International Overdose Awareness Day 2023 Special

Thursday, 31 August 2023 - 7:00am to 8:30am
#End Overdose. Purple background with white fond in bold stating #endoverdose, with white outline of people. Bottom text reads International Overdose Awareness Day and Penington Institute.

Acknowledgement of Country//

 

Headlines//

 

Today’s show was themed around content that may be distressing to some listeners. If you would like to talk to someone, you can call:

  • Alcohol Drug Information Service on 1800 250 015

  • Lifeline on 13 11 14

  • For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, 13 YARN (13 92 76)

  • Beyondblue on 1300 224 636

 

Inez took us through the Penington Institute's 2023 Annual Overdose Report, discussed a recent tour of Richmond's medically supervised injecting site and the petition for a new overdose prevention centre in Melbourne's CBD, and spoke about the impacts of stigma.//

 

Chris Gough, Executive Director of the Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy or CAHMA, joined us to provide updates on the CanTEST program, Australia’s first fixed-site drug and pill testing facility, which has now been running for just over a year. CAHMA is the alcohol, tobacco and other drug consumer organisation for the Australian Capital Territory.//

 

Harm Reduction Promotion Worker Brit from Harm Reduction Victoria spoke with us about the importance of harm reduction programs, challenging stigma and the work of Harm Reduction Victoria to keep people safe through the provision of health information. Harm Reduction Victoria is a community based, membership based, not-for-profit organisation that provides peer education, advocacy, outreach, advice, support, information and training to Victorians.//

 

Finn, a Harm Reduction Practitioner from the 24/7 Needle and Syringe Program St Kilda and founder of International Overdose Awareness Day, and Andy, a Harm Reduction and Needle and Syringe Program worker, joined us for a conversation about International Overdose Awareness Day. They spoke about the day’s origins, its significance, and the importance of sharing overdose awareness information.//

 

IOAD 2023 Events: