Tara Murray
Discussion around the need for a safe injecting room in Brimbank is premature and unsupported, according to a local youth services provider Youth Junction.
Maribyrnong mayor Michael Clarke recently made comments that Brimbank was a better location for a safe injection site than Maribyrnong, after Victorian crossbench MP Fiona Patten called for injecting rooms to be set up in Footscray, St Kilda and Dandenong.
Cr Clarke, a former acting chief executive of Youth Junction, said that in his time in the role, he found there was clearly a substance issue in Brimbank.
Youth Junction chief executive Jo Malcolm-Black said she was surprised by Cr Clarke’s comments and the drawing on his time at Youth Junction as evidence of a need for a safe injecting room in Brimbank.
“Youth Junction clients are drawn from around the western part of Melbourne,” she said.
“The Youth Junction data cohort is small from a population health perspective and certainly shouldn’t be drawn upon to be making policy decisions about Brimbank.
“Young people in Brimbank do have drug dependencies, but so do young people in Braybrook, Footscray and Keilor.
“Drug dependencies are a significant social problem that traverses local government areas. I wish anecdotally to reassure the community that Brimbank is not significantly different than its neighbours.”
Ms Malcolm-Black said the state government had only confirmed a new injecting facility in Melbourne.
She said these facilities will meet a currently unmet need, and the organisation supports policies which focus on harm minimisation around drug use.
“The Youth Junction supports young people across Melbourne around creating and enabling paths and choices which engage and connect them with the community.
“I understand that a significant amount of preparation and due diligence is completed before the government makes recommendations as to the locations of these facilities, including the data required to support recommendations.”
