National Drug and Alcohol Awards

Celebrating Australian achievements to prevent
and reduce alcohol and other drug use and harm

Principal Sponsor

Major Sponsors

Supporter

Collaborating organisations

Drug Policy Modelling Project nominated as finalist for Excellence in Research at the 2008 National Drug and Alcohol Awards.

The Drug Policy Modelling Project Stage One (2004–2005) assessed the feasibility of a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary program on drug policy.

Research on Australian drug budgets, policy processes, cost-effectiveness of treatment and epidemiology were conducted. DPMP Stage One resulted in key findings informing drug policy and a substantial amount of new money to our sector.

The modelling project brought together the results of 15 different studies to ascertain areas for new, cost-effective approaches to ameliorate the costs of illicit drugs, recently estimated at over $8 billion per annum.

Some key findings of the research were:

Greater policy evaluation in the law enforcement area is likely to reap the greatest financial rewards because this represents the majority (56%) of government spending.
Proactive, partnership drug law enforcement is more effective than reactive, directed drug law enforcement.
Treatment interventions are at least one and a half times more cost-effective than prison.
Existing drug policy structures provide a basis for improved interactions between law enforcement, treatment, prevention and harm reduction. However the large number of organisations and committees make coordination and performance monitoring challenging.
That a multi-agent systems model (eg SimDrug) is a productive approach to improve the evidence-base for illicit drug policy.
That the stocks and flows modelling approach (a dynamic model of the trajectory of drug use in Australia) can provide a policy simulation tool to assess the effects of new or altered interventions on prevalence and social cost.

Each research project developed new strategies that demonstrated effective approaches to relieve the burden of illicit drugs on society. DPMP Stage One resulted in key findings informing drug policy and a substantial amount of new money to our sector ($7.7m for DPMP Stage Two).

The winner of the Excellence in Research award will be announced at a gala dinner at The Plaza Ballroom in Melbourne on 27 June 2008.

“It is a great privilege to support the national alcohol and other drugs sector in celebrating the achievements of their unsung heroes, said Daryl Smeaton, CEO of the AER Foundation. As the major sponsor of these awards, AER congratulates all the winners, finalists and nominees.”

The National Drug and Alcohol Awards are a collaborative effort of the Ted Noffs Foundation, The Australian Drug Foundation, The Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia and the Australian National Council on Drugs.

It is estimated around 10,000 Australians now work directly in drug and alcohol treatment across Australia with a further 8,500 in associated sectors.

Sponsors of the awards are the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation (Principal sponsor), the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (major sponsor); Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training (major sponsor) and NSW Health — ActNow (supporter).

To interview the finalist please contact Sam Hunt on 02 6122 8600. For more information about the National Drug & Alcohol Awards go to http://www.drugawards.org.au/