This morning, I met with Geoff Munro, National Policy Manager at the Australian Drug Foundation (ADF). Geoff has been with ADF for over 20 years (in various roles) and has a wealth of experience in the field of drugs and alcohol. The history behind the ADF is documented in the book pictured below, detailing how ADF started and how it has evolved over the years, to adapt to circumstances.
One of the founder members of the ADF was Edward Dunlop (an Australian surgeon), who was renowned for his leadership whilst being held prisoner by the Japanese in World War II. Dunlop became a Japanese prisoner of war in 1942 when he was captured in Bandung, Java, together with the hospital he was commanding. Because of his leadership skills, he was placed in charge of prisoner-of-war camps in Java, was later transferred briefly to Changi, and in January 1943 commanded the first Australians sent to work on the Thai segment of the Burma-Thailand railway.
After being held in a number of camps in Java, he was eventually moved to the Thai-Burma railway, where prisoners of the Japanese were being used as forced labourers to construct a strategically important supply route between Bangkok and Rangoon. Conditions in the railway camps were primitive and horrific—food was totally inadequate, beatings were frequent and severe, there were no medical supplies, tropical disease was rampant, and the Japanese required a level of productivity that would have been difficult for fully fit and properly equipped men to achieve.
Along with a number of other Commonwealth Medical Officers, Dunlop's dedication and heroism became a legend among prisoners. A courageous leader and compassionate doctor, he restored morale in those terrible prison camps and jungle hospitals. Dunlop defied his captors, gave hope to the sick and eased the anguish of the dying. He became, in the words of one of his men, "a lighthouse of sanity in a universe of madness and suffering". His example was one of the reasons why Australian survival rates were the highest (this is all from Wikipedia). Dunlop was also a founder member of the Australian Heart Foundation and the Cancer Council.
The book pictured above also mentioned the history of alcohol use in Australia - that it was the drug of choice in early Australia and the one most readily available. Early financial transactions were conducted in rum and the implications of this relationship are still being experienced today. The heavy use of alcohol in early Australia created many problems that afflict society today. For those convicted of alcohol related offences in the early days, the punishments consisted of imprisonment, forced labout or flogging. This form of treatment continued until 1912, when prisons were overflowing and the Inebriates Act was introduced. The Act handed responsibility for inebriates to mental hospitals - throughout the first half of the 20th century there were few treatment services other than those in psychiatric institutions (taken from Arduous Endeavour).
ADF started in 1959 as a service for alcohol treatment, but it now focuses on prevention and early intervention. THere are five units within ADF -
1. Information and research
2. Workplace programmes
3. Community programmes
4. Marketing and Communications
5. Finance and ICT.
The information and research unit publishes a quarterly publication (Prevention Research Quarterly) and commissions individuals working in the field of alcohol and drugs to contribute towards this publication. One applicable to my role in Wales was titled Under the Influence: What local goverments can do to reduce drug and alcohol related harms in their communities. I will be sharing this with colleagues when I get back to Wales.
One of the flagship programmes that the ADF run is the Good Sports programme. This is a national preventative health programme for the community sport sector. The programme is a voluntary accreditation programme assisting sports clubs to manage alcohol better (apologies that the picture doesn't appear the right way up!).
Wales and Australia both have a strong culture association between alcohol and sport (need I say no more than the Six Nations!). The Good Sport programme helps sports clubs change their culture to become more focussed on young people and families and less on drinking alcohol. THere are three levels to the programme, where clubs must work on implementing various criteria, such as an alcohol management policy, low and non alcoholic drink options, safe transport policy and Responsible Serving of Alcohol training. A number of these clubs have a liquor licence and the bars are manned by volunteers, therefore regulation is difficult at times.
I found this programme fascinating to discuss with Rod Glenn-Smith, the Good Sports Manager for Victoria, as alcohol is ingrained in sporting culture in Wales as well. I found it difficult to envisage sport clubs in Wales changing their culture to the one promoted by Good Sports. The culture is slowly changing in Australia through this programme and it receives funding from a variety of sources, including the Department of Health and road traffic authorities. The ADF also works with professional sports Unions, as the vision and direction in order to change the culture of alcohol within a particular sport has to be from top down as well as bottom up.
Geoff and I also discussed the use of alcohol at school events, as many schools in Australia serve alcohol to parents at school fetes, school sports days and at school discos. Parents can also bring their own alcohol to these events. I was pleased to note that this was not the case in Wales. Geoff has spoken publicly against this, which caused a public debate. Many individuals feel that Australia is becoming a nanny state and that it should be an individual's choice whether to drink or not. However, the boundaries between drinking at home and drinking in public has been almost been eradicated and alcohol is now seen everywhere and has to some extent, been normalised. The ADF has now received funding to look at the effect that alcohol being available in school functions has on the health of the nation, so I look forward to reading the results of that research in time.
Geoff also put me in touch with 3 other organisations in Melbourne, so I have a busy schedule between now and the weekend, which is great.
Here is a picture of Geoff and I (Rod has to go to another meeting).
I would like to thank Geoff, Rod and the staff at the ADF for being so welcoming, I was very much enthused by this morning's discussion.
The sun is still shining here now, so I have planned to go to the Victoria Market tonight for a walk. I went there last week and was unprepared for how busy it was going to be - I know what to expect tonight!
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