The Professional
Making drug treatment a safe and inclusive space.
Robert Stirling is the Deputy CEO of NADA (Network of Alcohol and other Drugs Agencies). He works to make sure every person who uses drugs feels valued and gets quality treatment.
From my beginnings, in Mount Druitt to innercity dwelling, to stints in London and Shanghai, to now in Sydney’s inner west, drugs and alcohol have always been a part of my life. Both in a positive and a negative way.
As a gay man in Sydney, drugs and alcohol have been an unavoidable part of being in the LGBTIQ community. Indeed, drugs and alcohol supported my initiation into the community! These substances made what was challenging, confusing, and at times overwhelming, much more tolerable.
Part of that challenge was my perception that being gay meant being part of the Oxford Street community. But as an Indie Gay (it was the 90’s), I didn’t relate. I felt judged and just didn’t feel comfortable. Drugs and alcohol helped me navigate that space. Thankfully I found my people, and a skin that I felt comfortable in.
Time has moved on and now I am the Deputy CEO for the Network of Alcohol and other Drugs Agencies (NADA), an organisation that represents approximately 100 drug treatment services across NSW.
As a professional in the sector, it can be challenging to say that drug use has been a part of my life, or even that it helped in my process of ‘coming out’. Yet, I feel I can’t advocate for reducing stigma and discrimination towards people who take drugs, and those that work in the sector, without acknowledging the role drug use has played in my own story. My story, along with my education and experience, drives the way I do my work.
NADA represents organisations that provide support to LGBTIQ community members wanting to address substance use concerns, including ACON, Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, The Gender Centre, and Positive Life NSW.
However, the majority of NADA’s members are mainstream drug treatment services that cater to the broader community. As a member of the LGBTIQ community, I’ve always looked at our members through the lens of inclusion. Would I want to attend this service? Would I recommend someone close to me to this service? Yet, I know that it’s not that black and white.
The services I represent are diverse, and like the LGBTIQ community, there is strength in that diversity. We know that personal choice and person-centred care is what we strive for. However, this requires that drug treatment services are well resourced and able to meet the needs of all people concerned about their drug use. Through NADA’s work, modelling and costing with our members, we know that funding to drug treatment services needs to double before it can meet the needs of NSW communities.
In my role, I take a non-judgemental approach to drug treatment services, which helps foster more inclusive ways to run these services. I’m in a very fortunate position to understand the complexity of providing drug treatment services, and understand the challenges and competing priorities that services face.
I am cautious in my approach to promoting inclusive practice, in that I may be perceived as only fighting for my community. However, my passion for reducing drug and alcohol-related harms extends beyond my sexuality. Being inclusive to me means doing our best to meet the needs of all people, regardless of their cultural identity.
In 2017, NADA included specific questions on gender and sexuality for organisations that used our online data system. Asking the question is important for so many reasons. However, in the first year, we found a high proportion of responses to the sexuality questions as ‘Not stated/inadequately described’. This suggested to us that workers didn’t have the skills or think that it was important to ask the question.
NADA has been working with ACON on addressing this issue. We need to know how - and where - our community accesses drug treatment, and what outcomes they are achieving. Services can use this information to tailor treatment to the specific needs of the person, and if they can’t, provide an appropriate referral to a service that can.
I’m optimistic that there is a change in culture and willingness to reflect on our practices to be move inclusive of LGBTIQ people in drug treatment services.
I have a commitment to providing leadership to ensure that drug treatment services are a safe place for LGBTIQ people to reflect on their substance use. That doesn’t mean that I want all services waving the rainbow flag, but it does mean that if a member of the LGBTIQ community accesses a drug treatment services that they feel safe, valued, and receive quality care that is free from stigma & discrimination.
Gender & Sexually Diverse AOD Worker Network
Do you work in an Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) service? Do you want to support gender and sexuality diverse people who use drugs to get the services they need and deserve?
Why not join the Gender and Sexuality Diverse AOD Worker Network?
The Gender and Sexuality Diverse AOD Worker Network currently includes a small group of NSW AOD workers who work in frontline services, management, administration and research.
The GASD AOD worker network has 2 clear purposes: to provide a supportive network for gender and sexuality diverse workers in the NSW AOD sector; and to improve AOD services for gender and sexuality diverse people.
If you’re a NSW AOD worker and are interested in joining the network, contact Robert Stirling at NADA by emailing robert@nada.org.au
Everyone deserves quality healthcare. Don’t settle for anything less!
Are you a gender and sexuality diverse person who uses drugs? Have you been discriminated against by a NSW Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) service?
People who use drugs deserve quality healthcare. Gender and sexually diverse folk deserve quality healthcare. We all know that health services can be tricky to navigate, especially when facing stigma and discrimination.
No one deserves to be discriminated against because of their gender, sexuality or drug use. If this has happened to you by a NSW AOD service, it’s time to speak up. You can make a complaint, and it can help make these services better for everyone involved, including other people like you.
Get heard! Make a complaint! Make things better for others! You can lodge a complaint about a specific incident with the NSW Healthcare Complaints Commission. Visit their website online at www.hccc.nsw.gov.au