Laws to put drug-addicted kids in treatment passed State Parliament last year, but have not taken effect

Laws that allow parents to get court-mandated orders forcing their kids into rehab passed Parliament last year. So what is taking the State Government so long to get the laws implemented?

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Controversial laws to force drug-addicted kids into rehab against their will are still months away, despite passing State Parliament in November.

The new rules, first spruiked by Attorney-General Vickie Chapman from Opposition, will mean teens can be detained and forced to undergo drug rehabilitation for up to 12 months.

But the State Government has confirmed the laws could still be months away from taking effect.

The laws will take even longer to be implemented in full, with only teens already held in the state’s Youth Training Centre to be considered first.

Confirmation follows revelations in the Sunday Mail that South Australian police officers fear Adelaide’s reputation as the methamphetamine capital of the country shows no signs of abating.

Five years after the Federal Government’s high-profile National Ice Action Strategy, health workers estimate between 20,000 and 50,000 drug and alcohol addicted South Australians are not getting the help they need each year.

The new rules, first spruiked by Attorney-General Vickie Chapman from Opposition, will mean teens can be detained and forced to undergo drug rehabilitation for up to 12 months.

Last year, Ms Chapman said the laws were not proposed lightly by the Government.

“They attempt to strike the correct balance between respecting the rights and autonomy of children and our special obligation to care for and protect children,” she told Parliament in June.

“Under the Bill, assessment, treatment and detention orders are provided as a measure of last resort. In the case of a detention order, it must be for the shortest period appropriate and be reviewed by the court at regular intervals determined by the court until the child is released from detention.”

A State Government spokesman said the laws underpinning the policy passed both Houses of Parliament on November 14, 2019.

“The Act gives effect to the Government’s election commitment for Youth Treatment Orders to enable parents who have been unable to engage their children who are dependent on controlled drugs in voluntary treatment, and to legally force their children to attend drug treatment programs in the hope of breaking their dependence at the earliest possible time,” he said.

“A model of care is being developed and will be released for consultation before being finalised.”

South Australian Network of Drug and Alcohol Services executive director Michael White said the sector still had serious concerns about the laws.

“Mandatory detention of alcohol and drug-dependent young people is an expensive and ineffective approach to drug and alcohol issues,” Mr White said.

“Research on mandatory drug treatment indicates that the empirical evidence for the effectiveness of mandatory treatment is inadequate and inconclusive.”