Flinders University is leading a review of illicit drugs in the Northern Territory that will provide recommendations on key ways to minimise harm.

Funded by the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, the team of experts – co-led by Flinders University Rural and Remote Health NT (RRHNT) researchers and the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA) – will aim to identify which groups of people are most at risk of harm from illicit drug use in the NT.

The project will be led by RRHNT Deputy Dean Matthew Flinders Professor James Smith, who is based in the NT, and Professor Jacqueline Bowden, Director of National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA), based in SA.

The final report, due later this year, will guide the NT Primary Health Network to make decisions about its service and program investments, with an aim to minimise the harm of illicit drug use in the NT.

“The multidisciplinary team involved in this project has a commitment to reduce the harms of illicit drug use and increase the capacity of organisations and workers responding to challenges associated with substance use,” says Professor Bowden.

“This work will be important to help shape future decision-making and to better target policy and program strategies that address illicit drug use and harm minimisation in the NT,” says Professor Smith.