We welcome the news from the Victorian Government this week that the medically supervised injecting room at North Richmond will be made permanent. Following an independent review it was announced that the facility will move beyond the trial phase, and that legislation will be introduced to ensure that the injecting room will remain ongoing.
In 2020, the Victorian Government committed to establishing a second supervised injecting room, to be located in Melbourne’s CBD. There has been no further updates on the CBD injecting room, despite evidence that drug harms are continuing in the CBD. The Coroner’s Court report released in February 2023 showed that around one person dies of heroin overdose per month in the City of Melbourne.
Together with 80 other organisations from the health, justice, alcohol and drug, homelessness and youth sector, we have signed a joint letter calling for a CBD supervised injecting service. You can read the letter here.
You can read more about the benefits to the community of the North Richmond facility on the Department of Health website, this includes a tour of the injecting room.
Since it was opened in June 2018:
- 6,355 overdoses have been safely managed
- 2,547 homelessness support services were provided
- 296 clients have started hepatitis C treatment onsite
- 112,00 health and social support services have been provided onsite including dental, wound care, mental health support, family violence support and material aid
(Source: North Richmond Community Health)
