Drug Detection and Screening in Schools

National Alcohol and other Drug Workforce Development Strategy

SUBMISSION PACKAGE

Closing date: Friday November 29th2013

A National Alcohol and other Drug (AOD) Workforce Development (WFD) Strategy is being developed at the request of the Intergovernmental Committee on Drugs. The strategy development is being undertaken by the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA) at Flinders University and the project is being managed by the Northern TerritoryDepartment of Health.

An extensive consultation process is being undertaken to provide opportunity for all interested parties to have input into the development of the Strategy. This call for submissions forms part of that consultation process. NCETA invites all interested parties to submit their views on the issue of AOD WFD.

To assist those interested in making a submission, a Discussion Paper has been developed to provide background contextual information and to inform and guide the national consultation process. A copy of the background Discussion Paper, and a longer more detailed literature review, are downloadable from the NCETA website (or hard copies can be obtained on request from NCETA ph: 08 8201 7535).

Submissions should address the key themes/questions in the submission pro-forma and follow the guidelines for submissions. The submissions will be considered in the development of the draft Strategy.

An electronic version of thisSubmission Package can be downloaded from the NCETA website: or by telephoning NCETA on 08 8201 7535. Telephone enquiries can be made directly to Ann Roche or Roger Nicholas at NCETA on this number.

Guidelines for Preparing Submissions

1. Submissions should bebrief,preferably limited to 8pagesor less and should address the key issues outlined in the associated Discussion Paper.
2. Electronic submissions are preferred. They must be saved as an MS Word document and e-mailed to . Please use the subject heading “Attention: Alcohol and other Drug Workforce Development Strategy.”
3. Mailedor faxed submissions should be typed or written clearly in black or blue ink on A4 paper.

Mail to:

Attention: Alcohol and other Drug Workforce Development Strategy.

National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA)

FlindersUniversity

GPO Box 2100

Adelaide SA 5001

Fax to 08 8201 7550

1. The Submission Coversheet (see attached)must be completed and forwarded with your submission.
2. Unless there is a request for confidentiality, your submission may be made public and may be published. If you wish for all or part of your submission to be treated as confidential, please indicate this on the coversheet and highlight the relevant sections in your submission.
3. Submissions must be received by 5.00pm EST, Friday 29 November 2013.

Submission Pro-forma

Cover Sheet (below)

Please complete the coversheet and forward with your submission to the review.

Instructions

Please structure your submission around the following key questions covered in the Discussion Paper, providing comments or examples where relevant/applicable.

A full list of the 36 questions outlined in the Discussion Paper is shown below.

You are not required to address all questions. Please select items of relevance and address your responses to these questions.

Please retain the numbering as shown for each of the 36 questions (i.e. q1 – q36).

National Alcohol and other Drug Workforce Development Strategy

Please forward this form with your submission to .

Thank you.

Consultation Questions

National Alcohol and other Drug Workforce development Strategy

Please read these questions in conjunction with the Discussion Paper from which they are derived and select and address only the items of relevance.

Please retain numbering as shown below.

Question 1

Has the lack of a nationally consistent approach to AOD workforce development impactedprogress in responses to AOD-related harm in Australia? If so how?

Question 2

In what way should the Strategy development address the diversity of workers within the scope ofthe Strategy?

Question 3

At which evolutionary phase of WFD is the AOD sector?

Question 4

Are there currently any gaps in (or beyond) systems approaches, capacity building andprofessional development?

Question 5

What are the major WFD issues facing specialist AOD workers?

Question 6

What are the major WFD issues facing generalist workers performing AOD-related roles, such asgeneral practitioners, social workers, counsellors, child protection workers and CALDworkers?

Question 7

In what way should factors such as the age, gender and working arrangements of the AODworkforce be addressed in the WFD Strategy?

Question 8

What will be the major influences of the broader policy environment on the development of theWFD Strategy?

Question 9

Specialist AOD services, like much of the Australian health and welfare sector, will not have thecapacity to meet future demand without major structural reforms. What shape should thesereforms take and what are the implications of these reforms for WFD Strategy development?

Question 10.

How can the AOD workforce adapt to meet the challenges associated with current and emerginghealth inequalities and what are the implications of this for the WFD Strategy?

Question 11

What are the implications of an ageing population in Australia for the AOD workforce and for theWFD Strategy?

Question 12

As the market for skilled workers becomes more competitive with the ageing of the Australianworkforce, what can the AOD sector in Australia do to ensure that it attracts and retains highquality staff? What are the implications for the WFD Strategy?

Question 13

What are the key AOD workforce development issues for Indigenous AOD workers? In

particular, what are the implications for Indigenous AOD workers of having culturally unsafeworking environments?

Question 14

What are the key AOD WFD issues associated with working with older clients and what are theimplications of this for the WFD Strategy?

Question 15

How can the AOD workforce best adapt to meet the challenges posed by the rapid rate withwhich new substances are appearing?

Question 16

How could these changes in the substances associated with harm in Australia impact on theAOD workforce? What are the implications of this for WFD Strategy development?

Question 17

What are the implications of: broadening the base of AOD prevention and treatment (to havemore of a focus on social determinants of health and more integrated interventions); andincreased use of technology for the WFD Strategy?

Question 18

How does AOD service provision need to adapt to meet the challenges posed by multiple

morbidities?

Question 19

What are the implications ofthe need to adapt to meet the challenges posed by multiplemorbidities for the AOD WFD Strategy?

Question 20

As funders of AOD services increasingly move towards outcomes-based funding arrangements,how will this impact on the ways that services measure their impact?

Question 21

How should the move towards outcomes-based funding arrangementsbe reflected in the WFD Strategy?

Question 22

What are the implications for the AOD WFD Strategy of the need to enhance consumer inputinto service provision and client led care environments?

Question 23

How should the WFD Strategy reflect the need to balance possible integration of AOD andmental health services (to provide more comprehensive approaches to prevent and treatmultiple morbidities) with the need to maintain the specialist skills required to prevent andtreat AOD problems?

Question 24

What are the implications of family inclusive policy and practice for the WFD Strategy?

Question 25

What measures could the AOD sector implement to attract and retain staff?

Question 26

How do workforce development needs differ between workers employed in government andNGO services?

Question 27

Should practice standards be developed for the AOD Sector to address prevention and

treatment services?

Question 28

What are the key AOD workforce development issues for police?

Question 29

What are the key AOD workforce development issues for correctional services workers?

Question 30

To what extent does existing AOD-related education and training meet the needs of the AODworkforce and how could this be improved?

Question 31

To what extent are AOD issues currently addressed in non-specialist AOD higher educationprograms in your jurisdiction?

Question 32

Should there be minimum educational standards that apply for specialist workers in the AODfield? If so what level should they be set at?

Question 33

If minimum qualifications for employment in the AOD field were to be introduced: should therebe recognition that professional qualifications, such as psychology, nursing, social work andmedicine do not also require VET sector AOD qualifications or competencies; shouldexperienced AOD workers be required to obtain the minimum AOD competencies; and whatmeasures should be introduced to support peer and ex-peer workers to obtain thesequalifications?

Question 34

If national minimum qualifications were introduced, who should meet the costs associated withtheir implementation?

Question 35

How could education and training approaches for the AOD workforce be adapted to be moreinter-professional?

Question 36

How could research translation occur more effectively in the AOD field?

Other issues:

If you wish to address issues not covered in the above questions, please do so at the end of your submission.

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