Making it Happen

On the 20^th May 2008, AIVL hosted a forum at the ACT Legislative Assembly that explored the issues around introducing needle exchange programs (NEPs) into Australian prisons. The forum was fully booked, with in excess of 60 people packing a small room.

The speakers at the forum expressed a variety of viewpoints, from that of prisoners’ and corrections staff health, human rights, political considerations and the perspectives of inmates.

The speakers were:

Alex Wodak

Director, Alcohol and Drug Service, St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney

The International Evidence – what does it tells us? (PDF, 372 Kb)

Gino Vumbaca

Executive Director, Australian National Council on Drugs

An Australian Context – what are the next steps? (PDF, 2,149 Kb)

Michael Moore

Chief Executive Officer, Public Health Association of Australia

The Political Process – how do we encourage political leadership? (PDF, 1,500 Kb)

Helen Watchirs

ACT Human Rights and Discrimination Commissioner

Human Rights in Prisons – can prisons & rights coexist? (PDF, 286 Kb)

Wayne Capper

Prisoner Advocate

The ‘Real’ Experience – is there a duty of care to prisoners?

Following the talks, the speakers were joined by Deb Wyborne to form a panel which took questions from the audience.

AIVL’s Prison Based NSP Discussion Paper - 2008 (PDF, 1,269 Kb)