Jack Freestone is an NCCRED post-doctoral research fellow. His research at NCCRED focuses on NCCRED’s Prompt Response Network and Australian approaches to monitoring and responding to emerging drugs of concern.
Prior to commencing with NCCRED, Jack held positions spanning community development, service delivery, program evaluation and research across non-government and government organisations.
Jack was previously the manager of drug and alcohol and sexual health programs at ACON, a community organisation specialising in the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ populations in New South Wales. As such, Jack brings to his research a passion for LGBTQ+ tailored, inclusive and affirming approaches.
Jack completed his PhD with The Kirby Institute. His research focussed on sexualised drug use among sexuality and gender diverse populations and peer-led services for gay and bisexual men who have sex with men. As part of his PhD candidature, Jack co-designed, implemented and formatively evaluated M3THOD, a peer-led brief intervention service for gay and bisexual men who use crystal methamphetamine or GHB in the context of sex. Jack’s longstanding employment within the community sector and his experience in the delivery of peer-led services has instilled in him an ongoing research interest in lived and living experience representation, research, and service delivery.