Andrews government delays revealing safe injecting room report details

A long-awaited report into a safe injecting room in Melbourne’s CBD is still under wraps as the Andrews government refuses to immediately reveal what it contains.

Mental Health Minister Gabrielle Williams saiys the injecting room report will be released in ‘due course’. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

The Andrews government has refused to reveal any details of the long-awaited report into a second safe injecting room in Melbourne’s CBD.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Minister for Mental Health Gabrielle Williams refused to go into any detail about the report but said it would be released in “due course”.

“As you’ve heard me say a number of times I have Ken Lay’s report with me, it’s very comprehensive,” she said.

“I can’t emphasise that enough, there is a lot of useful information contained within that report.”

Former top cop Ken Lay submitted his final report into the facility to the government on June 1,

It remains unclear whether the report suggests working towards a second injecting room in the CBD after the North Richmond facility was made permanent.

The report was originally to be finalised by the end of 2020, but the government pushed it back blaming the pandemic and changed drug user behaviour.

Ms Williams said the government would certainly release the report in “due course” after it has gone through the appropriate cabinet processes.

“We’re working through that at the moment, we will be releasing the report in full with our government response,” she said.

“We need to ensure that our government pays respect to the work that Canada has done, and to all of those who have been put into that work as well.

“That’s a significant number of people.”

Ms Williams acknowledged that the “complex” issues the report posed were cause for extra analysis on its findings.

“There’s no shying away from that,” she said.

“There’s not only one set of considerations, and quite a detailed body of work for us to analyse and get our heads around to ensure our government response does justice.”

Last month the Victorian Greens called for the release of the Mr Lay’s report as a matter of urgency.

Spokesman Aiv Puglielli previously said: “Leaving people out in the open, without medical supervision, to use these substances will lead to more deaths and will put people and communities in harm’s way”.