Medically supervised injection room recommended for the ACT

It comes as a report, commissioned by the ACT government, recommended that a small injection room be opened in Civic.

The report by researchers at the Burnet Institute found there was support for an injection room from stakeholders in the ACT, as well as wider community support.

But while safe injection rooms had support in the ACT community, the report said further work was needed to build understanding of the rooms.

Canberra drug users were surveyed as part of the report and more than 50 per cent indicated they would use a safe injection room.

The report recommended that only a small facility should be established at first, due to the size of the ACT.

"The relatively small population of the ACT compared to other major Australian cities means we have recommended a drug consumption room model in which a small facility be established initially," the report said.

"This model can be implemented through a linkage to existing harm reduction service frameworks."

It said an injecting room should be located in a central location such as Civic. The strongest support came from users in Civic with up to 70 per cent saying they would use it.

Up to 120 people daily could use an injection room in the ACT, the report said.

It was recommended a room in Canberra be co-located within existing services such as homeless or medical services.

It said legislation already existed in the ACT to allow for the trial of a supervised injecting room but some amendments would be required, to make performance requirements clearer.

The report did not offer advice on whether a drug testing site could also be operated at a safe injecting room as there was not a consensus from stakeholders surveyed.

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Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the findings from the report would inform further community discussions.

"Additional scoping work will be required before a decision is made on whether to proceed with a drug consumption room in the ACT, including community consultation, an assessment of the existing legislative framework and further development of an appropriate model," she said.

As part of the Labor-Greens governing agreement, the parties have committed to a pilot of a safe drug consumption site during this assembly term.

Safe injecting rooms are medically-supervised, hygienic sites that allow a staff member to respond if somebody overdoses.

Rooms are currently run in Sydney and Melbourne.

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