Pressure mounts over Richmond injecting room site after city plan dumped

The Allan government could face a renewed parliamentary push to move the North Richmond injecting room after it dumped plans for a CBD facility.

The Allan government could face a renewed parliamentary push to move the state’s only supervised injecting room from its current North Richmond site.

The Herald Sun can reveal the state opposition is considering moving a motion in parliament next week calling for an immediate review into the suitability of the site.

It comes after the government this week dumped plans and rejected a formal recommendation to establish a second facility in Melbourne’s CBD.

Among the reasons given for the backflip included that a suitable site in the city could not be found.

Instead the government has announced a $95m statewide action plan, led by a community health hub at 244 Flinders St which is due to open in 2026.

North Richmond residents have long campaigned against the site’s current location next to a primary school. Picture: Ian Currie

But the move has angered North Richmond residents who have long campaigned against the site’s current location next to a primary school and accused the government of double standards.

The most recent review into the North Richmond facility was completed last year by John Ryan, who in 2020 was appointed chairman of a new panel charged with reviewing the injecting room.

But the location of the facility was specifically not within the scope of the review.

The panel did hear concerns from many in the North Richmond community about its location, especially the proximity to Richmond West Primary School and the general impact on residents.

A man nods off after injecting heroin at the safe injecting room in Richmond. Picture: David Geraghty

A further review of the facility must be completed before January 1, 2028.

But the opposition is expected to push for a review to be completed much sooner, in a motion likely to be put before the upper house.

It would need the support of eight crossbenchers to gain the votes needed to pass the 40-member house.

The Greens and Animal Justice MP Georgie Purcell have vehemently backed the current site.

“The location of North Richmond’s safe injecting room hasn’t been selected at random,” Ms Purcell said.

A heroin user with items supplied by the safe injecting room. Picture: David Geraghty

“It was chosen based on the concentration of street drug use, and deemed to be the place that would save the most lives. It’s done exactly that.

“Moving it would result in more overdoses, more deaths and more vulnerable Victorian drug users left without support.

“Concerned residents should be actively campaigning for more sites around the state, so that drug users have more than one option and to end pressures placed on the existing facility.”

Victorian Greens drug harm reduction spokesman Aiv Puglielli said rather than moving the site the government needed to provide additional supports to the local community.

On Wednesday Jacinta Allan said the Richmond facility was a “critically important” part of the state’s health-led response to drug addiction.

“The establishment of the facility in North Richmond had a very different trajectory to the one that was being considered in the CBD,” she said.

Ms Allan said there were no plans to look at moving the facility.

“We’ve had a review … we are committed to the supervised injecting facility in North Richmond being part of that range of programs that provide support for people who use drugs across the state.”