Simon is the CEO of Thorne Harbour Health, formerly the Victorian AIDS Council. Simon was first introduced to harm reduction, when as a 21 year old, he accidently got a part time job working in the Dandenong Needle Exchange. This experience resulted in a change of career path, that would see him spend the next three decades working in, and…

Harm Reduction and the enthusiasm and involvement of the affected communities, including people who inject drugs, saved Australia from the worst of the HIV epidemic. The provision of sterile needles and syringes, condoms, peer education and community mobilisation formed the bedrock of harm reduction, saved many, many lives and saved successive governments millions of dollars. […]

The creation of Harm Reduction Australia is a timely and wonderful step forward. Bringing together voices that come from different disciplines and experience can only help to improve outcomes in regard to drug use for all Australians. Overdue, but more relevant than ever, Harm Reduction Australia fills a vital gap in the discourse on drugs, pulling together nuanced voices for…

Stephanie is a member of the Pill Testing Australia consortium that worked on the 2018 and 2019 ACT trials. She has qualifications in law, humanities, and alcohol and other drugs and is a physical and mental health first aider. She has been Harm Reduction Victoria’s DanceWize program coordinator since July 2013 and is a board member of Drug Policy Australia…

The establishment of HRA  is long overdue as a platform to acknowledge Australia’s harm reduction achievements, advocate for change and an expansion of services, and recognise the people who have consistently and passionately opened themselves up to criticism in their lobbying for evidence-based policies, programs and peer-based  Executive drug user organisations. […]

Tony Trimingham is CEO of  Family Drug Support which he started after receiving many phone calls from families suffering the effects of illicit drugs after he went public about the death of his son Damien from a heroin drug overdose. He has been a counsellor and group leader for 30 years and these skills have helped him assist many families…

I fully endorse the key principles of HRA as necessary conditions for a humane and effective way of reducing the harm that all forms of drug use produce among Australians. […]