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2025

  • Submission to Fair Work Commission | Gender based undervaluation – priority awards review
    • June 3, 2025
    • Posted by: Trudi Jordan
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    The Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA) has lodged a submission to the Fair Work Commission in response to its discussion paper on gender-based undervaluation within the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (SCHADS).

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  • VAADA State Budget Analysis 2025-2026
    • June 2, 2025
    • Posted by: Trudi Jordan
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    VAADA’s analysis of the 2025–26 Victorian State Budget reveals a modest 1.2% increase in AOD funding—well below CPI and not enough to meet rising demand. While we welcome targeted investments in pharmacotherapy, multicultural youth programs, and outreach services in North Richmond, the lack of meaningful growth in core funding places further pressure on a system already stretched beyond capacity. The forthcoming 10-year AOD Strategy presents an opportunity to rebuild. But it must be backed by proper investment and a funded implementation plan. Read our full analysis to understand what the Budget means for the future of alcohol and other drug services in Victoria.

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  • Submission to Infrastructure Victoria
    • June 2, 2025
    • Posted by: Trudi Jordan
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    Over the next 30 years, Victoria’s Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) sector will need to contend with a complex and evolving array of public health challenges, including the prioritisation of integrated treatment for those experiencing co-occurring health and wellbeing issues that involve AOD; an ever changing drug market and risks to health arising from novel psychoactive substances; as well as increasing demand for AOD treatment (including from Victorians currently underserviced by existing services and infrastructure).

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  • Drug adulteration from potent synthetic opioids remains a nationwide risk
    • April 16, 2025
    • Posted by: Caitlyn Wilson
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    The tragic overdose fatalities of four individuals in Broadmeadows in 2024 highlight the urgency of a Potent Synthetic Opioid Plan. With a further 601 fatal overdoses occurring in Victoria in the 23-24 financial year, the time to act is now.

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  • Mental Health Presentations in the AOD Sector | Highlighting the challenge and working towards solutions
    • March 27, 2025
    • Posted by: Trudi Jordan
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    This report, drawing on data provided by the Victorian alcohol and other drug (AOD) sector and correlated against data from the Victorian Agency for Health Information, confirms long held anecdotal evidence, that people presenting for alcohol and drug treatment in Victoria do so with very high levels of mental illness and psychological distress.

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