Monthly Newsletter | Edition 32

Editorial

Dear Colleagues, 

The Coroner’s Court of Victoria released annual overdose data for 2024, revealing that 584 people lost their lives to fatal overdose in the year just gone. This is the highest number of fatal overdoses in Victoria for a single year. To put this into context, 1 person is dying every 15 hours as a result of fatal overdose from alcohol and other drugs in Victoria. No Victorian community is spared the grief, with 80% of local government areas in Victoria experiencing at least one fatality in 2024.

The City of Melbourne leads the way in preventable deaths from fatal overdose with a staggering 42 people dying in 2024. This outcome is in the year when a planned safe injecting room for the CBD was shelved by the Victorian Government. Of equal concern is the exponential growth in fatalities in regional communities like Greater Geelong which has seen a tripling in the number of fatal overdoses over the last decade (35 in 2024) and in metropolitan growth corridors like Wyndham (20) and Hume (22) which all posted the largest number of fatal overdoses in a single year on record.

The despair for each life lost is exacerbated for those left behind by the perceived lack of community outrage and political action to address this toll. It is an ambivalence grounded in stigma and discrimination that people with substance use issues continue to experience each day. August 31^st marks International Overdose Awareness Day, an occasion to remember lives lost to preventable death. Thank you to VAADA member organisations who hosted a range of community events across Victoria to commemorate the day.

I had the privilege of attending Yarra Drug & Health Forum's event at Collingwood Neighbourhood House, where I got to hear from and meet the founder of Overdose Awareness Day, Sally Finn. I was genuinely inspired by Sally’s story of starting the day as a single event with a $750 donation in 2001 in response to heroin deaths in St Kilda. Sally’s ongoing commitment to drug harm reduction and overdose awareness gave me a lot of strength and reminds me how change in AOD policy is built on the advocacy of passionate people like Sally. This is why we are celebrating the recent opening of the Victorian Pill Testing Service in Fitzroy, which in its first weeks of operation has already detected nitazenes in a fake oxycodone tablet.  The drug checking service and enhanced early warning system that it supports are interventions that will save lives.

Chris Christoforou
Chief Executive Officer

VAADA Updates

This devastating data from the Coroners Court of Victoria highlights the urgent need to rebalance funding on how we address alcohol and other drug (AOD) use in the community. Currently, two-thirds of all funding goes towards policing, with treatment services stretched beyond capacity. 

As Victoria finalises its 10-year AOD Strategy, reducing this toll must be a top priority. Evidence-based harm reduction, such as expanding medically supervised injecting services, is critical to saving lives.

“These deaths are not inevitable. They’re a consequence of inaction. We must invest in proven harm-reduction strategies—injecting facilities, peer support, and drug checking—especially for people using alone at home.”

Read and tune in:

VAADA recently hosted a member-only State Budget Consultation at its Abbotsford office. More than 30 leaders from across Victoria attended, with discussion centering on solutions to enhance service delivery and client outcomes, system planning and design, workforce, training and education and intersecting systems, settings and supports.

A big thank you to the following organisations who contributed their time and wisdom today — your voices strengthen our collective advocacy.

VAADA, with the support of Murray PHN, is establishing a Community of Practice (CoP) for AOD workers in the Murray region. The aim is to create a dedicated space where workers can connect, share practice experiences, and strengthen their professional skills. This initiative has emerged from recognising the strong desire for capacity building within the AOD workforce in the Murray region.

A survey will be distributed shortly to AOD workers across the region to identify what topics and areas would be most valuable. Please be on the lookout for this survey – your input will help shape the direction and content of the CoP. If you would like to discuss this initiative further, contact Esther Toomey, Project Coordinator.

VAADA has Partnered with Bendigo Kangan Institute and its new Centre for Excellence in Health and Community.

VAADA is thrilled to announce an agreement with Bendigo Kangan Institute (BKI). to collaborate on building a skilled, capable and sustainable AOD workforce. This partnership will strengthen engagement between the AOD sector and the TAFE sector, exploring ways to aligning vocational education and training with sector priorities to support workforce development in the AOD sector.

Learn more about AOD courses offered through BKI at the Broadmeadows campus  and Bendigo campus. 

Zhengning (Ning) Duan is a second-year Social Work Master’s student from La Trobe University, Ning has chosen to complete his final placement here at VAADA which will run from August to November 2025. The placement is part of a Memorandum of Understanding developed between La Trobe and VAADA which aims to strengthen collaborating on research and other projects that address joint priorities.

Ning says he was drawn to VAADA because of its strong role in policy, advocacy and harm reduction within the AOD sector. He is eager to learn how evidence, lived experience and sector collaboration contribute to meaningful change in AOD practice across Victoria. Over the next 14 weeks he hopes to strengthen his skills in research and advocacy. He also aims to gain insight into how core social work values of person-centred practice and critical thinking can be applied at a broader, systemic level.

VAADA was pleased to host the ARRCH (Alliance of Rural and Regional Community Health) CEOs for their bi-monthly meeting. It was great to connect and share insights on strengthening community health across Victoria and to hear about the type of AOD service challenges rural and regional communities face. 💡🤝

Thanks for joining us:
Mandy Hutchinson, CEO Bendigo Community Health Services
David Wild, CEO Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health
Daniel Ciccosillo, Interim CEO Nexus Primary Health
Sean Duffy, CEO Ballarat Community Health
Anne-Maree Kaser, CEO Gippsland Lakes Complete Health
Greg Little, CEO Grampians Community Health
Kathy Russelll, CEO Bellarine Community Health
Penny Wilkinson, CEO Northern District Community Health
Trish Quibell, CEO Primary Care Connect
Darren Midgley, CEO Sunraysia Community Health Services

Did you know you can hire our meeting space at VAADA? Click below for more info and to get in touch.

Family Violence

VAADA to continue strengthening Specialist Family Violence Advisors across the AOD sector
Further funding for statewide coordination of the SFVA Capability Program ensures safe, informed, and sustainable responses to family violence in alcohol and other drug services.

VAADA is proud of the extraordinary work of the Specialist Family Violence Advisors (SFVAs) in the Alcohol and Other Drugs sector, and we’re delighted that the Department of Health is continuing to invest in this critical work. VAADA will continue supporting the coordination of the AOD SFVA Capability Program across Victoria for a further two years.

SFVA’s play an essential role in strengthening safe, accountable, and healing-informed responses for people experiencing and using family violence in the context of substance use. Additionally, SFVA’s also build sector capability, foster cross-sector collaboration, and work to ensure that family violence practice in AOD settings is informed, responsive, and sustainable.

Workforce Development

Coming up on Elevate...

Sector Updates