Booze and drugs dig a deep hole

Gaping shortfall in alcohol and drugs sector won’t be fixed by building a swanky new unit alone, explains Sarah Charlton

AREPORT commissioned by the Tasmanian Government in 2017 identified a $5.88 million a year funding shortfall in Tasmanian alcohol and other drug treatment.

Little has been done to address this comprehensive analysis which had input from across the sector.

This month Speaker Sue Hickey said she had secured a state-of-the-art drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre for the state’s South. This came with her continued support for the Hodgman Liberal Government, enabling it to retain a majority.

Any additional support for Tasmanians affected by alcohol and other drug issues is most welcome and urgently required. The move was well intended. It was not however based on research, client data or consultation with the alcohol and drug sector.

Holyoake is a specialist service for children, adults and families affected by their own or another person’s alcohol or drug misuse or other addictive behaviours. Holyoake routinely analyses client data and contemporary research to identify emerging trends and service gaps in the community. We plan services around these gaps, to meet changing community needs.

Requests for additional funding to meet expanding need, well founded in research and evidence, have regularly been flagged with the government, with little or no interest shown.

Gottawanna, a core Holyoake program, supports people seeking specialist support for their own alcohol or drug issues or other addictive behaviours.

Magistrates who have witnessed the successful client outcomes achieved now regularly instruct clients to attend the Gottawanna program. If the client can demonstrate a change in behaviour, they may, and often do avoid prison or receive a reduced sentence.

This is an incredibly costeffective alternative to incarceration, and the client receives expert therapeutic support to improve their quality of life and reduce their likelihood of recidivism. Criminal justice clients now account for 42 per cent of all Gottawanna clients.

While this figure validates the need for additional specialist support for this group of individuals, the limited Gottawanna funding is being absorbed into an area where no funding is forthcoming from the Hodgman Government.

Additional funding for the treatment of alcohol and other drug issues among criminal justice clients will not only keep these clients out of prison (at an average cost of $300 a day), it will reduce crime, domestic violence and child abuse and generally make your community safer.

In 2012, 1 per cent of Gottawanna clients used crystal methamphetamine (ice). Today 35 per cent of Gottawanna clients cite ice as their drug of choice. The highly addictive nature of ice makes recovery a protracted process, lasting up to 18 months or longer, which is significantly longer than for other substances. The increased labour intensity required for the rehabilitation of chronic ice users is consuming more and more resources and limiting the number of new referrals Holyoake can accept within the current funding model.

This is a very obvious and concerning drug trend, showing no signs of abating, for which Holyoake urgently requires additional funding.

Increasing mental health issues have made alcohol and drug clients more complex than in the past. Of Holyoake’s Gottawanna clients, 70 per cent now report having significant anxiety, depression and/or posttraumatic stress disorder. This figure was 52 per cent in 2012.

These issues must be addressed as part of the treatment process, because they do not exist in isolation, but are very often inextricably related to the addictive behaviour. This additional complexity of clients increases the length of their treatment, sometimes by many months, which also consumes additional resources, which are not being allocated accordingly.

For some Holyoake clients, it becomes apparent at their initial assessment that their rehabilitation will need to include a supervised medical detoxification. On many occasions over the past few years, Holyoake has tried

In 2012, 1 per cent of Gottawanna clients used crystal methamphetamine (ice). Today 35 per cent of Gottawanna clients cite ice as their drug of choice

unsuccessfully to obtain a bed in the St Johns Park Withdrawal Unit within a reasonable timeframe. We may have a suitable client who is at a crucial point in their life, where they have decided to change their addictive behaviour, but are in need of medical assistance to do so safely. Often the small window of opportunity for a client to want to change may have taken 10 years to reach, and could be gone for another 10 years. It is important that such a service is available at relatively short notice yet Holyoake clients have been informed on occasions that they will be required to wait up to eight weeks for admission, despite the unit not functioning at capacity. The moment is then lost, and we have seen clients return to using and abandoning their search for support. This is frustrating for all those involved in the client’s

treatment. The Hodgman Government would do well to prioritise support for their existing withdrawal unit, to ensure it is functioning at 100 per cent capacity, before considering building more beds in a new facility.

Thankfully infrequently, Holyoake is referred a young client in need of supported alcohol or other drug withdrawal or residential rehabilitation. There is no medical facility in Tasmania, private or public, willing to take on these high-risk minors, who often have highly complex mental health comorbidities. If they are fortunate to have wealthy parents, their chances of finding support across Bass Strait may be improved, which is a sad indictment of our own government’s priorities to our future generation.

Ms Hickey’s passion and success in securing a considerable sum of money from the Hodgman Government is to be commended, but the gaping shortfall in the alcohol and other drugs sector will not be fixed by building a swanky new unit alone.