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2024

  • Submission to the Social and Legal Issues Standing Committee | Review of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Regulation of Personal Adult Use of Cannabis) Bill 2023
    • December 16, 2024
    • Posted by: Trudi Jordan
    • Category:
    No Comments

    VAADA are pleased to provide this submission. This Bill is an opportunity for Victoria to align its drug laws with the values and realities of todays society. The Bill’s modest, evidence-based proposed changes will reduce harms associated with coercive and harsh criminalisation and enable law enforcement to better focus its resources on serious crime, marking a positive step for Victoria’s drug laws.

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  • VAADA Annual Report 2024
    • December 3, 2024
    • Posted by: Trudi Jordan
    • Category:
    No Comments

    Over the past year, the VAADA team has remained committed to addressing a disjointed and at times, fragmented service system. We have chosen to drive our efforts to advocate for meaningful reform and enhanced service delivery around access to treatment, data gaps, workforce sustainability, funding and the integration of intersecting systems of care.

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  • VAADA State Budget Submission 2025 | Fixing the Foundations
    • November 26, 2024
    • Posted by: Trudi Jordan
    • Category:
    No Comments

    VAADA is pleased to present its 2025 State Budget Submission Fixing the Foundations, which offers a range of solutions to address enduring challenges with the AOD service system in Victoria, that meet growing demand for treatment and support, and which can respond to new and emerging threats to community wellbeing.

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  • Submission to the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport | Inquiry into the health impacts of alcohol and other drugs in Australia
    • November 14, 2024
    • Posted by: Trudi Jordan
    • Category:
    No Comments

    Following a referral from the Minister for Health and Aged Care, the Hon Mark Butler MP, on 22 August 2024 the House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport initiated an inquiry into the health impacts of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) in Australia. This inquiry aims to address the profound effects of AOD on individuals, families and communities, and to recommend improvements to the coordination and effectiveness of treatment services, community programs, and policies.

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  • Developing an AOD Strategy for Victoria
    • November 7, 2024
    • Posted by: Trudi Jordan
    • Category:
    No Comments

    In April 2024, the Victorian Government announced its commitment to develop a new AOD Strategy as part of the $95.1 million Statewide AOD Action Plan. This paper explores shared values, concerns, and potential solutions from Victoria’s AOD sector to inform the development of this Strategy.

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  • Treatment Delayed is Treatment Denied
    • September 23, 2024
    • Posted by: Trudi Jordan
    • Category:
    No Comments

    VAADA’s seventh sector demand survey reveals that more Victorians are waiting for AOD treatment than at any time since the pandemic. Following a survey of 38 service providers across Victoria between June and July 2024, at least 4615 people were waiting for some form of AOD treatment on any given day within that period. This figure is 93% higher than the September 2020 result of 2385 people on the daily waitlist.

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  • Care and Complexity: Towards a re-designed Victorian AOD Service System
    • September 10, 2024
    • Posted by: Trudi Jordan
    • Category:
    No Comments

    In 2023, the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA), engaged the Drug Policy Modelling Program, University of New South Wales (UNSW), to review the current state of the Victorian Alcohol & Other Drug (AOD) treatment system.

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  • Submission to Inquiry into Women’s Pain
    • August 1, 2024
    • Posted by: Trudi Jordan
    • Category:
    No Comments

    VAADA is pleased to have made a submission to the Inquiry into Women’s Pain. Our submission highlights the service gaps and systemic limitations at the intersection of women’s pain and

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  • Keeping Victorians Safe | Victoria needs a potent synthetic opioids plan
    • July 8, 2024
    • Posted by: Trudi Jordan
    • Category:
    No Comments

    Potent synthetic opioids like fentanyl and nitazenes are a looming threat to our community. In response, Harm Reduction Victoria and the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA) have developed a comprehensive paper urging the Victorian Government and sector to implement a coordinated Potent Synthetic Opioids Plan.

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  • VAADA Press Release | Drug checking trial will save lives
    • June 25, 2024
    • Posted by: Trudi Jordan
    • Category:
    No Comments

    VAADA and the AOD sector are celebrating as the Victorian Government has announced their commitment to a drug checking implementation trial in Victoria. VAADA has been actively advocating for this over the past 12 months and we look forward to supporting its development. Earlier this year Harm Reduction Victoria and VAADA developed a report “Drug Checking: Principles of Practice” we anticipate that this will inform the trial.

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