The Australian Injecting & Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL) was first incorporated as an association in 1992. 2022 was a historic milestone and celebrated 30 years of an organisation that was one of the National leaders in the response to the HIV epidemic in Australia. More than 30 years on, we are still here fighting for the health and human rights of people who use and inject drugs. One of the most stigmatised groups of people in Australia.
The inaugural Australian Stigma Conference was held on the 17th of November 2022, in the Great Hall at the Australian Parliament House. The forum-style conference brought together policymakers, healthcare professionals and people who use drugs to engage in dialogue and hear about how stigma impacts people who use drugs. The 2019 Australian Drug household survey confirmed that around 43% of Australians over the age of 14 are willing to admit to illicit drug use at some point in their lifetime, indicating that stigma and drug use continues to have some type of impact on almost half of Australia’s adult population.
The Stigma conference presented issues including the impact of stigma on illicit drug overdoses in Australia, stigma impeding Australia’s 2030 Hep C elimination goals, stigma and language, stigma and people’s experiences with pharmacotherapy and stigma undermining harm reduction more broadly.
Ery Nyx
DULF
Co-founder Drug Liberation Front (DULF), Vancouver, Canada
The Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) is an organized collective of people who use drugs empowered to make change through direct action, courage and conviction, and fueled by the memories of the countless friends...
Ery Nyx
DULF
Co-founder Drug Liberation Front (DULF), Vancouver, Canada
The Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) is an organized collective of people who use drugs empowered to make change through direct action, courage and conviction, and fueled by the memories of the countless friends, families, and loved ones whose lives have been taken by an unjust, broken system of laws and policies.
To Find out more about DULF and their work please visit DULF’s Website
Jeremy Kalicum
DULF
Co-founder Drug Liberation Front (DULF), Vancouver, Canada
The Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) is an organized collective of people who use drugs empowered to make change through direct action, courage and conviction, and fueled by the memories of the countless friends...
Jeremy Kalicum
DULF
Co-founder Drug Liberation Front (DULF), Vancouver, Canada
The Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) is an organized collective of people who use drugs empowered to make change through direct action, courage and conviction, and fueled by the memories of the countless friends, families, and loved ones whose lives have been taken by an unjust, broken system of laws and policies.
To Find out more about DULF and their work please visit DULF’s Website
Professor Carla Treloar
Director Centre for Social Research in Health; Social Policy Research Centre.
PhD, FASSA, GAICD
Professor Carla Treloar is Deputy Director and Head of the Hepatitis Research group at the Centre for Social Research in Health at The University of New South Wales. Carla has been a member of the NSW and the Aus...
Professor Carla Treloar
Director Centre for Social Research in Health; Social Policy Research Centre.
PhD, FASSA, GAICD
Professor Carla Treloar is Deputy Director and Head of the Hepatitis Research group at the Centre for Social Research in Health at The University of New South Wales. Carla has been a member of the NSW and the Australian Ministerial Advisory Committee on blood-borne viruses and STIs and a member of numerous advisory committees for government, health agencies and non-government organisations. She is a board member of the International Journal of Drug Policy and an associate editor for Addiction. She has published over 140 peer review articles and been awarded over $15 million in research funding.
Carla is committed to the effective translation of research into policy and practice and to ethical and respectful conduct of research in close collaboration with affected communities. Her research encompasses the social aspects of drug use in relation to the prevention of drug-related harms particularly blood-borne viruses, engagement of people who use drugs in health and other services, critical analysis of the structure and operation of services for people who use drugs and societal attitudes towards drug use and people who use drugs.
Dr Marianne Jauncey
Medical Director
Uniting Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre - Sydney MSIC
Dr Marianne Jauncey is a Public Health Physician who has worked at the pointy end of harm reduction for decades. She has been the Medical Director of the Uniting Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) since...
Dr Marianne Jauncey
Medical Director
Uniting Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre - Sydney MSIC
Dr Marianne Jauncey is a Public Health Physician who has worked at the pointy end of harm reduction for decades. She has been the Medical Director of the Uniting Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) since 2008.
She has been instrumental in a number of the service’s achievements. MSIC receives increased community and political support and in 2010 became a permanent service. The MSIC now has an active consumer action group that goes from strength to strength. The Uniting Church formally decided to advocate for drug law reform and launched their campaign at Town Hall with Richard Branson in 2018. A primary care service for people who inject is soon to open upstairs above MSIC, and MSIC itself has been present for 1.25 million injections without a single death, intervening in over 10,000 overdoses.
Dr Jauncey is committed to ensuring Uniting MSIC provides unwavering support and meets the needs of its clients beyond merely supervised injection. She is not afraid to speak up or bang a few tables where it is needed. She has conducted many media interviews to improve understanding of harm reduction and the nature drug use, and is always willing to get people talking.
Dr Kate Seear
Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society La Trobe University, Australia.
Associate Professor, Australian Research Council Future Fellow
Associate Professor Kate Seear is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and Principal Research Fellow in the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University. She is also a practi...
Dr Kate Seear
Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society La Trobe University, Australia.
Associate Professor, Australian Research Council Future Fellow
Associate Professor Kate Seear is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and Principal Research Fellow in the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University. She is also a practising solicitor.
Kate has a multidisciplinary background in sociology, gender and law. She is the author of four books and more than 70 academic publications, exploring topics such as the links between alcohol, other drugs, stigma and the law; harm reduction and the law; and drugs, gender, and human rights. Her most recent book is Law, drugs and the making of addiction: Just habits (London: Routledge) and was the winner of the UK’s prestigious Socio-Legal Studies Association’s History and Theory book prize. Kate is also the Co-Editor of the journal Contemporary Drug Problems. speaker.
Greg Denham
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Australia
Greg Denham has been actively involved in drug policy issues for over 30 years. A former member of Victoria and Queensland Police, he has local, national and international experience, especially in the area of wo...
Greg Denham
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Australia
Greg Denham has been actively involved in drug policy issues for over 30 years. A former member of Victoria and Queensland Police, he has local, national and international experience, especially in the area of working with police to support harm minimisation programs. Greg has been a strong advocate for evidence-informed policy and practice as well as drug law reform.
From 2010-to 2019 Greg was the Executive Officer for the Yarra Drug and Health Forum in Melbourne. He was instrumental in gaining political support for introducing the overdose reversing drug Naloxone and campaigning for Victoria’s first supervised injecting facility in North Richmond. Greg has also worked with law enforcement in low and middle-income countries promoting the introduction of policies and practices that support needle exchange, methadone and access to condoms to prevent the spread of HIV and reduce the health burden on developing communities.
Dr Annie Madden AO
Harm Reduction Australia
Executive Director
Annie is the Executive Director of Harm reduction Australia. She is also a principal of 2SqPegs Consulting – a health & social policy consulting business. Prior to these appointments, Annie was CEO of the A...
Dr Annie Madden AO
Harm Reduction Australia
Executive Director
Annie is the Executive Director of Harm reduction Australia. She is also a principal of 2SqPegs Consulting – a health & social policy consulting business.
Prior to these appointments, Annie was CEO of the Australian Injecting & Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL) for 16 years until April 2016 and EO of the NSW Users & AIDS Association (NUAA) from 1994 to 2000. She is a founding member of Harm Reduction Australia, is well-published in relation to people who inject drugs, OST and BBVs and has held numerous high-level appointments. Annie has dedicated her entire professional career to promoting the health and human rights of people who inject drugs.
David Shoebridge
Greens Senator in the Federal Parliament
David Shoebridge is a Greens Senator in the Federal Parliament holding the Justice, including the Attorney-General’s Office and Drug Law Reform, Digital Rights and Defence portfolios for the party. Previously h...
David Shoebridge
Greens Senator in the Federal Parliament
David Shoebridge is a Greens Senator in the Federal Parliament holding the Justice, including the Attorney-General’s Office and Drug Law Reform, Digital Rights and Defence portfolios for the party. Previously he served as a Greens MP in the NSW Legislative Council from 2010-2022. As a state, MP David established and continues to support the Sniff Off campaign in collaboration with the Young Greens to provide a strong voice against over policing under the guise of the war on drugs. David is currently working on campaigns including a strong federal ICAC, closing child prisons and a national bill to legalise cannabis
MJ Stowe
PHD Candidate at Kirby Institute and Program Coordinator at South African Network of People who use Drugs (SANPUD)
Mj Stowe is from Cape Town, South Africa where he worked as a Programme Coordinator at the South African Network of People Who Use Drugs (SANPUD) and held a research position at the University of Pretoria’s...
MJ Stowe
PHD Candidate at Kirby Institute and Program Coordinator at South African Network of People who use Drugs (SANPUD)
Mj Stowe is from Cape Town, South Africa where he worked as a Programme Coordinator at the South African Network of People Who Use Drugs (SANPUD) and held a research position at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Family Medicine, within the Community Orientated Substance Use Programme (COSUP). His research was situated at the interface between on-the-ground, living-experience and academia, where he worked with marginalized people who use drugs to co-design and co-develop evidence-informed healthcare interventions aimed at reducing drug-related harms.
Currently, Mj is a PhD candidate at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), within the Kirby Institute. His PhD research is focused on understanding values and preferences for opioid agonist therapies, including long-acting injectable buprenorphine. His other research activities include assessing non-fatal opioid-related overdoses among various cohorts and implementing peer-led, mobile healthcare and harm reduction services. He also holds a research position with Loop Australia. His research is aimed at drug checking services that combine chemical analysis with health consultations, with the primary aim of reducing drug-related harms in festival and community settings
Richard Di Natale
Former Australian Senator and Former Leader of the Australian Greens
Richard Di Natale is a former Australian Senator and was the leader of the Australian Greens from 2015 to 2020. Prior to entering the Senate, Dr Di Natale was a general practitioner and public health specialist w...
Richard Di Natale
Former Australian Senator and Former Leader of the Australian Greens
Richard Di Natale is a former Australian Senator and was the leader of the Australian Greens from 2015 to 2020. Prior to entering the Senate, Dr Di Natale was a general practitioner and public health specialist who worked in Aboriginal health in the Northern Territory, on HIV prevention in India and as a drug and alcohol clinician in regional Victoria. Richard now works as a public health advisor for cohealth, a large, not-for-profit community health service