Victorian Greens’ push to grant children access to injecting room located next door to school

A proposal by the Victorian Greens could see children legally entering injecting rooms across the state.

A contentious proposal by the Victorian Greens could see children granted access to North Richmond’s controversial medically supervised safe injecting (MSIR) and future facilities.

The party announced several “improvements” on Monday that it wishes to make to a government bill which is expected to be debated and voted on in the Upper House next week.

The bill will look to make the current site permanent, despite it neighbouring Richmond West Primary School and receiving backlash from the community since its opening five years ago.

A bill will be debated to make the North Richmond MSIR permanent. Picture: news.com.au

Under the Green’s suggested amendments, medical care will be granted to pregnant people, those under the age of 18 and those subject to a court order, excluding those who are legally accessing services from the facility.

Another amendment includes allowing more than one MSIR to be licensed at the same time, which will mean future facilities won’t require new legislation to be passed to be granted a licence.

Victorian Greens’ drug harm reduction spokesman Aiv Puglielli said the amendments are based on expert health advice and are in line with recommendations made by John Ryan’s independent review earlier this year.

“If the experts are calling for more safe injecting facilities in areas across the state where drug use is affecting communities and where people are dying, then the Government should support them, not back away from expert health advice,” Mr Puglielli said.

“The Greens’ amendments would help make it easier to establish these facilities in areas where people need them, and make them more accessible.”

The proposal comes as parents push to have the MSIR moved. Picture: Supplied

A bitter blow for locals

This announcement from the Victorian Greens serves as a blow to concerned community members and parents who have been rallying against the permanency of the MSIR since its inception.

Despite several pleas for help through letters to the Andrews government, most claim their concerns have fallen on deaf ears with some parents moving their children to different schools as a result.

In a three-page document obtained by news.com.au, a summary of parent concerns reveal the traumatic scenarios children are exposed to every day.

The document contains 32 statements in total in what’s been labelled a “snapshot of experiences from Richmond West Primary School families” in relation to drug-related crime and anti-social behaviour.

“After two lockdowns in one week, involving needing to get underneath a desk and hide, my daughter is traumatised,” one parent said.

“She needs professional counselling. She is terrified to come to school. My older children walk her to school; she grips their hands so tightly on the walk it hurts them.”

Another parent recounted the horrific moment their son got hold of a syringe that was situated on the footpath between the school gate and the family car.

“He bent down and in the flash of an eye he’d picked up a syringe. I got a fright and yelled at him to drop it – he was very distressed,” they explained.

“When I looked at the spot he picked the needle up from, there were two other needles – without caps – poking out of the dirt.”

About a dozen people were seen lingering outside the Richmond safe injecting room. Picture: news.com.au

A third parent who lives “around the corner” from the MSIR recalled the terrifying moment her family were locked outside of their house due to a “drug-affected man” passing out on their doorstep.

“My kids were terrified and we couldn’t get into our house,” they said.

On another occasion, a parent stated their children witnessed a crude act between a man and woman while at school.

It was scenes like this that forced mother-of-two Letitia to move her family interstate.

In an interview with news.com.au earlier this year, the former Richmond local recalled how she witnessed a woman “shooting up” outside the school’s entrance as the end-of-day bell rang out.

Parents watched in horror as the woman used a mirror to inject a substance into her neck while children skipped out the gates.

“Unfortunately, when they get to the neck, it means that they‘ve lost all other vein access so that was probably one of the scariest events,” Letitia, who did not wish to reveal her last name, said.

Today, two-metre high cyclone fencing surrounds the school, designed in a way to prevent pedestrians looking into the grounds.

A number of other security upgrades were also made over the last 18 months with Richmond resident and a former parent at the school, Neil Mallet, comparing the school to a “Supermax prison”.

A two-metre high fence surrounds West Richmond Primary School, located near the injecting room. Picture: news.com.au

One step closer to becoming a permanent service

The Andrews government announced earlier this year the MSIR will become an ongoing service after a review found it saved 63 lives and successfully managed 6,000 overdoses.

Mr Ryan, along with the review panel made 10 recommendations after conducting an inquiry into the program, one of which included making the facility permanent.

Other recommendations included expanding support for clients, and improving safety and amenity through stronger agency collaborations.

Works are also underway to establish a permanent committee comprising the Department of Health, Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, in line with the review.

“This independent report has shown that the Medically Supervised Injecting Room has succeeded, with 63 Victorians alive today because of their work,” Premier Daniel Andrews said in a statement in March.

“We will now strengthen the service to give clients better access to social, housing and mental health support so the service continues to do what it is designed to do – save lives and change lives.”

The MSIR was established as part of the state government’s $2 billion investment to tackle alcohol and drug abuse across the state.