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Whole of Government Victorian Alcohol and Drug Strategy
The Victorian Government is committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of all Victorians, and is committed to reforming the way that the Government, business, families and communities work together to address alcohol and drug related harms in Victoria.
Currently 1 in 10 Victorians drink at risky levels at least weekly, and alcohol consumption is a major contributor to disease, injury and other social harms. In the period since 1999, there has been a 47 per cent increase in alcohol-related hospital admissions and a 49 per cent increase in alcohol-related assaults. At the same time there have been significant increases in alcohol-related ambulance attendances and road trauma.
Over the same period, there have been ongoing problems with the use of illicit drugs. While the numbers of people using cannabis, amphetamine type substances, pharmaceutical drugs, hallucinogens and opioids have remained relatively steady, their harms continue to be a major burden for Victorians.
Pharmaceutical drug misuse and the development of synthetic drugs are emerging as new challenges in this area.
The Government is developing a whole of government Victorian Alcohol and Drug Strategy to address these concerns and its objectives are to:
- Decrease the current rates of alcohol and other drug abuse in Victoria.
- Reduce the amount of harm that alcohol and other drug abuse causes in the community.
- Increase access to treatment options so that people with an alcohol or drug problem can get help when they need it.
Helping shape the Strategy – the Expert Advisory Group (EAG)
The Victorian Government sought advice from an independent advisory group which met regularly between July 2011 and April 2012. The Group provided expert advice on alcohol and other drugs issues to inform the development of the Strategy.
The membership of the EAG reflected diverse interests including from across health, education, justice, business, local government and community groups.
The Consultation Process
The Department of Health and the EAG held a series of meetings and consultation forums in 2011. A public submissions process was held between 7 August 2011 and 21 September 2011. The discussion paper prepared to inform that process can be found here.
Whole of government Victorian alcohol and drug strategy - Community Consultation
The Victorian Government is encouraging Victorians to provide comment and ideas on how the harms associated with alcohol and drugs can be reduced - this will help shape the Strategy, including reflections on the current treatment system, role of government and ideas for reforms in specific areas.
Copies of all Public Submissions (except those marked as confidential) are available on this site. Thanks to all the individuals and organisations that lodged a submission.
In addition, with the support of Mental Health Minister Mary Wooldridge the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA) undertook additional community engagement on alcohol and drug reform. The consultations included an online forum, a series of street surveys and focus groups that ran in metropolitan and regional Victoria. The report from this consultation process has been released.
Information on alcohol and drug reviews, reports and evaluations
A comprehensive review of program specific and service system reviews was conducted as part of the Victorian Auditor General’s Office (VAGO) report into AOD prevention and treatment programs that was released in March 2011.
The reviews referred to in the VAGO report are contained below. The Government is keen to provide as much information to interested parties as possible to inform the development of the strategy. These reports and reviews have mainly been produced for the Department of Health, and provide a reference point for the consultations that will be conducted as part of the development of the Strategy.
Victorian Auditor-General's Office review documents
The Department of Health publishes a range of data and reports on alcohol and drug issues - visit our publications page to find these published reports.
Keeping in touch with the Strategy
Should you wish to be informed of updates to this website, please email aodstrategy@health.vic.gov.au to join our mailing list.
Alternatively, you can email the Strategy team directly at aodstrategy@health.vic.gov.au.
Victorian AOD Strategy Team
Department of Health
Level 17
50 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne Vic 3000
Email: aodstrategy@health.vic.gov.au
