Council of Australian Governments' Communiqué
9 April 1999 (Special Meeting)
The Council of Australian Governments today held its eighth meeting, in Canberra. The Council comprising the Prime Minister, Premiers, Chief Ministers and the President of the Local Government Association discussed a national approach to illicit drug use.
- There is no issues index for this meeting.
Attachments
There are no attached documents for this meeting.
This Communiqué sets out the agreed outcomes.
Heads of Government agreed on the need for national action involving explicit rejection by governments of the use of illicit drugs and the harm this causes.
The Council agreed to add a new dimension to the National Illicit Drug Strategy which it founded in November 1997, based on a partnership between governments and the broader community, including volunteer and community organisations.
Heads of Government agreed to work together to make a new investment in prevention, early intervention, education and the diversion of drug users to counselling and treatment. They agreed to a major shift in the practice of law enforcement and treatment and a clear message about the unacceptability of illicit drug use. The measures proposed increase the availability of information about the dangers of drug use and the impact of police action.
Tough on Drugs in Schools
Heads of Government agreed to strengthen their attack on drug pushers and their response to drug use within schools. Council believes that illicit drugs have no place in schools. It supports the efforts of principals, parents and school communities in pursuing this approach. Some would describe this as a zero tolerance approach, others would use a different description. Heads of Government noted the importance of education in preventing growth in illicit drug use and existing school based initiatives and agreed to the Commonwealth’s providing resources to increase the capacity of schools and school communities to respond to illicit drug use including through:
development of enhanced protocols to help school communities develop better ways of handling drug use in the school environment on a national basis;
educational material for schools and building school and community awareness and involvement in addressing drug problems; and
resource materials to all schools for the design of their own local summits to strengthen the response of schools and communities to the challenge of drugs.
TopTough on Drugs in the Community
Heads of Government agreed to work together to put in place a new nationally consistent approach to drugs in the community involving diversion of drug offenders by police to compulsory assessment. The Commonwealth, states and territories agreed to work together on the following basis:
- states and territories to provide the law enforcement basis for diverting drug users into treatment programmes;
- Commonwealth to provide funding for significantly expanded early intervention treatment and rehabilitation places linked to police and court diversion;
- shared Commonwealth and state/territory funding for assessment services;
- community based services, non-government organisations and the public health sector to provide expert assessment, treatment and related support services;
- individuals to make financial contributions to their treatment where appropriate;
- the states and territories to maintain their existing health and education effort;
- support for individuals at the end of treatment through Commonwealth, state/territory and community-based services; and
- continuation of public health measures to limit the spread of blood-borne diseases.
This approach gets drug offenders into assessment early. It complements and expands a number of existing state and territory approaches and will be compatible with states and territories which have drug court pilots.
TopTough on Drugs in Prisons
The Council noted that drug use in prisons is common, and a large proportion of prisoners are incarcerated for drug related crime. To prevent re-offending and to promote public health, states and territories agreed to develop and fund programmes to:
- intercept the supply of drugs to prisons and be tough on dealers within prisons; and
- develop and trial diversionary treatment programmes within the gaol system so that dependent users can break their addiction.
Alternative Treatments
Heads of Government supported the Commonwealth’s commitment to making alternative treatments more readily available. They also noted that the Commonwealth will fast track consideration of listing Naltrexone on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule.
TopTough on Supply
Heads of Government agreed on the need for further strengthening of the attack on the supply of drugs, including through legislative change such as amendments to the Proceeds of Crime Act 1987. They noted the Commonwealth’s intention to expand Australia’s capacity to intercept drugs overseas and enhance supply reduction activities, including through encouraging crop substitution.
TopNext Steps
Leaders agreed to partnership arrangements to link the education, law enforcement and treatment efforts of all levels of government and the wider community. These partnerships will deliver the early and effective interventions which are needed to target illicit drugs wherever they may be – in schools, the community and prisons. Joint planning arrangements will commence immediately, focusing on problem areas and moving quickly to full national coverage.
Heads of Government agreed that the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy would report back to enable COAG to consider, during 1999, the detailed implementation arrangements.
Heads of Government expressed confidence that the cooperative and coordinated approach they have agreed will institute an approach to illicit drugs that leads the world in terms of its comprehensiveness, balance and unity of purpose and effort.