Publications

We stand in support of the trial of a supervised injecting service in the City of Melbourne. The proposal for a supervised injecting service in the CBD will save lives, give highly vulnerable people access to treatment support and healthcare, and reduce public injecting and needle litter in our city. But this is not...

The Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA) welcomes the release of the key findings and recommendations from the final report into the Review of the Medically Supervised Injecting Room (the report). We welcome the continuation of the Medically Supervised Injecting Room (MSIR) and commend the government on their ongoing support of this service. The...

PRESS RELEASE 5/3/2023 While yet to be formally announced, The Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA) supports the continuation of the Medically Supervised Injecting Room (MSIR) in North Richmond beyond the conclusion of its trial in June this year as well as the introduction of additional medically supervised injecting facilities. There are a number...

VAADA is pleased to provide this submission to the National Mental Health Commissions draft National Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Strategy consultation and welcomes the Commission’s recognition of (i) the impact of stigma, (ii) the different forms of stigma – structural, public and self – and (iii) the importance of society wide efforts to address...

VAADA 2023 Submission into ‘Australia ‘s illicit drug problem: Challenges and opportunities for law enforcement’ Recommendations and findings Finding 1 Law enforcement activities have a deleterious impact on people who use illicit drugs. Finding 2 Law enforcement activity does not make any significant impact on reducing the supply of illicit drugs. Finding 3 Australia...

Background The Mental Health and Wellbeing Promotion Office in its task to develop a Statewide Wellbeing Strategy, following the recommendation from Victoria’s Mental Health Royal Commission, sought submissions from various communities. The Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA) conducted a 2 hour consultation with 28 representatives of the Victorian alcohol and drug Sector in...

The past year has brought many challenges to Victoria’s alcohol and drug (AOD) sector. At VAADA we have dealt with a range of issues spanning Covid-19, mental health reform, workforce development, program development and increasing community demand for services. This year’s annual report provides an insight into some of this activity. Over the past...

Introduction The Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA) welcome the opportunity to comment on the development of a new Eating Disorders Strategy in Victoria. As is recognised in the discussion paper, and further through this document, there is a strong correlation between substance use, abuse and dependence, disordered eating behaviours and eating disorders. The...

1. About VAADA VAADA is a non-government peak organisation representing Victoria’s publicly-funded alcohol and other drug (AOD) services. VAADA aims to support and promote strategies that prevent and reduce the harms associated with AOD use across the Victorian community. VAADA’s purpose is to lead AOD policy, workforce development and public discussion across membership, related...

Press release 12/10/2022 Greens announcement for additional AOD capacity and drug law reform most welcome   The Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA) welcomes the AOD policies announced by the Greens on 10 October. These policies will lead to: The initial decriminalisation of all drugs (1 January 2023); The regulation of cannabis (1...