Ice programs to be ramped up

Baw Baw Shire will receive a share of $2.87 million earmarked for programs tackling ice addiction throughout the greater Gippsland area.

Announcing the funding last week, Liberal Member for McMillan Russell Broadbent said the funding would support local rehabilitation services to help get addicts off ice and out of the drug market, and reduce addict-based crime.

Mr Broadbent said Gippsland had scored almost 10 per cent of the total national funding of $300 million in recognition of the seriousness of the problem in this region.

“Many of us personally know families in our community who are dealing with the fallout of this insidious drug and many are concerned about a lack of available treatment and rehab services.”

He said the Coalition would also support more than 1200 community sports clubs to deliver prevention messages about ice.

Local football, netball, cricket and basketball clubs were ideally placed to tackle the issue, he said.

The Gippsland Primary Health Network will allocate the funds to local programs over an extensive area running from the Mornington Peninsula to Sale.

Gippsland PHN chief executive officer Marianne Shearer said the network’s 2016-17 health needs assessment for the region identified alcohol and other drugs such as ice as major issues.

She said the network would commission locally based and targeted solutions aimed at improving treatment, after care, education, prevention, support and community engagement to tackle the ICE epidemic.

Gippsland PHN will be guided by its clinical councils and community advisory committee on tackling alcohol and other drugs related issues in the Gippsland community.

Ms Shearer said the funding could be used to provide extra services and training programs, and to provide training and incentives to increase the number of GPs using pharmacotherapy (treatment with drugs) to treat addiction.

“We will also be looking to increase alcohol and other drug service provision to indigenous clients through the development of culturally appropriate models of care.”