10 April 2025
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) welcomes the recently released NSW Drug Summit Report.
The RACP is pleased to see many of the report’s 56 recommendations align with the RACP’s long-standing advocacy and urges the NSW Government to implement them to move NSW further towards adopting health-focused approach to drugs.
RACP President Professor Jennifer Martin, said drug policy reform should put people’s health first by focussing on prevention, treatment, harm reduction and addressing health service gaps.
“The whole of government needs to be on the same page about creating drug and alcohol policies that prioritise people’s health. If we get this right, it has the potential to save lives and reduce broader negative impacts on the whole community.
“This includes rolling out evidence-based strategies that focus on prevention, like education and early intervention, because we know prevention is the best cure.
“Amongst the report’s key recommendations which the RACP has long supported are developing a whole-of-government alcohol and drug strategy within the next year, and making it easier to access opioid dependence treatment, medically-supervised injecting centres, and improved access to evidence-based harm reduction strategies such as needle and syringe programs,” says Professor Martin.
Professor Adrian Dunlop, President of the RACP’s Australasian Chapter of Addiction Medicine says, “Right now, alcohol and other drug services remain critically underfunded and unable to meet growing demand.
“The NSW Government must act without delay to implement the report’s recommendations to significantly increase service funding, invest in workforce development, and ensure all health professionals are equipped with trauma-informed, stigma-free alcohol and other drug care.
“We are also really pleased to see the focus on addressing stigma and discrimination, which we know has resounding impacts on the people we care for and our communities,” says Professor Dunlop.
The report also has a strong focus on elevating the role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled services and adopting Aboriginal-led approaches within mainstream services to deliver holistic and culturally safe care.
The RACP urges the NSW Government to adopt these key recommendations and prioritise their implementation and hope to work with them to create a more holistic, culturally-grounded approach to drug reform.
The 2024 NSW Drug Summit Report is based on four days of forums, 80 position statements and more than 3,600 submissions.
Read the RACP Position Statement: Achieving a health-focused approach to drug policy in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand – November 2024.