Effective, just, humane drug policies
Reducing the potential harms associated with drug use and drug policies
Treatment Equity Project
Advocating for a more affordable, accessible and equitable Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) in Australia.
Pill Testing Australia
Advocating for and providing evidence-based pill testing services Australia-wide.
Drive Change
Advocating for drug driving and medicinal cannabis reforms that are fair, equal and improve public health.
Our impact
HRA has a commitment to making change happen. Here’s some of our outcomes.
Opioid Treatment
Led a national advocacy campaign that resulted in ground-breaking reforms to the affordability of the Opioid Treatment Program for over 50,000 Australians
Pill testing
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
drug driving
Led nationwide campaign to reform current discriminatory drug driving laws against people prescribed medicinal cannabis
drug testing
Advocated on the negative impacts of workplace drug testing for people prescribed medicinal cannabis
Night Coach is a public health service provided by health professionals to deliver information and announcements aimed at reducing a range of drug-related harms in the community.
News
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HRA Submission to DAP Program Logic & KPIs
HRA took the opportunity to provide feedback on the draft Drug and Alcohol Program (DAP) Program Logic and KPIs, which will inform the development of the new Grant Opportunity Guidelines (GOGs) for the Commonwealth Department of Health, Disability & Ageing. We are particularly concerned about the absence of harm reduction as a core pillar within the…
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HRA 2025 AOD Data Report
Following the successful inaugural report early last year, we are back with another comprehensive overview of the key national data sources on alcohol & other drugs (AOD) and harm reduction. This report brings together key data from the routine data monitoring systems and national surveys on AOD issues. Until last year, those with an interest…
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WA’s New Illicit Tobacco & Vape Laws: Tougher Isn’t Better…
A Harm Reduction Perspective… Western Australia has recently moved to introduce some of the harshest penalties in the country for illicit tobacco and vaping offences. This blog explores this concerning development from a harm reduction perspective and why residents of WA, and frankly all Australians, should be concerned about the increasing creep of the criminal…
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Prohibitive policies drove organised crime in Australia 100 years ago. It’s happening again…
Organised crime has a long history in Australia. For more than a century, criminal groups have accumulated vast fortunes, committed countless acts of intimidation and coercion and, at times, extreme and spectacular violence. But, as James Martin (HRA Tobacco Harm Reduction Adviser & Deakin Uni Criminologist) and Ed Jegasothy (Senior Lecturer, Sydney Uni) highlight in…
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Calls to Expand THN Program…
Great piece in Pharmacy Daily today with comments from HRA Board member, Dr Chris Alderman to support the launch of our new Take-Home Naloxone Policy Brief. Read the piece here… https://www.pharmacydaily.com.au/news/calls-to-expand-thn-program/118673
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Take-Home Naloxone Policy Brief
Take-Home, Take Action: Improving Naloxone Uptake in Australia. Naloxone is a safe and effective drug that temporarily reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. While a National Take-Home Naloxone (THN) Program has been established, the distribution of THN remains suboptimal across Australia. HRA’s new Take-Home Naloxone Policy Brief outlines the current state of play and makes…