Author Archives: James

Forum: Predictors of deferral of treatment of hepatitis C infection in Australian Clinics

Sydney forum coming up:

You are invited to a forum where Heather Gidding* will discuss a recent paper: Predictors of deferral of treatment of hepatitis C infection in Australian Clinics (MJA 2011; 194: 398-402).

The researchers concluded that factors related to drug and alcohol use, rather than clinical factors, influenced uptake of treatment for HCV, and that further support for patients with drug and alcohol dependency is required to optimise treatment uptake.

Heather will also speak on other research into hospitalisations for people with hepatitis C – as compared to those for the general public. There will be time for questions and general discussion.

If you work with hepatitis C treatment or in the AOD field, we hope that you’ll be able to attend this forum.

Where: Hepatitis NSW, 349 Crown St, SURRY HILLS (cnr Crown & Albion Sts)

When: 12 midday to 1:30pm, Monday 18 July.

Transport/Parking: 2hr parking is available in nearby streets. We are well served by public transport. Click to see map.

RSVP: to pharvey@hep.org.au or phone 9332 1853 by Thurs 14 July.

* Heather is from the Kirby Institute (previously known as the National Centre in HIV Epidemiological and Clinical Research)

Jobs: Mobile Drug Safety Worker – Victoria

Mobile Drug Safety Worker 0.8EFT
Health Works is a program of Western Region Health Centre which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people who inject drugs in the western suburbs of Melbourne. The role of the Mobile Drug Safety Worker is to work with people who inject drugs, other Health Works’ staff and other key individuals and services, to coordinate and deliver health promotion strategies for the injecting community at Health Works and the surrounding street based drug markets. The applicant will have a tertiary qualification in a relevant discipline, knowledge of and commitment to harm reduction, community health and health promotion principles and practices, experience in the development and delivery of educational workshops and a detailed understanding of safer injecting practices and other health and welfare issues relevant to people who inject drugs.

For more information and a position description please contact Lauren Wellington on 03 9680 1139 or visit our website http://www.wrhc.com.au/jobs.html

Julia Gillard announces 2011 Drug and Alcohol Award Winners

MESSAGE FROM PRIME MINISTER JULIA GILLARD

Every day, thousands of dedicated professionals offer their experience, expertise and compassion to those struggling with the consequences of drug use.

Their interventions help protect public health, reduce crime, and enable users to come to terms with their condition and regain control of their future.

If these are difficult endeavours, they are never thankless. Rather our hardworking drug and alcohol workers have the nation’s gratitude and admiration.

In that spirit, I offer my sincerest congratulations to Judge Roger Dive, a worthy recipient of the 2011 Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence and Outstanding Contribution to Drug and Alcohol Endeavours.

Judge Dive, a Senior Judge of the NSW Drug Court, has worked tirelessly to promote a humane and practical response to offenders with alcohol and drug problems, using the courts to reduce the negative effects of drugs and alcohol on individuals and society.

The innovative work of Judge Dive and his colleagues on the Drug Court is mirrored by a web of government and non-government services across all our States and Territories – a partnership that succeeds through cooperation, goodwill and a shared belief that what we are doing really can make a difference.

Therefore I send my best wishes to Judge Dive and to all his colleagues in the sector, whose work is also honoured by this special award.

I know you will keep doing great things to save and transform lives.

The Honourable Julia Gillard
Prime Minister of Australia

Prime Ministers Award for Excellence

Judge Roger Dive – Parramatta Drug Court

Awards Honour Roll

Professor Robyn Richmond
Dr David McDonald

Excellence in Law Enforcement
The Bourke Alcohol Working Group

Excellence in Media Reporting
Ms Jill Stark, The Age

Excellence in Prevention and Community Education
The W.A. Department of Health’s Multi-systemic Therapy (MST) Program

Excellence in Research
AERF, The Range and Magnitude of Alcohols’ Harm to Others

Excellence in Treatment
Catalyst, UnitingCare Moreland Hall, Victoria

Excellence in School Drug Education
Wollumbin High School

Excellence in Services to Young People
Hello Sunday Morning

Excellence in Creating Healthy Sporting Communities
Eastern Football League

Jobs: Project Officer – Brisbane QLD

Family Drug Support is looking for a project officer to work supporting families of people in drug and alcohol treatment.

The person we are looking for will have an understanding of different drug treatment options and have a working knowledge of family inclusive practice.

This is a National position preferably living in or near Brisbane

Qualifications – Tertiary qualifications required (Cert IV or above in Alcohol or Other Drug Work), social work or other relevant social science.

Remuneration- Position is 3 or 4 days part time. A generous salary package will be negotiated plus motor vehicle, mobile telephone, laptop computer and printer.

Send expression of interest and CV to:

Mr T Trimingham OAM
CEO
Family Drug Support
PO Box 7363
Leura NSW 2780
Email: admin@fds.ngo.org.au

Jobs: Registered Nurse – Cessnock NSW

Registered Nurse Position
Residential Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Therapeutic Community, Cessnock NSW
Permanent Full-time position with flexibility to negotiate part-time.

An exciting new opportunity exists to become part of a small dynamic team within a larger organisation.

WHOS (We Help Ourselves) operates a residential program for people with alcohol and substance use problems; based on the Therapeutic Community model of treatment.

We are looking for an enthusiastic & motivated Registered Nurse to work within our team to provide holistic medical support for our clients who are dealing with substance use issues that often involve a co-occurring mental health condition.

The successful applicant will work to provide expert assistance for the client’s needs for ambulatory withdrawal management, mental health support, support for BBV and STI related issues and general nursing support and referral.

Salary as per the Nurses Award 2010. Salary packaging available
Criminal record checks apply.

Application package including position brief and selection criteria may be obtained from:
Service Manager
WHOS Hunter Valley
hnmgr@whos.com.au or (02) 4991 7000

Closing Date: Friday 8th July 2011

Kronic ban: an open letter

An open letter from Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Jerome Gelb, on recent comments made by Prof. Steve Allsop on the decision by the WA Government to ban synthetic cannabinoid Kronic:

Dear Professor Allsop,

I was disappointed to read your reported comments regarding the knee-jerk reaction of the W.A. Government to the emergence of synthetic cannabinoids, by almost immediate prohibition. I am disturbed by your failure to state emphatically that banning drugs of concern is both dangerous & futile.

In the absence of any evidence that the prohibition of illicit drugs has had anything other than a devastatingly opposite impact on the demand, supply & use of illicit substances than the outcome desired by its instigators, scientists in positions of influence, must remain true to scientific principles & inform both the public & the Government of the facts regarding the utter failure of current drug policies, often labelled as the “War on Drugs”.

The criminalisation of illicit drug use has resulted in the creation of a ruthless black market comprised of numerous, rival organised criminal enterprises that are now wealthy enough to pose a real threat to legitimate governments, both in terms of their unlimited ability to corrupt officials and their ever increasing resources to purchase arms & to equip their members with weapons more modern & lethal than those available to many nations.

Psychoactive substances have been used by humans throughout recorded history & all instances of prohibition as a means of minimising associated harms have been unmitigated disasters.

If you have been keeping abreast of current developments in this issue, you will have read of the Global Commission on Drugs recent meeting and report, the report by LEAP – Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (14,000 Police members), the NYT unprecedented op-ed piece last week by Fmr President Jimmy Carter, the support of decriminalisation, regulation, rehabilitation & education by Richard Branson & George Soros, the statement by former Supreme Court Justice Ken Crispin, the op-ed piece by Fmr NSW DPP Nick Cowdery, the patronage of Australian LEAP by Robert Richter QC and the numerous experts in the AOD field who are frustrated & enraged by the terrible damage accruing to prohibition policies.

You need to seriously consider your stance on this issue & review the evidence in its entirety. If you do, you will cease encouraging bans on drugs & join with the growing, rational, concerned, evidence based side of this crucial health debate, which for far too long has been used as a political football by self-serving politicians.

I implore you to read the above-mentioned reports, to look up the recent Vienna Declaration on Drugs & to engage with those of us who work at the coalface with the addicted, whose illness has been punished by prosecution, incarceration & traumatisation, instead of receiving timely & accessible treatment & psychosocial rehabilitation – all completely unavailable, underfunded & overcrowded due to the massive resources being wasted on interdiction & punishment.

Over to you: which stance do you agree with?

Jobs: Senior Research Officer – NSW

SENIOR RESEARCH OFFICER POSITION VACANT

NSW BUREAU OF CRIME STATISTICS AND RESEARCH (Sydney)

Salary range: $83,832 – $91,580

Total remuneration package valued up to: $101,059

Full-time temporary – until 31 December 2012
The Senior Research Officer will be responsible for conducted a multifaceted evaluation of Youth Justice Conferencing. The evaluation will focus on its cost-effectiveness, levels of satisfaction with Conferencing process, its impact on Aboriginal imprisonment and its impact on the efficiency of the justice system.

Selection criteria
Tertiary qualifications in social or behavioural sciences, with an honours degree or higher
Ability to write research reports to a standard suitable for publication
Previous experience interviewing research participants and/or conducting focus groups
Previous experience developing structured and/or semi-structured questionnaires, and collecting data using survey methodology
Demonstrated understanding of multivariate statistical analyses and familiarity with statistical software packages (e.g. SPSS, SAS, Stata)
Ability to plan and organise work to meet tight deadlines for concurrent projects
Good oral communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical concepts to a non-technical audience

Applications close 8 July 2011

Applicants must obtain an information package and address all criteria in the advertisement.
Applications should be lodged electronically via www.jobs.nsw.gov.au

Information Packages:
Tiziana Trovato: tiziana_trovato@agd.nsw.gov.au (02) 92319190

Enquiries:
Craig Jones: craig_jones@agd.nsw.gov.au (02) 9231 9176

Drug Action Week 2011

Media release from ADCA:

Drug Action Week 2011 – Change the Drinking Culture of Young Australians: As binge drinking has increasingly become a major health issue for all Australians, particularly young people, the Drug Action Week (DAW) 2011 supporting theme today is Change the Drinking Culture of Young Australians.
Since the start of DAW 2011 on Sunday, communities and media organisations across Australia have actively promoted the achievements of the frontline workers in the alcohol and others drugs (AOD) sector who strive to reduce drug-related harm.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA), Mr David Templeman, said that today’s focus was another important element of the overarching theme of Looking after YOUR Mind! which yesterday had Don’t Mix Alcohol and other Drugs as the supporting theme.
“Communities across the country really need to come to grips with the health and economic impact excessive consumption of alcohol is having on all Australians,” Mr Templeman said. “New research estimates the total economic impact of alcohol is $36 billion annually, more than double previous estimates.”
Mr Templeman said that the latest data released yesterday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare indicated that in 2007, 10.3% of people aged 14 and over drank alcohol at levels considered to be risky for long-term health.

“The data also showed that higher proportions of women, aged less than 50 years, consume alcohol at risky levels compared with males in the same age groups,” Mr Templeman said. “In the 14-19 age group, the percentage for young women drinking to excess was close to 11%, rising to over 16% in the 20-29 group. Young men accounted for almost 7% and just over 15% respectively in the two groups.”

Mr Templeman said that while the data concentrated on long-term harm to a person’s health and the relationship to chronic disease, it was important to note that alcohol consumption impacts people in the short-term, and is the main contributor to drug-related deaths, injuries, and hospitalisations.

DAW 2011 has attracted a record 777 activities to raise awareness of AOD issues, and runs through to next Saturday, 25 June. Other supporting DAW 2011 themes are:
· Rural health is a growing concern and tomorrow, Wednesday, 22 June, the theme will be Country Communities “At Risk? from Alcohol and other Drugs. This aims to highlight the need for substantial improvement of resources as regional and remote communities face unique pressures when dealing with issues relating to the misuse of alcohol and other drugs.
· Improve Healthcare Arrangements for Indigenous Communities is the theme for Thursday (23 June) and calls for the upgrading of health services across the country which currently are impacted heavily by attracting and retaining an AOD workforce.
· The theme days will conclude on Friday (24 June) with Invest in AOD Prevention to Reduce Treatment Needs. Initiatives such as DAW underline the need for real investment in prevention and early intervention as only two per cent of health funding is spent on prevention, and 70 per cent goes to providing acute care. We need to keep people out of the hospital system.
NOTE: A complete list of DAW awareness activities planned in local communities can be found by logging onto www.drugactionweek.org.au and viewing Events Calendar.

Media Enquiries: Brian Flanagan, Manager Strategic Communications and Policy – Phone: 02 6215 9802 (w), 0400 860 058 (m), or Email brian.flanagan@adca.org.au.

Facilitator Training – Cairns QLD

SMART RECOVERY FACILITATOR TRAINING – CAIRNS

Due to an increased amount of enquiries from clients wanting to know where they can access a SMART Recovery group in far north Queensland we are planning on doing a SMART Recovery Facilitator Training day in Cairns on 11th August 2011. The aim is to get the SMART Recovery program established in this area of Queensland.

SMART Recovery Australia is a community based, not for profit charity, set up to promote and support the provision of the SMART Recovery program in the community. The SMART Recovery program focuses on changing irrational thinking and behaviours and achieving a healthy lifestyle balance. It is delivered via self-help groups in which participants learn and practice skills derived from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in order to manage and overcome their addictive behaviours. We are currently running over 90 SMART Recovery groups across Australia as well as in several Correctional Facilities.

The training is from 9.30am – 4.30pm and costs $150/person.

For all information about the SMART Recovery program please see our website www.smartrecoveryaustralia.com.au

If you are interested in attending the training please contact SMART Recovery by Monday 18th July 2011 on 02-9373-5100 or email smartrecovery@srau.org.au