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Concerned about your own or
someone else’s drug use?

NCCRED Symposium

2024 Symposium

Innovations: Improving health outcomes for people who use methamphetamine and emerging drugs

NCCRED is hosting its annual symposium Innovations: Improving health outcomes for people who use methamphetamine and emerging drugs on Friday 22nd November. 

The 2024 NCCRED Symposium will discuss innovations within the alcohol and other drug sector which aim to improve the health outcomes for people who use methamphetamine and emerging drugs of concern.

Some key themes of the symposia include:

  • risk communication in the context of drug checking services
  • learnings from international Early Warning systems
  • The use of digital interventions to improve health outcomes for people who use methamphetamine.

NCCRED’s 2024 symposium is a way to connect around with like minded-individuals to hear about new ways to reduce the harms from methamphetamine and other drugs of emerging concern to Australia.

The symposium is a hybrid event, so you have the opportunity to join us in person at the State Library of New South Wales or online via Zoom. There will also be a networking event after the Symposium for a limited amount of people so get in early and secure your spot

NCCRED Symposium

Innovations: Improving health outcomes for people who use methamphetamine and emerging drugs

10:00am Opening

Dr Ingrid van BeekNCCRED Board Chair

10:05am Welcome to Country

Uncle Michael West, Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council 


Session 1

Chair: Steph Tzanetis, NCCRED Board member | CanTEST Coordinator, Directions Health Services | Executive Officer, Pill Testing Australia | Peer Worker, Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy (CAHMA)

10:15am Keynote Address: Risk communication of drug threats: a European perspective

Professor Harry SumnallProfessor of Substance Use, School of Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, UK

10:55am Recorded Spotlight Presentation: What’s on the RADAR? Reporting to Scotland’s drugs early warning system

Vicki CraikIntelligence Advisor, Public Health Scotland

11:15am NCCRED & AIVL – Designing and Implementing an Anecdotal Reporting System for Emerging Drugs of Concern

Jess Doumany, Research Lead, Australian Injecting & Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL)

& Dr Jack Freestone, Postdoctoral Fellow, NCCRED

11:25am Three-years of comprehensive toxicology testing in sentinel Australian emergency departments: findings, learnings, future forecasting

Dr Jennifer Smith, Senior Research Fellow & EDNA National Coordinator, School of Medicine, University of Western Australia | Centre for Clinical Research in Emergency Medicine

11:35am Emerging trends in drug use, harms, and markets: Findings from Drug Trends 2024

Dr Rachel SutherlandSenior Research Fellow, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), UNSW

11:45am Coordinating National Information Sharing on Emerging Drugs through the Prompt Response Network (PRN)

Ed Broadbent, Project Manager (PRN), NCCRED, UNSW


Session 2

Chair: Dr Brendan Clifford, Senior Research Fellow, NCCRED, UNSW

1:00pm Keynote Address: High Alert: New Zealand’s drug early warning system at work

Dr Lucy Stiles, Analyst, Drug Information and Alert Aotearoa New Zealand (DIANZ), National Drug Intelligence Bureau (NDIB)

& Cam Trueman, Analyst DIANZ, NDIB

1:40pm Panel Discussion: challenges and opportunities for prompt response systems

  • Jared Brown, Manager, Toxicity Response, Epidemiology and Surveillance, Centre for Alcohol and Other Drugs, NSW Ministry of Health
  • Jess Doumany, Research Lead, AIVL
  • Dr Lucy Stiles, Analyst DIANZ, NDIB
  • Cam Trueman, Analyst, DIANZ, NDIB

Session 3

Chair: Dr Suzie Hudson, Clinical Advisor, Centre for Alcohol and Other Drugs, NSW Ministry of Health

2:50pm iMPACT – a new internet delivered cognitive behavioural therapy program for people who use methamphetamine

Dora Karavasilis, Knowledge Translation Lead, NCCRED, UNSW

3:00pm The S-Check App: a mobile app to track the impacts of methamphetamine use

Seb Baird, Digital Product Manager, NCCRED, UNSW

& Dr Krista Siefried, Clinical Research Lead, NCCRED, UNSW

3:10pm Wada Wanti: Leave the Ice Alone – Incorporating a web-app into a community run alcohol and other drug support service – the importance of peer workers

Josh Callis, Alcohol and Other Drug Peer Support Worker, West Coast Youth and Community Services (WCYCS)

& A/Prof Rachel Reilly, Program Lead, Social and Emotional Wellbeing Research, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI)

3:20pm Panel Discussion: digital health equity – possibilities for AOD treatment

  • Josh Callis, Alcohol and Other Drug Peer Support Worker, WCYCS
  • Dr Kathryn Fletcher, Senior Research Associate, NCCRED, UNSW
  • A/Prof Rachel Reilly, Program Lead, Social and Emotional Wellbeing Research, SAHMRI
  • Dr Christine Shiner, Senior Research Fellow, St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney | Deputy Director, Health Equity Research, St Vincent’s Health Australia | Conjoint Senior Lecturer, School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW

Keynote presentation: Risk communication of drug threats: a European perspective

This presentation will summarise work developed on behalf of the Trans-European Drug Information Network (TEDI) of drug checking organisations in Europe. It will discuss recently published guidelines for the development of strategies for public communication of drug related threats for drug checking services, as well as how these can be adapted to more formal drug intelligence and alert systems. The talk will highlight the importance of understanding how target audiences perceive and respond to drug-related risks, the critical role of trust and credibility (and how these can be easily lost), and how theories and frameworks developed in other fields can be used to inform work in the drugs field. Risk communication activities provide a means to collaborate with, and learn from people who use drugs in order to provide more responsive and engaging services, but must be embedded within a whole system response to reducing drug related harms. Examples will be provided of successful, and not so successful, communications.

Professor Harry Sumnall

Harry is a Professor in Substance Use in the School of Psychology and is also a member of the Public Health Institute. His undergraduate degree was in Pharmacology at the University of Manchester, and
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Keynote presentation: High Alert: New Zealand’s drug early warning system at work

High Alert is Aotearoa New Zealand’s drug early warning system. Since its launch in June 2020, High Alert has issued 30 public notifications and alerts warning of high-risk substances present in the drug market. Notifications have been issued across the country and related to many classes of substance including synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic cathinones high potency synthetic opioids. High Alert also supports network partners by providing information on developing drug trends.

High Alert is housed within the National Drug Intelligence Bureau (NDIB), a joint agency made up of representatives from New Zealand Police, the Ministry of Health and New Zealand Customs Service, allowing the team to access a wide variety of data sources to support our work. High Alert is also supported by a network of health professionals and social services (both Government and Non-Government Organisations), all working together to reduce acute drug harm.

A core function of High Alert is to gather and analyse data from a variety of sources, including police data, customs seizures, ambulance incidence data, drug checking services and public submissions in order to monitor drug trends and understand the illicit drug environment. If a situation of concern is identified a risk assessment is used to identify if further actions need to be taken. When something is identified that poses significant harm to people who use drugs High Alert issue public notifications warning of the risk.

Dr Lucy Stiles

Lucy is an intelligence analyst for High Alert, Aotearoa New Zealand’s Drug Early Warning system, housed within the National Drug Intelligence Bureau (NDIB). High Alert works with government and non-government
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Cam Trueman

Cam is an intelligence analyst for High Alert, Aotearoa New Zealand’s drug early warning system. High Alert works with a number of government and non-government organisations to monitor New Zealand’s
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Spotlight presentation: What’s on the RADAR? Reporting to Scotland’s drugs early warning system

Since launching in 2022, RADAR has collected over 400 reports from services and the public to enhance our understanding of drug trends and harms in Scotland. This presentation describes the pros and cons of using real-time anecdotal reports (alongside harm and toxicology data) to provide more rapid and appropriate responses to trends, new drugs, adverse effects and overdose clusters.

Vicki Craik

Vicki Craik is a Public Health Intelligence Adviser within the Drugs Team at Public Health Scotland (PHS). She manages Scotland’s Drugs Early Warning System and supports the development of drug surveillance
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