Effective, just, humane drug policies
Reducing the potential harms associated with drug use and drug policies
Treatment Equity Project
Advocating for a more affordable, accessible and equitable Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) in Australia.
Pill Testing Australia
Advocating for and providing evidence-based pill testing services Australia-wide.
Drive Change
Advocating for drug driving and medicinal cannabis reforms that are fair, equal and improve public health.
Our impact
HRA has a commitment to making change happen. Here’s some of our outcomes.
Opioid Treatment
Led a national advocacy campaign that resulted in ground-breaking reforms to the affordability of the Opioid Treatment Program for over 50,000 Australians
Pill testing
Conducted Australia’s first legal pill testing trial at a festival in the ACT in 2018 and delivered the first festival-based pill testing service in Qld in 2024
drug driving
Led nationwide campaign to reform current discriminatory drug driving laws against people prescribed medicinal cannabis
drug testing
Advocated on the negative impacts of workplace drug testing for people prescribed medicinal cannabis
Video of the 2024 National Harm Reduction Forum
News
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Harm Reduction Australia backs tobacco harm reduction
From the 1st of October, Australians will legally be able to purchase nicotine vaping products from participating pharmacies. While an improvement on previous legislation which required people to acquire a medical prescription to purchase a vape, this approach remains inadequate and imposes significant barriers for people seeking alternatives to deadly cigarettes. Tobacco harm reduction focuses…
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Synthetic Opioid Detected in Broadmeadows Deaths – Time for Action to Prevent Further Deaths
Police investigating the deaths of four people in Broadmeadows on 25 June 2024, have now revealed that a synthetic opioid was detected in the bodies of all four people. Investigations are ongoing, and although Victoria Police have ruled out fentanyl, they have confirmed that preliminary tests found the presence of a synthetic opioid. Harm Reduction…
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HRA talks with Antony Loewenstein
HRA’s CEO Annie Madden spoke with renowned author Antony Loewenstein about the future of drug policy in Australia and around the world.
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New Report Exposes Chronic Under-funding of Life Saving Harm Reduction Services
Executive Director, Dr Annie Madden AO said “this first report in the ‘drug budget’ series in over a decade exposes the ‘clay feet’ of Australian drug policy. For decades Australian governments have sold the lie that Australia’s National Drug Strategy is based on a balanced approach to addressing illicit drug use across supply, demand and…
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Victorian medicinal cannabis patients will be allowed behind the wheel to test road safety
The Australian Legal Alliance (ALA) has also called for the prosecution of medicinal cannabis patients who are driving while unimpaired to be paused while the trial is undertaken. ALA national president Shaun Marcus said drivers were being prosecuted merely for having a substance in their body rather than potentially dangerous impaired driving. “That is not…