms of protecting other more costly services by working with clients in a holistic way. This includes the need for clients to also take ownership of their treatment journey and engage with their community, along with the support of the treatment service provider and all other stakeholders involved in an individual’s recovery journey.

The submission discussed how a staged care system within AOD services would lead to improved treatment outcomes, including greater accessibility and cost-effectiveness; better coordination and orientation of services to deliver evidence-based practice; and greater alignment with the work of public health and criminal justice systems to ensure sustained outcomes that improve community public health and well-being.

The Committee’s final report is expected to be released in November 2021.