A medically supervised injecting room in the ACT will be considered as part of a review into drug harm reduction measures.
The ACT Health Directorate is commissioning a review to examine the model for a supervised injecting facility in the territory. This will be included in a wider review of the territory's drug harm reduction measures.
The territory government has been toying with a safe injecting facility for some years and a report, released three years ago, recommended a site be set up in Canberra's city centre.
But the project has stalled and Population Health Minister Emma Davidson has announced another review will take place to map out how the ACT's safe injecting facility should be delivered.
ACT Health is commissioning a review to be undertaken by an expert in the field. Ms Davidson said the review would examine current and emerging needs around drug harm reduction.
"The review will focus on options for onsite supported overdose prevention, opportunities to build on existing drug harm reduction programs and policies, and any additional measures to increase preparedness for an increase in contaminated drug supply," Ms Davidson told the Assembly.
The review is expected to be completed by December.
Researchers at the Burnet Institute found there was support for an injecting facility in the ACT as part of their 2020 review. Their report recommended a small injecting room be opened in Civic.
Ms Davidson told the Assembly things had changed over the past three years, including COVID and other investments in drug harm reduction meaning another review was necessary to understand what exactly the ACT needed.
There are supervised injecting facilities in Sydney and Melbourne. Canberra does not have one despite decriminalising the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs and offering pill testing in Civic.
Ms Davidson said evidence suggested drug use was more geographically dispersed in the nation's capital.
"Unlike Sydney and Melbourne which have medically supervised injecting facilities in areas where drug use and harms are more prevalent, drug use and supply is much more geographically dispersed in the ACT," she said.
"Services that support overdose prevention need to be designed to reflect the unique needs and circumstances of the ACT's community. We also need to consider options that respond to other types of drug consumption."
The ACT government recently committed three years of funding to a fixed-site pill testing facility in Civic, which has been operating for two years.
