Melbourne—July 2008
In 2003 the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) - which is the principal advisory body to government on drug and alcohol issues and the Federal Government recognized a need for specific and Independent advice on Indigenous alcohol and other drugs issues across Australia and the most appropriate and effective approaches to address them.
As part of its commitment to provide high level advice to government, the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) auspiced the National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Committee (NIDAC) in 2004. Expert advice on Indigenous drug and alcohol issues is provided by NIDAC to assist the government to close the 17 year health gap disparity between Indigenous and non Indigenous Australians.
NIDAC comprises members from non-government and government organisations with specialist expertise and knowledge in dealing with Indigenous drug and alcohol issues.
Valuable feedback from people working to address Indigenous drug and alcohol is also gained through community consultation across Australia.
At its June 2008 meeting in Melbourne, Victoria, NIDAC experts discussed the following:
NIDAC is concerned about the over-representation of Indigenous Australians in correctional systems and their health, particularly when there is strong links to alcohol misuse. Of particular concern is the prevalence of young Indigenous people in the juvenile justice system, and the proportionately less access rates to diversionary programs compared to non Indigenous offenders.
NIDAC will be writing to Ministers requesting a greater focus on reducing youth offending and reoffending through interventions and greater access to diversionary programs.
A position paper on adult and juvenile Indigenous prisoner health issues and recommendations will be developed by NIDAC and provided to the Australian Government to assist them in closing the gap on Indigenous health inequality.
The representation of Indigenous tobacco use, prevalence, consumption and deaths amongst Indigenous Australians compared to other Australians is of concern, particularly since there has been little reduction in the prevalence for past 16 years. Since there are currently only 6 health workers in Australia trained in tobacco smoking harm and prevention.
NIDAC supports the inclusion of tobacco harm and prevention training nationally as a core subject of the Certificate IV Alcohol and other Drugs
NIDAC provided advice and recommendations to the Australian Government on the National Indigenous Tobacco Control Initiative:
A NIDAC position paper on alcohol is available on this website.
The NIDAC Strategic Plan for 2007–2010 is available to stakeholders on this website.
The winner of the NIDAC National logo competition, Mr Toby Dodds of Dreamtime Public Relations received a prize of $5,000 kindly sponsored by the Alcohol, Education and Rehabilitation Foundation. Mr Dodds, a young Indigenous designer, was chosen from over 170 entries received from across Australia and overseas
For more information contact the NIDAC Secretariat (02) 6166 9600
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