Expanding the Drug Court to regional areas including the Central Coast was one key recommendation to emerge from the 2024 NSW Drug Summit to be met with support from Central Coast authority in the drug and alcohol treatment sector, Joe Coyte.
The Summit report was handed over to the NSW Government on April 2 and is now publicly available.
It’s been met with cautious optimism by The Glen group executive director Coyte who oversees two drug and alcohol rehabilitation centres on the Central Coast including the largest Aboriginal community-controlled drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in NSW.
Coyte said he supported one of the recommendations to expand the Drug Court to areas such as the Far North Coast, the Central Coast and Wollongong, but asked why those areas were selected and not others.
Coyte, who last year undertook a Churchill Fellowship Trust six-week world tour to explore international approaches to assessing longer term benefits of drug and alcohol treatment programs, was initially critical of last year’s summit, concerned there had not been enough community consultation about who was invited.
“The Drug Summit report is a good starting point for some real review, reflection and reform,” he said.
“While I acknowledge it is just a report, it is a well written document which will allow the NSW Government to work with the NSW community to try and make some improved outcomes on the ground in this complicated space that impacts all of us and is a large cost to the economy in NSW.”
He said the report had many common themes with his Churchill Fellowship report including the need for better data sharing and transparency and for evaluation funding.
He said while both reports recommended enhancing the capacity of relevant agencies to ensure they were equipped, resourced and supported to get the best possible outcomes on the ground, there was no mention in the Summit report about reviewing or auditing currently funded services.
He said this was something he strongly advocated for prior to the Summit.
“There is a need to better understand what is currently working as we invest more resources in the treatment sector,” he said.
He said there was common ground in both reports to ensure NSW Police had a clear understanding of the government’s objectives, including recommendations to provide comprehensive harm-reduction training for police officers and other relevant first responders.
“I note the recommendation to improve alcohol and drug treatment services, including detox, in custodial settings (including remand) and post release and fully support this,” Coyte said.
“I trust and hope that people with lived experience are at the centre of this project as I often hear stories from this client cohort in my role and their stories can at times be quite different from what some of the research says.”
He also welcomed a recommendation for the Attorney-General to review opportunities for consistency in the Cannabis Cautioning Scheme and to consider reinstating the NSW Youth Drug and Alcohol Court.
Other recommendations he supported included enhanced funding for prevention and early intervention programs and the provision of safer and more affordable housing, including transitional housing.
“I note the recommendation to improve navigation tools and access points for families seeking support,” he said.
“I agree completely that we need to do more to support people to navigate the treatment sector.
“This is a good report; it is quite measured and has mentioned many of the issues we need to address as a community.
“It is now time for the NSW Government to get the right people involved to take the report and put it in action.
“I hope that it will be a priority of the NSW Government to recruit an appropriately qualified taskforce to take the implementation of the report including consulting with the community.
“It is now time to try and make the real changes that will help achieve better outcomes on the ground in NSW.”
Coyte was presented with the Winston Churchill Trust medallion by the Governor of NSW Margaret Beasley at Government House in Sydney on Friday, April 4.
Denice Barnes
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