Drugs and Alcohol Treatment and Support Service

Who are we?

Who can access this service?

Asian and African backgrounds from 13 years of age plus who have drug misuse and/or related issues such as accommodation, legal, relationship or finance.

and

Families of individuals who are negatively impacted by drugs and alcohol uses.

Drugs Treatment Support and Counselling Services

This service provides one-on-one support, case management and / or counselling to drugs users to increase access to appropriate treatment and support services.

• Our services are available for free
• Workers provide a non-judgemental and culturally sensitive service
• Access to these services is voluntary
• Confidentiality policies are strictly followed
• We are flexible in where we can meet with the client such as home, office or community places.

Monthly Support Groups

Our support groups are:

• Facilitated by a senior AOD worker and a peer educator.
• Based on cultural and language needs. We have a Vietnamese speaking group and an English language group.
• Providing information and education about AOD and related issues.
• We encourage participants to share their personal life experiences, receive feedback from their peers and learn from their experience in a safe and comfortable environment
• Facilitated in a way that motivates participants to make changes that improve their health and well- being.

Support service for families

We provide a range of services supporting the families of individuals who have AOD issues, including:

• Monthly support group for parents and/or partners
• Assessing the family member’s situation and providing assistance in developing a personal plan to meet their needs.
• Providing information and education to reduce the harms associated with drug use and drug treatment options
• Supporting family members to recognize and build on skills to improve relationships with their love ones
• Referring and supporting family members to access appropriate support services

Community Education

Community education aims to contribute to the evolution of community attitudes by implementing a range of community education strategies that reduce stigma, increase understanding and assist in building an environment that encourages access to support services. Additionally, community education strategies also aim to prevent substance misuse amongst young people.

CASSA facilitate educational programs/workshops to youths , parents and other community to raise awareness of AOD issues and information stalls at many community and local events

Clean Needle Program (CNP)

The CNP is part of a range of public health measures aimed at reducing the spread of blood borne viral infections like HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C amongst people who inject drugs and the wider community. The program has been highly successful in reducing harms associated with intravenous drug use.

CNP services provide

• Free sterile injecting equipment for injecting drug users such as needles and syringes
• Disposal containers for used needles and syringes
• Health and safer injecting information and referrals to treatment and support services

The CNP service is staffed by a committed team of peer educators under the guidance of a Coordinator. All workers are passionate about educating and supporting people using intravenous drugs to reduce harms from their use. Peer education involves the provision of education and information, in both formal and informal ways, by people with personal knowledge and exposure to injecting drug use, while not necessarily engaging in injecting drug use themselves. Peer Educators’ own personal experience directs their work, ensuring a sensibility to client issues and concerns.