Time for Change Survey and Report

8 RECOMMENDATIONS Harm Reduction Policies and Programs 1. We recommend that all Australian governments increase funding for harm reduction and reinvest law enforcement resources allocated to enforcing drug use into evidence- based harm reduction programs and practices that focus on community care. 2. We recommend that all state/territory governments (a) urgently implement fixed-site and mobile drug checking services where services do not currently exist, (b) expand existing services with ongoing funding, and (b) ensure that people who use drugs and peer organisations are centred in the design, implementation, delivery, and evaluation of services. 3. We recommend that all state/territory governments expand and secure greater funding for peer-led harm reduction services at music festivals and events. 4. We recommend that all state and territory governments commit to (a) ceasing drug detection dogs and strip searching practices targeting people who use drugs, (b) promoting accountability and transparency through accurate public reporting on how search powers are exercised by police, and (c) shifting the role of police from enforcement to community care through enhancing harm reduction training and practices. 5. We recommend that the Australian Government shows national policy leadership on the importance of safe injecting facilities/drug consumption rooms to reduce negative attitudes at local and community levels, and that all state/territory governments fund and implement safe injecting facilities/drug consumption rooms where there is a demonstrated need in the community. 6. We recommend that Australian governments at the federal and state/territory levels must (a) meet their obligations at domestic and international law in relation to ensuring all people who are incarcerated have access to an equivalent standard of health as the general community, and (b) take all necessary steps to implement NSPs in prisons as a matter of urgency. 7. We recommend that the Federal Government follows the lead of countries such as Aotearoa/New Zealand to make vaping more available than cigarettes, treating vapes as a regulated, adult consumer product, available from licensed, age-restricted premises. 8. We recommend that the Federal Government increases investment in community-led harm reduction in the Asia Pacific region. Decriminalisation and Legalisation 9. We recommend that the Australian Government adopt a full decriminalisation model for all illicit drugs to reduce the health and social harms associated with prohibition and its effects. 10. We recommend that the Australian Government establish a federal legal regulation framework for cannabis to replace the current prohibitionist approach, and commit to exploring legalisation models for other currently illicit substances.