Supporting supervised injecting services

LiverWELL supports the Government’s decision to make the North Richmond medically supervised injection room (MSIR) permanent, following an independent review and recommendations.

People supported by the MSIR typically experience a complex range of morbidities and trauma, and this wrap-around service helps support them on their recovery journey.

Studies of more than 120 medically supervised injecting services around the world demonstrate that they are one of the most effective tools in combating the serious harm caused by drug dependence in our community. A health-based response delivers benefits for everyone, reducing the impact of drug use on the whole CBD community, as well as the people who use the service.

In 2020, the Victorian Government committed to establishing a second supervised injecting room, to be located in the CBD. Despite the evidence that drug harm is continuing in the CBD, there have been no further updates on the CBD injecting room, where overdoses are on the rise according to frontline services, and ambulance callout data shows that there were 390 heroin-related ambulance callouts in the City of Melbourne in 2021-22.