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| Kay Hulls, Diana Egerton-Warburton, Ted Wilkes and members of the Irrungadji community |
Gaining a
better understanding of the impact of alcohol and drugs on indigenous people
was the focus of the Australian National Advisory Council on Alcohol and other
Drugs (ANDCAD) recent visit to the Pilbara.
As a member
of ANDCAD, Monash Health emergency physician and Monash University’s Associate
Professor Diana Egerton-Warburton was invited to the Pilbara by Associate
Professor Ted Wilkes the Principle Advisor on Indigenous drug and alcohol
matters.
“After
arriving in Karratha amongst the surreal flood of fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) workers
in high vis, we travelled to Roebourne to participate in a community meeting
where we had the opportunity to talk with people from all aspects of the
community to find out the issues most important to them and their biggest
challenges,” said Professor Egerton-Warburton.
Roebourne
has a long history of harm due to predominantly alcohol harm, but more recently
Gunga (cannabis) and Narbee (crystal methamphetamines) have become problematic.
