Tuesday, 13 May 2025

Preston electorate

Nathan LAMBERT (Preston) (14:48): (1103) My question is for the Minister for Mental Health. My question is: how is the Allan Labor government working to increase the availability of the life-saving drug naloxone? I was recently chatting with Paula, one of our pharmacists in Preston, and she described how she now carries a naloxone spray with her and once administered it to someone experiencing an overdose in Chadstone. Based on that conversation, we now have some Nyxoid spray in our office, and I understand that the member for Footscray has indicated that she does the same. Unfortunately, while drug-related deaths have reduced significantly since their peak in the late 1990s, approximately 15 people continue to die each year in the Darebin LGA from drug overdoses, and that is a higher rate than most other parts of the state. I know the minister and everyone in our Labor government is committed to reducing overdose deaths and reducing other forms of drug-related harm, particularly through our health-led and evidence-based state action plan, and we would be grateful for any information the minister could provide about naloxone initiatives specifically.