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Two people dead after attending Knockout Outdoor music festival in Western Sydney
President of Harm Reduction Australia and Pill Testing Australia Gino Vumbaca said his offer to conduct free trials had been knocked back by the state government for the past five years. […]
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Fresh calls to end use of sniffer dogs at festivals after report finds low success rate
New figures indicate drug detection dogs have a low success rate. Some are urging for an end to their use at music festivals – as well as the practice of strip searches – and the implementation of pill testing. […]
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They save lives and keep the public safe. Should there be more of these rooms in Australia?
The Victorian government is facing renewed pressure to “save lives” by creating more safe injecting rooms, but experts explain stigma could be leading to “cold feet”. […]
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‘Out of control’: new findings suggest NSW Police aren’t abiding by strip search procedures
Gino Vumbaca, President of Harm Reduction Australia and Pill Testing Australia, questioned why strip searching has to continue in the first place. “I think what’s fundamentally missing from this report is an understanding of the impact of strip searching people, and young people at that” […]
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Drug-detection dogs are wrong more than right, data reveals
NSW Police drug-detection dogs incorrectly detect illicit substances on patrons 75 per cent of the time, raising questions about the efficacy of enforcement as the state’s festival season starts. […]
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Health experts say Victoria should prepare struggling drug therapy system for fentanyl influx
Victorian public health experts have warned an influx of the opioid fentanyl will result in thousands of overdoses due to the state’s ill-equipped drug therapy system. […]
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Waiting for a crisis: Fears as NSW enters festival season without drug reform
Harm Reduction Australia has offered to run a free pill testing trial at any festival of the NSW government’s choosing, but has been told no decisions will be made until after a drug summit. […]
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Want a healthier, safer CBD? Open an overdose prevention centre
The journey to establish an overdose prevention service – also known as a supervised injecting room – in Melbourne’s CBD started 25 years ago. The first injecting room in the CBD was proposed in the mid-1990s attracting widespread support from the community, health sector and the then Kennett government, but failed to materialise. […]
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HRA submission to the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT) process to develop a new International Gender Equality Strategy
HRA believes that it is critical that drug policy issues and the need for fundamental reform arenot seen as ‘unrelated’ or ‘marginal’ to gender equality and international development but rather ascentral to Australia’s foreign policy, international development, humanitarian action, trade, andsecurity efforts. […]
