RACGP Welcomes NSW Drug Summit Reforms, Calls for Continued Action
04 Nov 2025
The 2024 NSW Drug Summit brought together over 700 participants and nearly 3700 written submissions to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for people affected by alcohol and other drugs. Its final report outlined 56 recommendations focusing on prevention, early intervention, stigma reduction, community support, and strengthening the health workforce.
The NSW Government has now committed to fully or in-principle supporting 50 of those recommendations, including:
Developing a 10-year whole-of-government alcohol and other drugs strategy
Increasing funding for alcohol and drug services to address unmet needs
Expanding prevention and early intervention programs, with a focus on the first 2000 days of life
Launching public education campaigns to reduce stigma and discrimination
Improving access to evidence-based harm reduction measures, such as needle and syringe programs
While welcoming the reforms, the RACGP noted that key challenges remain — particularly the limited number of medically supervised injecting facilities and harm reduction services outside Sydney.
RACGP NSW&ACT Chair Dr Rebekah Hoffman described the reforms as “sensible and life-saving”, adding that the state needs more supervised injecting facilities and greater access to harm reduction programs in rural and regional areas.
RACGP Addiction Medicine spokesperson Dr Marguerite Tracy said the college will continue to collaborate with the NSW Government to ensure “real and lasting change”.
“Taking a health-first approach to drug use — with harm reduction and stigma reduction at its core — will save lives,” she said.
“GPs play a critical role in prevention and early intervention, and must be central to delivering these reforms.”
Source: RACGP NewsGP / NSW Health
