It’s been revealed two people are dying of heroin overdoses in Melbourne’s CBD every month as the Victorian government today delayed the release of a long-awaited report into the city’s second safe-injecting room.
The state government has received backlash over its decision to delay handing over the report, despite a deadline from the upper house.
The Salvation Army today revealed 230 people died of an overdose in Victoria in 2022, with a startling number occurring in the centre of Melbourne.
The Legislative Council last month passed a motion requiring the government to hand over the report led by former Victorian top cop Ken Lay by today.
Attorney-general Jaclyn Symes confirmed the government would claim “executive privilege” on the report, which was due to be released today.
“We will be claiming executive privilege just for the purposes of responding to the motion,” she told media this morning.
“I want to reaffirm the government’s commitment to release that report, accompanied with a response from the government… at the same time.”
The decision received backlash, with both the Victorian opposition, the Greens and even the Salvation Army slamming the move.
Of the 230 Victorians to die of a heroin overdose in 2022, 24 were in the CBD – the most of any LGA.
“I’m really frustrated,” Salvation Army commanding officer Brendan Nottle said.
“Because when you’ve got people still dying on the streets of our city in 2024, you start to say, what’s going on?
“The need is urgent and the need is desperate and we need to find a way to get those service to the people.”
Victoria‘s first medically supervised injecting room in North Richmond became a permanent service last year.
Plans for a second safe injecting room in Melbourne were raised back in 2020, after an independent review of Victoria’s first Medically Supervised Injecting Room trial.
The state government previously advised a decision on its opening would come in mid-2023, with Lay submitting the report at the end of May last year.
Premier Jacinta Allan confirmed the report would be released by the end of the year, but couldn’t give a specific date.
“I indicated a couple of weeks ago that the government intends to release the Lay report once it has made the decision based on the advice received in the report but also on other sources of advice,” she said.
“We are focused on supporting (vulnerable Victorians) in the best possible way and not (with) political stunts in the Victorian parliament.
“We are taking our time to get this right, this is a complex matter.”
