Community members, families, AOD service providers and advocates from across the ACT will come together in Canberra today for the 30th Annual Remembrance Ceremony to honour and remember those in our community who have lost their lives. They meet together to ensure that they are not forgotten and to continue to push for change.
This year's ceremony also coincides with the two-year anniversary of changes to the ACT's Drugs of Dependence legislation which has enabled a health and wellbeing response to drug use and dependency, but advocates say there is more to do to help keep people in our community safe.
Alexandra Hogan, Social Justice Lead at Uniting NSW.ACT said: "This is a powerful opportunity for people to come together in grief, remembrance, and hope for change.
"This year's Penington Overdose Report revealed that 2,272 people have died in the last year - this is the equivalent to losing more than a Boeing 737 full of Australians each month - and 80% of this overdose toll is accidental.
"These aren't just numbers on a spreadsheet. They are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends and loved ones.
"Every overdose death is a tragedy for the community, and every overdose death is entirely preventable.
"There are sensible, evidence based and fair solutions that we know will save lives and help keep the people we love safe," Alex said.
ACT Minister for Health Rachel Stephen-Smith said: "Every life lost to drugs is one life too many, and the impacts of these deaths ripple through the community. This reinforces the importance of a compassionate drug policy which treats people who use drugs with humanity, dignity and respect.
"The ACT Government remains committed to minimising harm from alcohol and other drugs. Our nation-leading decriminalisation laws have reframed drug use as a health issue by providing a pathway away from the criminal justice system towards treatment and support.
"We will continue to work with our community partners and those with lived experience to maintain and expand effective harm reduction initiatives based on evidence and what we know works here and elsewhere," she said.
The Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Association ACT's (ATODA) CEO Anita Mills said: "As ATODA stands alongside community, government and sector partners today we remember the people who have been needlessly lost to overdose – every life that ends this way is one too many and a tragic outcome for all involved.
"There are evidence-based ways to address this problem, and we have grown a strong treatment and harm reduction system in the ACT, which includes being the only Australian jurisdiction to decriminalise illicit drugs for personal use.
"ATODA calls for ongoing investment into the ACT harm reduction and treatment system which will allow us to significantly reduce drug harms and save more lives."
The Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy (CAHMA)'s Executive Director Chris Gough said: "On this day the community comes together to show support and solidarity and to grieve those we have lost to the criminalisation of drugs.
We share our feelings of grief and sadness and acknowledge that the tragic human toll of inhumane drug laws, bad drug policy settings and overdose is preventable.
We remember those family and friends who have passed away and call on government to continue to proactively change the laws and policy settings and to provide more harm reduction and drug treatment services for all Canberrans."
Directions Health Services CEO, Bronwyn Hendry said: "I would like to pay tribute to the Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform for establishing the Annual Remembrance Ceremony 30 years ago, and for continuing their tireless advocacy for drug law reform.
"We are in a much better place now, with ACT Government's decriminalisation of personal drug use, establishment of CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service and Naloxone freely available. However, we still have much work to do to avoid the trauma that family, friends and colleagues experience when someone needlessly loses their life to illicit drug use.
Marion McConnell, advocate & formerly from Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform said: "Back in 1996, when the first ceremony was held and the Remembrance Rock was unveiled by Kate Carnell, the former Chief Minister of the ACT, I could not have imagined that three decades later we would still be gathering here - honouring more lives lost.
"While the sadness remains deep, our presence together is a testament to resilience, compassion, and the enduring commitment to seek a safer future."
This event in Canberra today will feature speakers including ACT Minister for Health Rachel Stephen-Smith, The Salvation Army, Directions Health Services and guests including Uniting NSW.ACT, The Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association ACT (ATODA), The Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy (CAHMA) as well as peer workers and people with lived experience.
Uniting has run the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in Kings Cross for nearly 25 years and has spearheaded the Fair Treatment campaign for fairer drug laws for over seven years.
