The ABC has reported that, as its response to the recommendations of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug Ice, the NSW government will invest $500 million into health and justice reforms.

Matt Noffs, CEO of the Ted Noffs Foundation, has welcomed this investment, but with a caveat.

Speaking to ABC radio he said, ‘The government said they have made a historic investment into treatment. Out of the $500 million, I believe it’s roughly $350 million. I want to see 100% of that $350 million hit the frontline. I don’t want a cent of that wasted anywhere else, certainly not brought in to expand the bureaucracy. I want to see the full realisation of that so that parents know that when they’re sending their child to a Ted Noffs Foundation or to a We Help Ourselves, wherever they’re trying to get someone into treatment. Or trying to get themselves into treatment, they know that there won’t be a long waiting line for that. And that’s the current experience of many people who have drug problems.’

‘The only way we can truly fix that is to get 100% of that $350 million into the frontline and not waste a cent on it going elsewhere into the bureaucracy’ he concluded.

Photo credit: Justin Lloyd