Sixty-five young people from Western Sydney gathered for a galvanising event in the lead up to the 2024 NSW Drug Summit.
The message of the night was CLEAR: these locals want more compassionate, health and well-being-based responses to drug use and dependency and more culturally specific treatment and harm reduction services for the Western Sydney region.
The event was organised in collaboration with Fair Treatment, Students for Sensible Drug Policy Australia (SSDP), and 12 social work students from Western Sydney University’s social work program.
On the night: we saw a packed room of students, academics, and most importantly, Western Sydney locals of diverse backgrounds, personal experiences and disciplines.
We listened to three incredible panellists share their stories and perspectives – medical science student, Adriaan, law student, Oishika, social work student, Aliska, with the panel chaired by social work student, Samuel.
Adtriaan, Oishika, Aliska, Samuel (L-R)
We heard calls for solutions – the decriminalisation of possession and use of all drugs, and having a health and well-being response instead. More education and more harm reduction initiatives. The need to challenge stigma. More funding and access to youth and culturally and linguistically diverse services. And the need for more supervised injecting spaces!
And we made commitments to action! Joining your University SSDP chapter, taking action via our 2024 Drug Summit Changemaker Kit, and reaching out to your local Western Sydney MP for a meeting about the Drug Summit and the outcomes that you want to see.
If you live in Western Sydney, we encourage you to Have Your Say on the governments NSW Drug Summit website – making it clear that you are from the area. We need to ensure Western Sydney has a seat at the table, and there are positive outcomes for the region.