As users of the drug and alcohol services, consumers, their families and carers have a lot of valuable information to share on improvements that can be made to drug and alcohol services, including service planning, policy development, setting priorities, training and evaluation, and addressing quality issues in the delivery of drug and alcohol treatment. The process of sharing this information with health services is called participation.
The NSW Ministry of Health has developed a Drug and Alcohol Consumer Participation Framework, which will provide tools and strategies to support consumer participation and engagement.
NSW Health developed A Guide to Consumer Participation in NSW Drug and Alcohol Services to assist health staff facilitate consumer access to Drug and Alcohol Services in NSW. This piece of work was developed in response to a decision by the NSW Drug and Alcohol Program Council to provide assistance to Drug and Alcohol services to implement appropriate consumer participation initiatives at the local level.
The guide includes:
The intent of this guide is not to deliver the ultimate guide to consumer participation, but rather to sit alongside and complement the structures and processes that are in place in each local health district. They are intended to act as an additional resource within the context of drug and alcohol services in NSW.
ACON is Australia’s largest community-based gay, lesbian,intersex, bisexual and transgender (GLBTI) health and HIV/AIDS organisation. The organisation aims to promote the health and wellbeing of NSW’s GLBT community. ACON also provides information, support and advocacy for people living with HIV or at risk of acquiring HIV, including sex workers and people who use drugs.
NSW Users & AIDS Association (NUAA) is the NSW state-wide drug user organisation. NUAA's members, staff and supporters are either current or former drug users or are our allies and supporters.
The organisation’s role is to be a voice for people who use drugs, with an emphasis on the issues relating to injecting drug use. Funded primarily by the NSW Ministry of Health, NUAA provides education, practical support, information and advocacy to users of illicit drugs, their friends, and allies.