Page 2030 - Week 07 - Thursday, 17 June 1993
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The Government supports the development of a management plan to deal with benzodiazepine problems. An essential precursor to this plan will be data obtained from the proposed epidemiological study and the collection of quarterly statistics. The implementation of a wide-ranging educational campaign, while supported by the Government, will depend on the results of the epidemiological study, to enable effective targeting of the campaign and assessment against competing health priorities. Access to services by people, particularly women, affected by benzodiazepine addiction is a key element of this report.
The report has made a number of recommendations concerning the maintenance and expansion of services. The Government is committed to responding positively where the need is clearly established and where budgetary constraints permit, taking into account overall health priorities. The Government is also committed to providing an appropriate mix of services through the Alcohol and Drug Service grants program in a time of contracting financial resources. A national decision to allocate some of these resources to assist harm minimisation initiatives by law enforcement agencies will further shrink the grants budget.
Mr Moore: Yes, that is a great shame.
MR BERRY: Win some, lose some. However, the Alcohol and Drug Service will review the "coming off pills entirely" program, or COPE program. This review will include access to the program, means of offering it more frequently, and publicising it to potential client groups.
Madam Speaker, governments are continually faced with tough decisions about priorities with the available financial and human resources. In this case, while there are cost implications, we are able to offer support to people suffering benzodiazepine dependence now. However, we need to know more. The select committee has provided a blueprint for action which can be implemented in a staged manner to build on knowledge about the nature and extent of benzodiazepine dependence in the Territory. This will allow us to develop services in a manner consistent with the strategic use of our limited resources. Madam Speaker, I present the Government's response to the select committee's report and I wish once again to thank the select committee for its work.
MR MOORE (3.07): Madam Speaker, because of the brevity of the report and the fact that the Government's response to it has been positive, I will take this opportunity to make a few comments. The most important finding, I think, of the select committee looking into benzodiazepines was that there simply was not enough information upon which to base sound decisions. That response has come through in Mr Berry's reply to the committee. The need for an epidemiological study to determine the needs is clearly important and has been accepted by the Minister, and, appropriately, we will be seeking funding for such a thing from where funding is quite readily forthcoming in Federal sources.
Madam Speaker, an epidemiological study of that type is likely to need to survey 3,000-odd people in the ACT to be able to get any reasonable data, so it will be a quite extensive survey. Clearly the committee, in making its recommendations, was very conscious of the budgetary situation in the ACT. I think this has been a characteristic of almost all committees in this Assembly. They have not made
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