Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Hansard source

I present the first report on crystal methamphetamine (ice) of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement.

Ordered that the report be printed.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

After the initiation of this inquiry, in March 2015, the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Law Enforcement travelled extensively around Australia to hear from community members about the effects that methamphetamine was having on individuals, families and communities across the country. Not only did we focus this inquiry in the capital cities, but we also went to Mt Gambier, to Caboolture, and to areas and communities where people were reaching out for critical support. During this time—it has been quite a lengthy inquiry—we have heard stories of the devastating impact of this drug on particular rural and regional communities. Of course, rural and regional communities not only are at greater risk but they also lack resources and rehabilitation services.

The particular stories that have stuck with me are from parents who are desperate for the opportunity to help their own children—communities who are desperately trying to keep their youth away from the scourge of crystal methamphetamine. For me, the most powerful evidence in this report has been from St Vincent's Hospital, which we visited, both in Sydney and in Melbourne. It showed the impact that it is having on emergency services and on front line staff, with increased violence and new issues arising from a growing number of users. Indeed, the submission provided to this inquiry by St Vincent's highlighted that, as a nation, we have one of the highest rates of methamphetamine use in the world. This places increasing demand on an already stretched health system, because our community is desperately seeking access to treatment and intervention. Everyday Australians who see the devastating impact of methamphetamine use feel quite powerless to help, even to help their own family members. Illicit drug use is being dealt with through a three-pillar policy—that is, demand reduction, supply reduction and harm reduction—with prevention being a central theme across those three pillars. Those things need to be looked at, particularly harm reduction, because harm reduction practices that follow best practice and are evidence based should be an important part of any national drug strategy. Indeed, they are critical to the long-term strategies across the board to minimise the impact of drug and alcohol abuse.

The report that I tabled is our first report. There will be a final report, which will go into a lot more detail, with recommendations around rehabilitation and treatment services, whereas this report has a much stronger focus on law enforcement. Law enforcement, or supply reduction—which is one of the three pillars—is very important and is obviously a part of this committee's inquiry. The committee made eight key recommendations. We acknowledge the work the government is already doing and has been doing, in relation to the National Ice Taskforce and the National Ice Action Strategy, since this inquiry started. Overall, as the committee noted, the public's initial response to both the task force and the strategy was very positive. The focus on and funding for a supply-reduction approach and treatment services was supported by a number of commentators and members of the community. But, obviously, it will only work if there is enough funding for it to be successful. Harm-minimisation approaches alone are not seen as being enough. The government needs to approach this very much in a holistic frame, but harm minimisation must certainly be a key part of that. The Public Health Association of Australia went into that in detail, as noted in our report, along with Mental Health Australia, which highlighted links between methamphetamine and mental illness, and I think that is an incredibly important point to make.

We cannot be blind to the fact that new illicit drugs will continue to appear. How we deal with that is what is so important as policymakers—how we have effective policies to protect our community and to support our community into the foreseeable future. The committee learnt of successful strategies that are contingent on the relationships built between health workers and law enforcement, and education providers and the community. It is that partnering that is so important. Those relationships are really critical to ensuring that individuals are diverted before becoming addicted or, if they are addicted, that they receive the necessary treatment. But, unfortunately, all through this inquiry we heard that, if someone who is addicted to crystal methamphetamine chooses to make that decision, whether through a drug-diversion mandated court process or by themselves, often the treatment services are not available; often rehabilitation beds and places are not available for them. That is the hardest thing here, and it is something that this government has to address. Meanwhile, the government now wants to embark on drug-testing welfare recipients. That is just the most ridiculous policy, and all the health professionals have made that very clear. By the same token, the government hasn't even thought about the fact that there aren't enough rehabilitation and treatment services available in the first place. That is the critical issue here that needs to be addressed. These long waiting lists for treatment services are simply exacerbating our community's inability to help their own people. If you are finally ready to deal with something as big as a drug addiction to crystal methamphetamine and you can't get in to any kind of treatment or rehabilitation service then that just shows you how the system is broken.

I do commend, though, the input that the government has made into its National Ice Taskforce and also the National Ice Action Strategy. I also would like to acknowledge not only the work that is happening here but the work that is happening within our region. UNODC, which the law enforcement committee have briefings with from time to time, also plays a key role assisting member states in our region to implement evidence-based drug-use prevention policies and programs to again have, as Australia is slowly starting to, a more harm-minimisation focus, rather than a criminal focus on the end user. I know that UNODC enhances its regional capacities in drug-use prevention, treatment and reintegration by playing a key role in some of our South-East Asian states but also in China. We know that some of the substance which goes into making crystal methamphetamine has been imported from China, and that is an ongoing issue for Border Force and, indeed, our country. I would also like to acknowledge the work the AFP do in trying very hard to stop the importation of crystal methamphetamine but also in dealing with drug syndicates and organised crime to try to put an end to this proliferation of ice in our community.

All in all, I would like to thank the committee members for their input during this inquiry. I look forward to working with them on the next tranche of this inquiry, which will have its focus on drug rehabilitation and treatment services, a key ingredient to fight this ice drug addiction.