National Drug and Alcohol Awards

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Queensland Corrective Services’ Indigenous Peer Education Program recognised as a finalist in the National Drug And Alcohol Awards

The Queensland Corrective Services’ Indigenous Peer Education Program has received recognition as a finalist in the Excellence in Law Enforcement Category of the 2008 National Drug and Alcohol Awards.

The two other finalists in this Category are the Groote Eylandt Alcohol Permit Committee, and the Queensland Police Service Party Safe initiative – the winner will be announced in on 27 June Melbourne.

This Peer Education Program evaluation report provides details of a health promotion project undertaken in Lotus Glen Correctional Centre in Mareeba in North Queensland. The report indicates the project can be delivered accountably and on a relatively small budget, and through culturally sensitive, processes can build capacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to respond to health and wellbeing issues within and beyond release from correctional centres.

Funding, made available through the Drug Strategy Unit of Queensland Corrective Services was for recruitment, training, and support for a small number of prisoners to become peer educators/tutors. The project commenced mid-June 2006, with funds allocated until the end of July 2007.

A full-time project officer was appointed, and the project was based on informal peer education that had already occurred at the prison. The design was formalised through consultation meetings with a number of officers and inmates within the Centre.

The project provided information and support to inmates ultimately to reduce the spread of blood borne viruses in Lotus Glen. It used peer education and support processes, and was based on the premise that by promoting healthier lifestyles of inmates through which health risk behaviours could be addressed, it was a relevant strategy for preventing blood borne virus transmission.

The project also aimed to increase the number of Indigenous and non-Indigenous prisoners choosing to access health services and participate in programs in Lotus Glen.

Further embedding the Peer Support Program in the concept of wellbeing has been recommended, and is seen as being well placed to give meaningful input into programs that inmates are required to undertake, or that are offered in correctional centres, including the Family Violence Program and Ending Offending.

While implementing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peer Support Project requires financial and human resources, these same costs or greater are borne otherwise in the correctional system to intervene in and treat poor health or wellbeing of inmates.

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); VIC Department of Human Services (major sponsor), The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (major sponsor), VIC Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (sponsor) and NSW Health — ActNow (supporter).

Media Enquiries

Brian Flanagan, Manager Strategic Communications and Policy, the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA)
Phone: 02 6281 0686 (w), 0400 860 058 (m)

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