From the President
There has been a frenzy of activity in last few weeks in the APSAD office! With all the organisation for the 32nd APSAD Conference nearing the end, we’re pretty excited to let you know we have just launched our very own conference app! The APSAD Conference smartphone app is ready to download from both Google Play and iTunes. View the program, keynote speakers, sponsors and exhibitors, as well as following the Twitter feed. You can plan your conference program at your fingertips by favouring the talks you want to see and develop a personalised schedule. We hope you enjoy using the app and we look forward to hearing any feedback.
The APSAD team have settled into our new office on Macquarie Street Sydney and extend an invitation to our APSAD Members to join us for an office warming party and festive season celebration (read on for the details). We will also be emailing out invitations to all our members very soon.
Don’t forget the APSAD AGM is being held at the conference, we’ll be discussing some relevant issues for the Society’s future. There will be a discussion on whether APSAD should be providing workplace advocacy and policy advocacy followed by a vote. If you’re unable to attned the AGM but would still like to vote you can appoint a proxy member, log in to the APSAD website to gain access to the AGM page and download a proxy voting form or contact the office and a copy will be sent out to you.
Also in 2012 we are continuing with the publication of the conference abstracts in the Drug and Alcohol Review, if you’re not attending the conference your hard copy should be with you by the middle of the month.
I look forward to welcoming you to the 2012 Annual APSAD Conference, and hopefully you will join us for the APSAD office party.
APSAD Conference 2012 update
by Lynda Berends (Conference convenor) from Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre
This year’s APSAD conference is almost upon us and it promises to be a wonderful showcase of new knowledge and ongoing discussion regarding key challenges in the alcohol and other drug field. There has been strong demand for the workshop program on Sunday. Throughout the week there will be around 120 presentations and 60 posters on display, while recent work will be showcased in the very popular late breakers’ session.
The conference program also features interactive symposia and workshops that allow in-depth examination of critical issues, from alcohol policy at local level to consumer representation in system development.
Our keynote speakers will share insights on topics ranging from tobacco use cessation for those in treatment and models for maintenance pharmacotherapy service delivery in Australia to decriminalisation of drugs in Portugal and improvements in psychological therapies.
The conference provides an invaluable opportunity to catch up with old colleagues and make new contacts. An exciting program of entertainment has been organised for the conference dinner and we look forward to announcing APSAD awards as the evening progresses. We look forward to welcoming you to Melbourne.
To download a copy of the Conference Program click here
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CALL FOR MEMBERS TO BE PART OF A WORKING GROUP TO REVIEW THE APSAD CONFERENCE STRUCTURE
APSAD is currently looking at our annual conference to make the conference even more relevant to clinicians. We will be looking at reviewing the abstract submission process and how we can tailor this to fit both research and clinical practice. We are looking for members who are interested in being involved in this working group and helping to keep the conference relevant and fresh. If you’re interested in being part of the working group please email Liz Baxter at exec.officer@apsad.org.au or call her on 02 9252 2287.
This working group is separate to the Scientific Program Committee and will be reviewing the conference overall and looking at strategies to target clinical staff.
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Do you have something to say? APSAD members are invited to contribute to our e-newsletter.
Would you like to write an article on alcohol and other drug issues?
Do you have some news to share on an upcoming event or job opportunity?
Contact Deborah Dmoch - email: admin.officer@apsad.org.au
or phone: 02 9252 2281
Thank you to the following APSAD members for their contributions this month. Dr Lynda Berends from Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre, Dr Peter Higgs from the Burnett Institute & Mr David McDonald Social Research & Evaluation.
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Members News & Articles - by our members
An NSP at the AMC? By Mr David McDonald
There seems to be something strange about Canberra – and no, I’m not referring to Federal politics! Rather, it’s drug policy that seems strange here. Over the decades the ACT has led the nation in some respects through introducing innovative drug policy initiatives, and is now in the news regarding a needle syringe program (NSP) for its prison.
Yes, ‘an NSP at the AMC’ does sound a bit like a slogan chanted by crowds at a football match. We are not quite there yet, but are definitely on a path that might—or is likely to?—result in a NSP service at Canberra’s prison, the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC).
As APSAD members would well know, NSPs have been operating effectively in a number of overseas prisons for some decades. A sound body of evaluation research shows that they produce good results in terms of prisoner health, without adversely affecting prison safety and security.
CLICK HERE to read full article
Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre
Oration 2012 Thurs 15 November / 6:00 - 8:15 pm / Treetops Room Melbourne Museum
This year Turning Point are delighted to announce that Ernest Drucker as their guest speaker.
A Plague of Prisons: The Epidemiology of Mass Incarceration in America
This presentation will detail how the modes of analysis employed by epidemiologists to combat plagues and similar public health crises are remarkably useful when assessing the origins, harm and potential for both cures and prevention of the plague of imprisonment.
Some of you may have had the opportunity to catch Prof. Ernest Drucker presentation ‘The Future of Harm Reduction’at the APSAD Conference last year.
for further information visit www.turningpoint.org.au
The Film Stream at the International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harms
by Dr Peter Higgs
‘Call for Film Submissions’
Film has the capacity to educate, inform, entertain and potentially impact upon the way we perceive complex social phenomenon. The medium of film provides an opportunity to unravel the complexities associated with drug use, and also provides an enhanced experience for audiences receiving and understanding information. The Drugs and Harm Reduction Film Festival is organised in collaboration with the Burnet Institute, Harm Reduction International and the Conference Consortium. It aims to communicate new understandings of drugs and drug problems through the use of film, and to encourage the production and the use of film as an advocacy tool to argue for more constructive, pragmatic and compassionate approaches for dealing with drug use and drug users. The Film Festival stream of the conference screens documentaries, advocacy films, training videos, and fictional work relevant to reducing drug and alcohol related harms. Films shown at the event have subsequently been used for advocacy purposes in many countries, and we are building up a substantial catalogue of films. Submissions for the Conference to be held in Vilnius, Lithuania in June 2013 have now opened.
For more information about Harm Reduction 2013 - CLICK HERE
For more information about the film festival - CLICK HERE
If you are interested in submitting a film please contact the film festival organisers at filmfest@burnet.edu.au for more information
MEMBER'S INVITATION
Please RSVP to Deborah by 30 November
admin.officer@apsad.org.au - ph: 02 9252 2281
The November issue of Drug and Alcohol Review will include a thematic section on studying alcohol in its societal context, looking particularly at the Finnish example.
Finland has a 60 year tradition of social alcohol research, with the Finnish Drinking Habits survey being conducted every eight years since 1968. This period has included policy and societal changes, with alcohol being made more easily available in 1969.
The first paper, “The Finnish drinking culture: Change and continuity in the past 40 years”, compiles the most significant results about change and continuity in the Finnish drinking culture. The two latter papers, “Women and young adults suffer most from other people’s drinking” and “Ways of regulating one’s drinking: A factor analysis of a Finnish general population sample” touch upon two topical issues in the Finnish and international debate on drinking: adults’ alcohol use in the presence of minors and the harm alcohol causes to other people than the drinker him or herself.
For any Drug and Alcohol Review editiorial enquiries email the Editorial Officer Erin McGarrigle at dar@apsad.org.au |
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Other News....
The Australasian Opioid Treatment Program Managers Group
Is holding its 7th Annual General Meeting at APSAD Conference in Melbourne.
This is an opportunity for managers of OTP to disseminate information about their programs; discuss current issues and network with other managers. Each year a presentation is provided by the host State/Territory/Country on their OTP services.
This year there speaker will be Thomas Roszkowski - from the Operations Branch, Mental Health, Drugs & Regions Division Victorian Department of Health who will present on OTP in Victoria.
The AGM will be held at the Melbourne Convention Centre on Monday 19th November 2012 from 5.30pm-7.00pm in Meeting Room 102 following the conference sessions.
Attendance is for managers or delegates working in OTP.
If you are attending APSAD 2012 in Melbourne and would like more information or express interest in attending please contact Carolyn Stubley – Chair by email osmgr@whos.com.au as this is a closed meeting
Please RSVP by 9 Nov 2012 - osmgr@whos.com.au
A catered networking session is included and kindly sponsored by Reckitt Benckiser.
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