1 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:05,200 Speaker 1: My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:10,200 Speaker 1: Bunjelung calcotton woman from Gadigol Country. The Daily oz acknowledges 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the 4 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:16,040 Speaker 1: Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres 5 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:18,959 Speaker 1: Strait Island and nations. We pay our respects to the 6 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,759 Speaker 1: first peoples of these countries, both past and present. 7 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 2: Good morning and welcome to the Daily Ods. It's Thursday, 8 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 2: the ninth of March. I'm Sam, I'm Zara. Melbourne's first 9 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,479 Speaker 2: medically supervised injection room is set to become permanent after 10 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 2: a five year long trial. 11 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,240 Speaker 3: This facility has changed lives and saved lives. I will 12 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 3: never forget the day we announced this trial. There was 13 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 3: a woman overdosed not fifty meters from the press conference 14 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 3: and by the ambulance Victoria and Victoria Police had to 15 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 3: go and run to that person's aid. 16 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 2: While advocates have been calling for more supervised injection rooms, 17 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 2: their rollout around the country has been very slow. So 18 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:07,959 Speaker 2: where are we at and who's pushing back on more 19 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 2: facilities rolling out around the country. We'll let you know 20 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:13,320 Speaker 2: in the Deep Dive But first, Sarah, what is making 21 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 2: headlines this morning? 22 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 4: Prime Minister Anthony Alberanesi has landed in India, who'll be 23 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 4: there to advocate for stronger bilateral relations, becoming the first 24 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 4: PM in six years to visit the nation. Before leaving, 25 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 4: Albanizi said that trade between Australia and India will be 26 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 4: a key topic of discussion on the trip, adding that 27 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:41,319 Speaker 4: it could be much larger in the future. 28 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 2: The cheapest domestic economy airfare prices have fallen from their 29 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 2: fifteen year high in December, but overall fares are still 30 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 2: above pre pandemic prices. That's all according to new data 31 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 2: from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, or the a 32 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 2: Triple C. The Airline Competition report found that five point 33 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 2: nine million seats were available for domestic travel in January. 34 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 2: Now that's the highest in over six months, but only 35 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 2: four point four million passengers flew in that period. 36 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 4: Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Files has announced a new 37 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 4: disaster payment for communities affected by the recent flooding in 38 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 4: the territory. It comes after heavy rain in the past 39 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 4: couple of weeks caused Territorians in several remote areas to 40 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 4: be evacuated to Darwin. Damage to local infrastructure also caused 41 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 4: significant supply chain issues. 42 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 2: And today's good news. Statues of the first two women 43 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 2: to enter federal Parliament have been unveiled in Canberra this week. 44 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 2: Dame Dorothy Tagny and Dame Ynard Lyons both entered Parliament 45 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 2: in nineteen forty three and served in the Senate and 46 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 2: the House of Reps respectively. The statues have immodelized a 47 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 2: historic photo of Tagnian lions walking to the front door 48 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 2: of Old Parliament House together in the first year they 49 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 2: were in office. Melbourne's first medically supervised injecting room in 50 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 2: North Richmond will become permanent, and that's after the Victorian 51 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 2: government announced the extension of this program this week. 52 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 4: I think that a good starting point for this conversation 53 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 4: is just to explain what a medically supervised injecting room 54 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 4: actually is, because I feel like for a lot of 55 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,720 Speaker 4: our listeners it might be a fairly foreign. 56 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,919 Speaker 2: Concept, definitely, and because there's so few around the country, 57 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 2: it hasn't really been a major part of how we 58 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 2: discuss health policy and social policy, so it's worth going over. 59 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 2: So medically supervised injecting rooms, or the short name of 60 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 2: msirs our facilities where drug users can go to inject 61 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 2: themselves in the presence of health professionals without any risk 62 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 2: of arrest or law enforcement. And the idea here is 63 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 2: that it gives users of drugs like heroin, for example, 64 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 2: a safe place to be and there are people on 65 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 2: standby if something goes wrong or in the case of 66 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 2: an overdose. Victoria set up a trial MSAR in twenty 67 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 2: eighteen in Richmond in response to a high number of 68 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 2: fatal heroin overdoses at the time. Premier Daniel Andrews mentions 69 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 2: this history in his announcement this week. 70 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:16,919 Speaker 3: Stories of people dying in laneways and gutters, stories of 71 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 3: literally dead bodies throughout that local community meant that we 72 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 3: needed to do something different, something challenging. There's no perfect 73 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 3: answer to this. There's always going to be a challenge 74 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:32,360 Speaker 3: when you've got a significant injecting drug using community. But 75 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 3: this facility has changed lives and saved lives. 76 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 4: So what kind of results have we seen from the 77 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:40,480 Speaker 4: medically Supervised Injecting Room in Richmond. 78 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 2: Well, I guess that's a big question is do they 79 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,360 Speaker 2: actually work? And an independent review has found it has 80 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:50,159 Speaker 2: been largely successful. From a health perspective, none of the 81 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:53,279 Speaker 2: six thousand overdoses that happened at the facility during the 82 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 2: trial were fatal and that saved an estimated sixty three lives. Interestingly, 83 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 2: ambulance callouts in area also went down, So. 84 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 4: I guess looking from another perspective, were there any issues 85 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:06,720 Speaker 4: found by the review? 86 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,359 Speaker 2: Well, the review discussed this one concern identified by the 87 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 2: local community of local safety, with many residents complaining about 88 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 2: gatherings that were happening outside of the facility. Now, one 89 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:20,360 Speaker 2: of the reasons this was happening is that there are 90 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 2: some people who use drugs who aren't able to access 91 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 2: the facility. We're talking here about people who are pregnant 92 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 2: and people on court orders, and some of these people 93 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,239 Speaker 2: would gather outside the facility because they still were looking 94 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 2: for that reassurance of medical assistance that was nearby. To 95 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 2: address this, the review recommended extending access to allow more 96 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 2: people to use the facility. The government rejected this recommendation, 97 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,039 Speaker 2: but it did say will work with the local community 98 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,360 Speaker 2: on how to, as it describes, further boost safety. 99 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 4: That community perception point is really important. I worked on 100 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:59,039 Speaker 4: a mayoral campaign in Melbourne a couple of years ago, 101 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:02,919 Speaker 4: and this was really the biggest issue, and how the 102 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:07,159 Speaker 4: community has responded to this medically supervised injecting room does 103 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:09,720 Speaker 4: form a lot of how the government will think about 104 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 4: it moving forward. But again that's not the people who 105 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 4: are actually using it. So were there any recommendations actually 106 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 4: around the experience of those using the medically supervised injecting 107 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 4: room the people actually accessing it? 108 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,160 Speaker 2: Well, what I found about the people actually accessing it 109 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,480 Speaker 2: is that the facility doesn't do quite enough to provide 110 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:32,279 Speaker 2: this sense of broader health and social support to those 111 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:34,840 Speaker 2: who enter the facility. So let me kind of put 112 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 2: that in perspective for you. According to the review, thirty 113 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:41,160 Speaker 2: five percent of people using the facility are homeless, and 114 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 2: thirty nine percent of people meet the criteria for post 115 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:47,359 Speaker 2: traumatic stress disorder. Now, thinking about that, in the general population, 116 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,279 Speaker 2: about one percent of people meet the criteria for post 117 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:54,600 Speaker 2: traumatic stress disorder, so it's disproportionately high inside the facility, 118 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 2: and the review found that the facility's capacity to provide 119 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 2: more general support and we're talking about things like access 120 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:04,359 Speaker 2: to mental health care and housing was limited and should 121 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:08,359 Speaker 2: be improved. Now, the government accepted this recommendation and says 122 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 2: it will expand the capacity and expertise of the facility 123 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 2: staff to provide this support. 124 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 4: We'll be back right after this. In order to actually 125 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 4: make this room permanent, the government does need to introduce legislation, 126 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 4: and that legislation needs to pass through parliament. Is it 127 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 4: expected to pass I imagine it's fairly controversial. 128 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 2: It is, but it's also expected to pass parliament. The 129 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 2: government requires the support of either the Coalition or five 130 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 2: others to pass through the state's upper house. The Coalition 131 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,440 Speaker 2: says it supports an injection room, but not in Richmond, 132 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 2: citing concerns about the current location near a primary school. 133 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 2: But the Greens support making the facility permanent, so it 134 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 2: should get through the house. 135 00:07:58,560 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 4: So we know that there's going to be at least 136 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 4: one permanent medically supervised injecting room in Melbourne. Can you 137 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 4: run me through how common this type of facility is? 138 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:10,280 Speaker 4: I guess in broader Australia. Are there other rooms? 139 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 2: Well, this one that we're talking about today in Richmond 140 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:16,840 Speaker 2: is the second medically supervised injection room. It follows one 141 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 2: set up in King's Cross in Sydney in two thousand 142 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 2: and one, and there's some research that was put out 143 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,679 Speaker 2: last year by UNSW and Western Sydney UNI that found 144 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 2: that the Sydney Injecting Room has saved the lives of 145 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:31,040 Speaker 2: nearly eleven thousand people who have overdosed on the premises. 146 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 2: But apart from that, those two are the only active 147 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:36,719 Speaker 2: safe injecting room sites in Australia. 148 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:40,840 Speaker 4: I mean, hearing those numbers certainly spells out a compelling 149 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 4: argument for more of these sorts of rooms. Is there 150 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 4: a push to have more either outside of Sydney or 151 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 4: Melbourne or within those cities where one already exists. 152 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 2: Well, there's actually already plans for a second room in 153 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:55,560 Speaker 2: Melbourne's CBD, but there's some delays there in where they're 154 00:08:55,559 --> 00:08:58,319 Speaker 2: going to put that one. There's also been persistent calls 155 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 2: for another safe injecting room in Sydney for many years now, 156 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:05,080 Speaker 2: and particularly to serve those in Western Sydney. There was 157 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 2: some really interesting research that came out of UNSW that 158 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 2: looked at where the most overdose deaths in Sydney are 159 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 2: and the local government area where the safe injecting room 160 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 2: currently is is also that where there's the most overdose deaths, 161 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:22,600 Speaker 2: but the second area is in southwestern Sydney LGAs and 162 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 2: that's based on data from two thousand and six to 163 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,439 Speaker 2: twenty fifteen. But there's no indication that a call for 164 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 2: another site in Western Sydney has been taken up by politicians. 165 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 2: Then if we look at the nation's capital. At the 166 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 2: end of last year, the Act government issued this new 167 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:41,439 Speaker 2: Drug Strategy Action Plan and that also involves pill testing 168 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 2: at festivals, and that commits them to introducing a supervised 169 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:50,320 Speaker 2: injecting service. They had an interesting community consultation process for 170 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 2: this and sixty five percent of Camberan's surveyed said they 171 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 2: supported the idea. Now, again we don't have a sense 172 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 2: of when an injection site might be implemented, but we 173 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 2: will keep you on the loop if we hear of anything. 174 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 4: This whole conversation goes to the bigger idea about harm 175 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 4: minimization and harm minimization when it comes to drug taking, 176 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 4: and that's the logic that people are going to take 177 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:16,800 Speaker 4: these drugs, but that the government should be minimizing the 178 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,320 Speaker 4: harm that is caused by that drug taking. It's the 179 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:23,640 Speaker 4: same logic that underpins another approach to drugs, which is 180 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 4: pill testing, and you mentioned it there in the Act. 181 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 4: What's the latest on that. 182 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:32,559 Speaker 2: Definitely a topic that sparks the interest of our audience, Zara. 183 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,080 Speaker 2: So when that first opened in July last year, it 184 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:38,000 Speaker 2: was for an initial six month pilot, but in January 185 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:39,679 Speaker 2: of this year, at the end of that pilot, we 186 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:41,840 Speaker 2: heard that the program was going to be extended until 187 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 2: August of this year. Now, according to the Act government, 188 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:47,959 Speaker 2: the program tested three hundred and seventy one samples of 189 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:51,319 Speaker 2: drugs in its first six months, and around fifteen percent 190 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,559 Speaker 2: of those samples were discarded by clients after the testing. 191 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:56,560 Speaker 2: Then a couple of weeks ago, we got some news 192 00:10:56,559 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 2: from Queensland where pill testing was legalized, and the government 193 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 2: up there is working on a plan for how that 194 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 2: program is going to actually function, and we'll bring you 195 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 2: those details when they come to light. 196 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:08,440 Speaker 4: I think it's a really interesting conversation to have it, 197 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:11,000 Speaker 4: certainly when we've had around the office around the merits 198 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 4: and indeed the comms of a harm minimization approach. But 199 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:18,160 Speaker 4: it certainly feels like governments at different paces. But certainly 200 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,679 Speaker 4: governments are starting to take steps in that direction, and 201 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:25,280 Speaker 4: I think it'll be fascinating to see whether there's any unity, 202 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:29,200 Speaker 4: any consistency across the board here in Australia, but we'll 203 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:30,439 Speaker 4: have to wait and see what happens. 204 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,440 Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us on the Daily Ods this morning. 205 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 2: If you learn something from today's episode, don't forget to 206 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:47,120 Speaker 2: hit subscribe so there's a TVA episode waiting for you 207 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 2: every morning. We'll be back again tomorrow. Until then, have 208 00:11:50,280 --> 00:12:03,640 Speaker 2: a great day.