Effective, just, humane drug policies

Reducing the potential harms associated with drug use and drug policies

Advocating for and providing evidence-based pill testing services Australia-wide.

Advocating for drug driving and medicinal cannabis reforms that are fair, equal and improve public health.

Take part in Australia’s first online harm reduction course.

HRA has a commitment to making change happen. Here’s some of our outcomes.

Led a national advocacy campaign that resulted in ground-breaking reforms to the affordability of the Opioid Treatment Program for over 50,000 Australians

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Conducted Australia’s first legal pill testing trial at a festival in the ACT in 2018 and delivered the first festival-based pill testing service in Qld in 2024

Led nationwide campaign to reform current discriminatory drug driving laws against people prescribed medicinal cannabis 

Advocated on the negative impacts of workplace drug testing for people prescribed medicinal cannabis

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News

  • Harm Reduction Australia backs tobacco harm reduction

    Harm Reduction Australia backs tobacco harm reduction

    From the 1st of October, Australians will legally be able to purchase nicotine vaping products from participating pharmacies. While an improvement on previous legislation which required people to acquire a medical prescription to purchase a vape, this approach remains inadequate and imposes significant barriers for people seeking alternatives to deadly cigarettes. Tobacco harm reduction focuses…

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  • Synthetic Opioid Detected in Broadmeadows Deaths – Time for Action to Prevent Further Deaths

    Synthetic Opioid Detected in Broadmeadows Deaths – Time for Action to Prevent Further Deaths

    Police investigating the deaths of four people in Broadmeadows on 25 June 2024, have now revealed that a synthetic opioid was detected in the bodies of all four people. Investigations are ongoing, and although Victoria Police have ruled out fentanyl, they have confirmed that preliminary tests found the presence of a synthetic opioid. Harm Reduction…

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  • HRA talks with Antony Loewenstein

    HRA talks with Antony Loewenstein

    HRA’s CEO Annie Madden spoke with renowned author Antony Loewenstein about the future of drug policy in Australia and around the world.

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  • New Report Exposes Chronic Under-funding of Life Saving Harm Reduction Services

    New Report Exposes Chronic Under-funding of Life Saving Harm Reduction Services

    Executive Director, Dr Annie Madden AO said “this first report in the ‘drug budget’ series in over a decade exposes the ‘clay feet’ of Australian drug policy. For decades Australian governments have sold the lie that Australia’s National Drug Strategy is based on a balanced approach to addressing illicit drug use across supply, demand and…

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  • Victorian medicinal cannabis patients will be allowed behind the wheel to test road safety

    Victorian medicinal cannabis patients will be allowed behind the wheel to test road safety

    The Australian Legal Alliance (ALA) has also called for the prosecution of medicinal cannabis patients who are driving while unimpaired to be paused while the trial is undertaken. ALA national president Shaun Marcus said drivers were being prosecuted merely for having a substance in their body rather than potentially dangerous impaired driving. “That is not…

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  • Experts Sign Open Letter To Legalise Drugs In New Zealand

    Experts Sign Open Letter To Legalise Drugs In New Zealand

    Today, a new organisation, Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa (HRCA) launched with the submission of an Open Letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, signed by a plethora of professors, academics, researchers, clinicians, health professionals, NGO workers, drug consumers, and members of the public calling for the legalisation and regulation of all drugs.

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