Page 2752 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 13 August 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
continue to strengthen the partnerships between our healthcare services and our tertiary research institutions.
An example of the types of projects being funded is the $600,000 over three years to the Australian Brain Cancer Mission to support projects based in the ACT. Investing in the Australian Brain Cancer Mission contributes to a national pool designed to enable patients to take part in clinical trials. This funding will help to improve patient access to clinical trials and access to new treatments here in Canberra.
Another focus for this year’s budget is the funding that has been provided for more support for people overcoming addiction. In response to community feedback about growing areas of need across Canberra’s health services, we will step up our investment in drug and alcohol services to help tackle substance abuse disorder and see more people get the support they need, with a number of the key action areas outlined in the drug strategy action plan 2018-21 being funded.
Some of these key initiatives include establishing a new opioid maintenance treatment clinic in Canberra’s north, with $3 million over three years, which will deliver more timely access to treatment for those living on the north side; providing $200,000 to undertake a feasibility study and needs assessment for a medically supervised injecting facility in the ACT; an additional $1.2 million over four years to prevent fatal drug overdoses in the ACT, including $300,000 in 2019-20, with funding to make the lifesaving opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone available to even more people; and continuing to support Canberrans whose drug and alcohol use is a factor in their involvement in the criminal justice system.
Through this year’s budget we will also continue to partner with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to develop a culturally appropriate residential service supporting drug and alcohol rehabilitation for people in the ACT. The government will co-design the delivery of a dedicated Aboriginal residential rehabilitation facility with Winnunga Nimmityjah, in partnership with a specialist Aboriginal alcohol and drug service provider of Winnunga’s choosing. This future service will be designed to complement existing service, with $300,000 in 2019-20 to scope the establishment of a service by Winnunga.
In addition, in response to the growing harms in the community associated with prescription medicines, I am pleased that the ACT is the first jurisdiction to commit to adoption by 2021 of the national real-time prescription monitoring system developed by the commonwealth. To fulfil this commitment the budget includes $2.1 million over two years to replace the ACT government’s legacy drugs and poisons information system and connect to the national platform.
Adopting a national system will build on the ACT government’s success in rolling out the DORA—or DAPIS Online Remote Access—prescription monitoring website for health professionals in March 2019. The national system will also deliver additional benefits for health professionals and the broader community through enhanced features and the ability to share data via a common platform. The ACT government is working closely with the commonwealth to make this important national system a
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video