Thursday, 7 March 2024

Melbourne medically supervised injecting facility

Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (12:29): (458) My question is for the Minister for Mental Health. Last week it was reported that the Labor government is considering supporting a drug-checking program, potentially at the expense of proceeding with plans for a second medically supervised injecting room. Putting aside the stigmatising language and framing used in that reporting, MSIRs are a completely different harm reduction approach for a completely different public health concern, as I know the minister is aware. Does the minister acknowledge the need for both harm reduction measures in Victoria?

Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:29): Thank you very much for your question. These are really important issues. I think that the government has demonstrated in a number of different ways its ability to look at this complex set of issues in a way that responds to the particular needs of particular drug harms. I think that the strongest evidence of that is in some of the innovative programs that we have pursued, including the injecting service in North Richmond, which as we have discussed in this place many times, has saved a significant number of lives and continues –

A member: How many?

Ingrid STITT: Over 60 lives. Sixty-three lives have been saved to date at that facility. I thank the staff and the clinicians involved in that really important service for the work that they continue to do to try to help turn people’s lives around.

We certainly are committed to making sure that we continue to invest in our alcohol and other drug services, including our AOD workforce. We are very cognisant of the fact that there are different interventions and policy responses required for different types of illicit drug activity. As you would have heard the Premier and me say in relation to drug checking and some of the issues that have arisen over this summer – for example, the Hardmission Festival, where a number of young Victorians were hospitalised – we have asked our health department for some contemporary advice around those issues, and we will continue to look at these issues and take a harm reduction approach.

In respect to the member’s question regarding the second injecting service in the CBD, I think I was pretty clear in my answers in the house yesterday that the Lay report is something that the government is currently considering. We will be providing a comprehensive government response to that report in due course.

Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (12:32): I thank the minister for her answer. Yesterday in response to related questions about this report by Mr Mulholland, you stated that the government’s decision about an MSIR would take into account changing patterns of drug use. Minister, by talking about changing patterns of drug use, are you preparing the ground for abandoning a second MSIR?

Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:32): I thank Dr Mansfield for her supplementary question. I think that you are probably drawing inferences from my answer yesterday. I think what I was actually saying was that the government had asked Mr Lay to update and provide further advice to the government, recognising that during the pandemic there had been changes to drug patterns in the CBD. In terms of the government’s response in relation to those matters, that will be the subject of further discussion at cabinet level. The government will give careful consideration to Mr Lay’s recommendations and will report that publicly in due course.