Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement

Your Community Health welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement inquiry into the challenges and opportunities for law enforcement in addressing Australia’s illicit drug problem.

In developing this response, we draw on our experience in delivering one of the oldest and busiest needle and syringe programs in Victoria.

The outreach and centre-based needle and syringe distribution and disposal operates 365 days a year. In 2021-22, we distributed almost 600,000 syringes. Twenty percent of these were distributed through our state-wide steroid education program.

The program has long-standing and trusted relationships with many of the people using the service. These relationships facilitate broader health outcomes for this marginalised population including health literacy and engagement with other YourCH services including counselling, oral health and medical services.

The voices of drug users using our services have been used to inform this submission.