Tuesday, 4 March 2025

Medically supervised injecting facilities

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:36): (827) My question is for the Minister for Mental Health. Minister, the mayor of Yarra says North Richmond is a disaster for locals. There is a ghetto right now, as he describes it, and it is Disneyland for drug users. The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission will be moving their premises from North Richmond to the city because staff are regularly subjected to physical assaults and verbal abuse and do not feel safe to go outside and have a break. Minister, the North Richmond community have been saying for years that since the establishment of the injecting room the amenity and safety of the area have been compromised. Will you now finally admit that there is a problem with the location of the injecting room?

Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:37): I thank Ms Crozier for her question. Of course this is something that I have been working very closely on since coming into this portfolio. The approach that I have taken is making sure that some of the most vulnerable people in our community get the support, the information and the care that they need, and the MSIR is a very important part of that support. Just by way of background, I think it is important to note that since we established the MSIR there have been more than 10,000 overdoses managed by the amazing staff at that health service – 63 lives saved from potential overdoses. What that means is fewer ambulance call-outs and fewer emergency department presentations at local hospitals in the area.

But I think sometimes the hidden issues, the issues that are not understood well enough, are the important services and wraparound supports that are provided to those very vulnerable clients of the MSIR. There have been over 4000 referrals to external organisations as a result of the wraparound services that are located at the MSIR and 170,000 instances of support provided onsite. That is mental health support, that is housing support, that is wound care – the whole gamut of issues that these very vulnerable members of our community are facing. When it comes to the North Richmond precinct, our government continues to invest in the amenity and safety. We have a number of important forums that bring together all the key agencies and departments, the local community, the MSIR and the community health service there to deal with these issues.

I will leave my comments about the specifics of the issues around the gambling and casino control commission to the relevant minister. But what I will say is that I have met with the mayor and the deputy mayor of Yarra, and whilst we do not agree on everything, what we do agree on is the need to have an ongoing partnership to make sure that the critical supports for these vulnerable people within the North Richmond community are paramount. That is what I am concentrating on. I am not interested in scaremongering or further stigmatising these individuals – that is the easy way out. What I am concentrating on is making sure that our health services and that our statewide AOD supports are there for these very vulnerable people so they can turn their lives around and break the cycle of addiction.

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:40): Minister, I listened to your response. You gave an overview of the support being provided, and I will be following up on certain aspects that you have told the house about today with your data. But the residents and the business owners have for years put up with some very significant issues to which you have completely turned a blind eye, and you continue to do so. Minister, you mentioned that you have met with the mayor and the deputy mayor, so I am going to ask: will you meet with the mayor, and if possible the deputy mayor, as well as residents and business owners to discuss these issues and the concerns that they constantly raise, because they feel they are not being heard or listened to and the issues they describe are only getting worse – more frequent – not better. So the question is: will you meet with them as a collective?

Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:41): I thank Ms Crozier for her advice to me, but I met with the mayor, the deputy mayor and the CEO of Yarra last sitting week –

Georgie Crozier: On a point of order, President, it was a very simple question, because I acknowledged that she had met with the mayor and deputy mayor. I am asking you to bring her back to the question I asked about meeting with not only them but also the business owners and the residents who have raised these concerns for years, when it is getting worse, not any better.

The PRESIDENT: The minister had only just begun her answer, so I call the minister to continue.

Ingrid STITT: I was about 10 seconds in. I did meet with the mayor and the deputy mayor last sitting week. We had a very fulsome conversation about the City of Yarra and the particular needs of that community. In that meeting there were representatives from the local community with the mayor and the deputy mayor, so I do not need Ms Crozier to tell me who I need to meet with in order to discharge my responsibilities as Minister for Mental Health. I am very responsive to all of the constituent inquiries I receive in my ministerial office and indeed in my electorate office, and I will continue to be so.