A proposed new drug court in Sunshine has been given its second endorsement in six months, although the state government won’t say if it will go ahead.
An evaluation of the Drug Court of Victoria commissioned by the Attorney-General recommended expanding the existing model to include Sunshine, Footscray, Melbourne’s CBD, Shepparton, Geelong, Ballarat and Mildura.
The Victorian Drug Court, based in Dandenong, is a division of the Magistrates Court of Victoria. It oversees the sentencing and supervision of offenders with a drug or alcohol dependency who have committed an offence while under the influence of drugs or alcohol or to support a habit.
If introduced to Sunshine, the drug court would operate out of the existing Sunshine Magistrates Court.
Last September, a state government inquiry into the supply and use of methamphetamine, particularly the drug ice, recommended expanding the drug court of Victoria to include Sunshine, Melbourne, Geelong and Gippsland.
Niddrie MP Ben Carroll, a member of the law reform, drugs and crime prevention committee that ran the inquiry, said the Dandenong drug court had been a “successful vehicle in keeping people out of prison by undertaking a two-year treatment program under a court order”.
A spokesman for Attorney-General Martin Pakula welcomed the drug court evaluation but would not say whether the model would be expanded.
