Jeff Kennett backs safe injecting rooms

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett is backing a renewed push for the trial of a safe injecting room in Melbourne.

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has thrown his support behind a renewed push for the trial of a safe-injecting room in Melbourne.

Mr Kennett is backing the new president of the Victorian branch of the Australian Drug Law ­Reform Commission, ­Robert Richter QC, who has declared he would push for a supervised drug-taking centre in Melbourne in the hope of repeating the success of Sydney’s Kings Cross.

“There are a lot of very senior people in the community who do good work, but to take on board a leadership role in an area which attracts a lot of criticism as much as praise, I think, is terribly encouraging,’’ Mr Kennett said.

Mr Kennett, the chairman of mental health charity ­Beyond Blue, has reversed his ­reluctance on the issue from when he was Victoria’s leader. “I’ve done that based on the evidence, the practice of the Kings Cross safe-injecting room, and having visited it and spoken to a number of ­workers associated with it, as well as clients of it,” he said.

He credits the Sydney centre for saving lives. “Many clients of the safe-injecting room are people who have a range of issues, many of them are welfare recipients: unemployed and homeless. The centre assists to preserve their life and try and lead them to a better place,” Mr Kennett said.

Drug-injecting centres house addicts and allow them to use their drug of choice under staff supervision, with the aim of introducing users to counselling and care services.