Page 1914 - Week 06 - Thursday, 9 June 2022
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I am pleased to say that we have received strong engagement from stakeholders and positive feedback on the co-design approach taken. The draft action plan will shortly be made available for public consultation and I look forward to seeing the feedback received. The new action plan will be published in the second half of this year.
I would now like to provide an update on pill testing, which is a government priority as part of our harm minimisation approach to alcohol and other drugs. In the 2021-22 ACT budget, the government set aside funding to implement a six-month pilot of a pill testing service to operate at a fixed site in Canberra. A fixed-site service will make pill testing available on a regular basis to a larger population than has previously been possible through the two successful festival-based pill testing trials held at Groovin the Moo in 2018 and 2019.
Pill testing is intended to encourage choices that reduce overall drug use and the harms associated with taking drugs. However, even with pill testing, it remains risky and dangerous to consume illicit drugs, and clients of the service will not ever be told that their drugs are safe. A nurse will be available to provide health advice to clients of the service, whether or not they choose to have their drugs tested.
The ACT government considers that, as a component of harm reduction measures, pill testing is a sensible approach to limiting the dangers of illicit drug use by Canberrans. While it has taken longer than we had hoped to find a site and establish this service, the pilot is now anticipated to commence later this month.
I thought it was important to provide members with an overview of the significant progress and work underway in the alcohol and other drug policy area before discussing the government response that I am tabling today. That is because the premise and intent of Mr Pettersson’s private member’s bill, the Drugs of Dependence (Personal Use) Amendment Bill 2021, represents a coherent policy response to the ACT government’s policy aim of harm minimisation.
The bill has prompted a conversation on the next logical step in harm minimisation, recognition that drug use is a health issue first and foremost, and that reducing stigma is key to improving outcomes for those most disadvantaged and vulnerable in our community.
I want to thank those who made submissions and provided testimony to the select committee, and also to acknowledge the significant work done by the select committee in considering the range of evidence it received. I would also like to thank members for their patience regarding the delay in providing this response, which was affected, in part, by the Omicron wave of COVID-19.
The information presented to the committee and its recommendations have informed the government’s alcohol and other drug policy and program work, including proposed government amendments to the bill. In particular, I note that the government has drawn on the valuable and often challenging personal and professional experiences outlined in submissions, in meetings with me and my office, and with the dedicated officials from across government, including ACT Policing, who have been
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