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Executive Summary Background & Aims Despite increasing anecdotal evidence that sexual violence occurs at music festivals, to date no research has addressed this issue. This pilot project aimed to establish a research base in this area... more
Executive Summary
Background & Aims
Despite increasing anecdotal evidence that sexual violence occurs at music festivals, to date no research has addressed this issue. This pilot project aimed to establish a research base in this area by investigating patron experiences and perceptions of sexual assault, harassment and safety at music festivals in Australia.
Methods
This project involved three phases:
1. Observation at the 2017-18 Falls Festival
2. An online survey conducted with 500 patrons of the 2017-18 Falls Festival
3. One-on-one interviews with 16 individuals who had experienced, or had been involved in responding to, sexual violence at music festivals across Australia.
It should be noted that while participants for the survey were recruited from patrons who attended the Falls Festival, the survey asked participants about their perceptions of sexual violence and safety at music festivals in general, i.e., these findings are not specific to the Falls Festival.
Key Findings – Surveys
The online survey addressed a range of issues relating to participant demographics, perceptions of safety and sexual violence at Australian music festivals, and alcohol and drug consumption at festival events.
Key findings include:
• The vast majority of participants reported that they either ‘usually’ (61.5%) or ‘always’ (29%) feel safe at music festivals.
• A strong majority of participants indicated that they believe physical violence (92.8%, n=347), sexual harassment (95.1%, n=351) and sexual assault (88.6%, n=295) occur at music festivals.
• Participants were less certain as to whether homophobic or transphobic violence occur, with 61.2% (n=148) and 61.6% (n=141) of participants respectively responding that they thought these forms of violence happened at music festivals.
• Most participants believed that sexual harassment occurs ‘often’ (31.2%) or ‘very often’ (30.2%) at music festivals.
• Participants indicated they would be ‘extremely’ likely to report sexual assault (75.2%, n=215) and sexual harassment (62%, n=176) to the police. However, this does not reflect the actions of participants who had directly experienced these forms of violence.
• Almost all participants (99%) consumed alcohol at music festivals, while just under half (47.8%) consumed drugs. Previous research illustrates that music festival attendees use illicit drugs at a higher rate than the general population (Lim et al. 2010). However, rates of use for our sample are considerably lower than those identified in previous research. For example, 65.3% of participants in another Australian study reported using illicit drugs at festivals (Hughes & Moxham-Hall, 2017).
Key Findings – Interviews
Interviews were conducted with individuals who had experienced, or were involved in responding to, sexual violence that occurred at any Australian music festival. Participants were asked to reflect on the nature of their festival experience(s), the impacts of their experience(s) of sexual violence, what role the festival setting played in facilitating the violence, their experience(s) with reporting and disclosure, and reflections on steps festivals could take to both prevent and better respond to sexual violence. Key findings included:
• Participants reported diverse experiences of sexual violence, ranging from sexual harassment (e.g., verbal comments) through to actions that may constitute sexual assault.
• Groping and other forms of sexual touching in crowded moshpit and performance areas was a common experience.
• Perpetrators were overwhelmingly, but not exclusively, men.
• Bystanders (other patrons) rarely intervened when sexual violence was occurring.
• Experiencing sexual violence of all kinds resulted in negative and often ongoing impacts, including hyper-vigilance, altered behavior at festivals, anxiety, and shock.
• Most participants did not report to police, security or festival staff. Those who did report typically recalled negative responses from authority figures, such as victim-blaming, not taking the report seriously, and/or a failure to take appropriate action.
• Participants viewed the male-dominated nature of the music industry as a contributing factor to sexual violence in festival spaces.
• Zero-tolerance policing of drugs and anti-social behavior deterred participants from reporting to police.
• Participants expressed the need for music festivals to introduce a range of policy and practice-based changes in order to better respond to and prevent sexual violence. We drew on these suggestions in developing our recommendations.
Key Recommendations
Festival policy and management:
1. Introduce clear protocols and consistent messaging about sexual violence, including consequences for perpetrators.
2. Increase the number of female police and security staff working on-site.
3. Develop multiple avenues for reporting sexual violence at festivals and ensuring all staff are adequately trained to receive and respond to these reports.
4. Implement processes for the systematic documentation of incidents of sexual violence.
5. Follow through on reports with feedback to victim-survivors.
6. Implement the provision of on-site access to appropriate support services.
Environment:
1. Provision of quiet ‘chill out’ spaces.
2. Ensure security and police are distributed throughout festival spaces, including regular patrols or emergency contact points in camping grounds.
3. Introduce section markers or signposting in camping grounds to improve way finding.
4. Enhance lighting, particularly in isolated areas such as camping grounds.
5. Ensure signage establishing behavioural standards is clearly visible throughout all spaces at festival.
6. Introduce clear and consistently identifiable markers to note the location of security staff in and around performance spaces.
Cultural change:
1. Continued efforts to make festival line-ups more gender equitable and diverse.
2. Encouragement of pro-social behavior, such as bystander intervention.
3. Encouragement of an ethic of care among festival patrons.
Background & Aims
Despite increasing anecdotal evidence that sexual violence occurs at music festivals, to date no research has addressed this issue. This pilot project aimed to establish a research base in this area by investigating patron experiences and perceptions of sexual assault, harassment and safety at music festivals in Australia.
Methods
This project involved three phases:
1. Observation at the 2017-18 Falls Festival
2. An online survey conducted with 500 patrons of the 2017-18 Falls Festival
3. One-on-one interviews with 16 individuals who had experienced, or had been involved in responding to, sexual violence at music festivals across Australia.
It should be noted that while participants for the survey were recruited from patrons who attended the Falls Festival, the survey asked participants about their perceptions of sexual violence and safety at music festivals in general, i.e., these findings are not specific to the Falls Festival.
Key Findings – Surveys
The online survey addressed a range of issues relating to participant demographics, perceptions of safety and sexual violence at Australian music festivals, and alcohol and drug consumption at festival events.
Key findings include:
• The vast majority of participants reported that they either ‘usually’ (61.5%) or ‘always’ (29%) feel safe at music festivals.
• A strong majority of participants indicated that they believe physical violence (92.8%, n=347), sexual harassment (95.1%, n=351) and sexual assault (88.6%, n=295) occur at music festivals.
• Participants were less certain as to whether homophobic or transphobic violence occur, with 61.2% (n=148) and 61.6% (n=141) of participants respectively responding that they thought these forms of violence happened at music festivals.
• Most participants believed that sexual harassment occurs ‘often’ (31.2%) or ‘very often’ (30.2%) at music festivals.
• Participants indicated they would be ‘extremely’ likely to report sexual assault (75.2%, n=215) and sexual harassment (62%, n=176) to the police. However, this does not reflect the actions of participants who had directly experienced these forms of violence.
• Almost all participants (99%) consumed alcohol at music festivals, while just under half (47.8%) consumed drugs. Previous research illustrates that music festival attendees use illicit drugs at a higher rate than the general population (Lim et al. 2010). However, rates of use for our sample are considerably lower than those identified in previous research. For example, 65.3% of participants in another Australian study reported using illicit drugs at festivals (Hughes & Moxham-Hall, 2017).
Key Findings – Interviews
Interviews were conducted with individuals who had experienced, or were involved in responding to, sexual violence that occurred at any Australian music festival. Participants were asked to reflect on the nature of their festival experience(s), the impacts of their experience(s) of sexual violence, what role the festival setting played in facilitating the violence, their experience(s) with reporting and disclosure, and reflections on steps festivals could take to both prevent and better respond to sexual violence. Key findings included:
• Participants reported diverse experiences of sexual violence, ranging from sexual harassment (e.g., verbal comments) through to actions that may constitute sexual assault.
• Groping and other forms of sexual touching in crowded moshpit and performance areas was a common experience.
• Perpetrators were overwhelmingly, but not exclusively, men.
• Bystanders (other patrons) rarely intervened when sexual violence was occurring.
• Experiencing sexual violence of all kinds resulted in negative and often ongoing impacts, including hyper-vigilance, altered behavior at festivals, anxiety, and shock.
• Most participants did not report to police, security or festival staff. Those who did report typically recalled negative responses from authority figures, such as victim-blaming, not taking the report seriously, and/or a failure to take appropriate action.
• Participants viewed the male-dominated nature of the music industry as a contributing factor to sexual violence in festival spaces.
• Zero-tolerance policing of drugs and anti-social behavior deterred participants from reporting to police.
• Participants expressed the need for music festivals to introduce a range of policy and practice-based changes in order to better respond to and prevent sexual violence. We drew on these suggestions in developing our recommendations.
Key Recommendations
Festival policy and management:
1. Introduce clear protocols and consistent messaging about sexual violence, including consequences for perpetrators.
2. Increase the number of female police and security staff working on-site.
3. Develop multiple avenues for reporting sexual violence at festivals and ensuring all staff are adequately trained to receive and respond to these reports.
4. Implement processes for the systematic documentation of incidents of sexual violence.
5. Follow through on reports with feedback to victim-survivors.
6. Implement the provision of on-site access to appropriate support services.
Environment:
1. Provision of quiet ‘chill out’ spaces.
2. Ensure security and police are distributed throughout festival spaces, including regular patrols or emergency contact points in camping grounds.
3. Introduce section markers or signposting in camping grounds to improve way finding.
4. Enhance lighting, particularly in isolated areas such as camping grounds.
5. Ensure signage establishing behavioural standards is clearly visible throughout all spaces at festival.
6. Introduce clear and consistently identifiable markers to note the location of security staff in and around performance spaces.
Cultural change:
1. Continued efforts to make festival line-ups more gender equitable and diverse.
2. Encouragement of pro-social behavior, such as bystander intervention.
3. Encouragement of an ethic of care among festival patrons.
All references in this document were up to date at the time of writing. The content of this document is published in good faith by Community Mental Health Drug and Alcohol Research Network (CMHDARN). This resource is for information... more
All references in this document were up to date at the time of writing. The content of this document is published in good faith by Community Mental Health Drug and Alcohol Research Network (CMHDARN). This resource is for information purposes only. CMHDARN does not accept any legal liability for any injury, loss or damage incurred by the use of, or reliance on this document.
This report presents findings from a national qualitative research project on experiences of alcohol and other drug addiction, dependence or habit in Australia, undertaken between 2014 and 2016. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews,... more
This report presents findings from a national qualitative research project on experiences of alcohol and other drug addiction, dependence or habit in Australia, undertaken between 2014 and 2016. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews, the study was designed to collect and analyse the personal accounts of people who describe themselves as having an alcohol and other drug addiction, dependence or habit. It aimed to generate much-needed new insights into the range of experiences that make up life for people with drug use experiences of this kind. Interviews were conducted with 60 people from diverse backgrounds living in cities and regional areas of Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. Interview questions addressed participants’ experiences of living with addiction, including how consumption fits into daily life, coping with stigma and discrimination, experiences of treatment, and views on the idea of recovery. The report details the study’s findings on these key themes and, where appropriate, recommendations for improving policy and service provision.
Investigaciones previas llevadas a cabo a nivel internacional han puesto de manifiesto una elevada prevalencia del consumo de alcohol y otras drogas y de trastornos mentales entre el colectivo femenino privado de libertad. Sin embargo, no... more
Investigaciones previas llevadas a cabo a nivel internacional han puesto de manifiesto una elevada prevalencia del consumo de alcohol y otras drogas y de trastornos mentales entre el colectivo femenino privado de libertad. Sin embargo, no es frecuente encontrar estudios que analicen la asociación entre ambos aspectos. La muestra del presente estudio estuvo compuesta por 143 mujeres privadas de libertad en dos centros penitenciarios de la Región de Murcia, quienes de manera voluntaria cumplimentaron un cuestionario que incluía información demográfica, penitenciaria, de consumo de alcohol y otras drogas previamente y en prisión (adaptadas del cuestionario ASSIST) y la presencia de depresión, ansiedad y estrés en prisión (mediante el cuestionario DASS-21). Las internas que presentaban depresión, ansiedad y estrés mostraban una mayor prevalencia de consumo de alcohol y otras drogas, en comparación con las que no, mostrando el análisis de regresión asociaciones estadísticamente significativas.
Previous research carried out at international level has shown a high prevalence of the use of alcohol and other drugs and mental disorders among females deprived of their liberty. However, it is not common to find studies that analyse the association between both aspects. The sample of the current study consisted of 143 women deprived of liberty in two prisons in the Region of Murcia, who voluntarily completed a questionnaire that included information ondemographics, prison, alcohol and other drug use prior to and during prison (adapted from the ASSIST questionnaire), as well as depression, anxiety, and stress in prison (using the DASS- 21 questionnaire). The inmates who reporteddepression, anxiety, and stress showed a higher prevalence of alcohol and other drug use compared to those who did not, and regression analysis showed statistically significant associations.
Previous research carried out at international level has shown a high prevalence of the use of alcohol and other drugs and mental disorders among females deprived of their liberty. However, it is not common to find studies that analyse the association between both aspects. The sample of the current study consisted of 143 women deprived of liberty in two prisons in the Region of Murcia, who voluntarily completed a questionnaire that included information ondemographics, prison, alcohol and other drug use prior to and during prison (adapted from the ASSIST questionnaire), as well as depression, anxiety, and stress in prison (using the DASS- 21 questionnaire). The inmates who reporteddepression, anxiety, and stress showed a higher prevalence of alcohol and other drug use compared to those who did not, and regression analysis showed statistically significant associations.
In Australia, in any given year approximately 20% of the population experience mental illness (Jorm et al, 2017). Each year it is estimated one in five Western Australians between 16 and 85 years has a mental illness (Western Australian... more
In Australia, in any given year approximately 20% of the population experience mental illness (Jorm et al, 2017). Each year it is estimated one in five Western Australians between 16 and 85 years has a mental illness (Western Australian Mental Health Commission, 2015). This equates to 395,000 persons, with a severity profile similar in proportion to national estimates. However Australians that live with serious mental illness and those with drug and alcohol issues continue to struggle with disconnected, complex and fragmented health and social service systems.
The 2014 National Review of Mental Health Programmes and Services by the National Mental Health Commission drew attention to the need of local planning of care for people with a lived experience of mental illness in Australia and the relevance of a bottom-up approach to understanding “services available locally [in] the development of national policy”. It also called for responsiveness to the diverse local needs of different communities across Australia (NHMC, 2014).
This Integrated Atlas of Western Australia, commissioned by the Western Australian Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) and the Western Australia Mental Health Commission aligns with this recommendation. It is a tool for evidence-informed planning that critically analyses the pattern of mental health care provided across Western Australia.
The Atlas uses a standard classification system, the "Description and Evaluation of Services and Directories in Europe for Long-Term Care" model (DESDE-LTC), to describe and classify the services; as well as geographical information systems to geolocate the services. By utilising this internationally recognised and evidence-based tool as its supporting methodology, it is possible to derive benchmarks and comparisons with other regions both within Australia and internationally. This provides a sound basis for long-term service planning and development and significantly advances efforts towards more integrated care and achieving improved outcomes for all service users.
This supports WAPHA’s stated intention to focus on integrating services and building collaborative models of care, an approach also in line with the Western Australian Mental Health Commission’s strategic policy (Western Australian Mental Health Commission, 2015). The National Ice Taskforce report also highlights the need for improved coordination between existing services, including the need to improve referral pathways and provide greater access to care through GPs (Commonwealth of Australia, 2015).
The Integrated Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drug Atlas of Western Australia comes at a pivotal moment in time, with reforms underway both at State and Federal level, including the recommissioning of services and the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
The Atlas project involved 240 stakeholders, with 75 interviews conducted and 165 organisations invited to complete a survey. There were 192 Organisations with services that met the criteria for inclusion in the Atlas, comprising 847 service delivery teams. Of these, 77% were providing mental health care (n = 654) and 23% AOD care (n = 193). This data is examined by PHN and is presented in two parts. Volume I (this report) covers Metropolitan Perth and encompasses Perth North (PNPHN) and Perth South (PSPHN). Volume II covers the Country WA PHN and its seven sub-regions.
Summary of Findings
The PNPHN catchment covers an area of just under 3000 square kilometres with a population of 1.07 million. The region includes the North Metropolitan Health Service, as well as 17 Local Government Areas. A total of 237 mental health service delivery teams were identified across PNPHN. Of these, 62% were provided by the Non-Government (NGO) Sector, with the remainder provided by the Health services. Services were generally concentrated towards the south end of the region, especially around the large teaching hospitals, with relatively fewer services in the newer and highly populated areas of Wanaroo and Joondalup.
The PSPHN catchment covers an area of 5,148 km2, with a population of 978,278 people. The region includes the South Metropolitan Health Service, as well as 16 LGAs. A total of 192 mental health service delivery teams or BSIC were identified across PSPHN. Services were generally concentrated towards the north end of the region, with relatively fewer services in Murray, Serpentine-Jarradale, Waroona and Mandurah.
The Country WA PHN (CWAPHN) catchment covers an area of just over 2.5 million km2, representing approximately 32% of Australia’s land area and encompassing a population of just over half a million people. It is a vast geographical area, approximately as big as half of the United States of America. It is comprised of seven regional health districts with 105 LGAs in total. Health service (clinical) teams are 58% of the total number of teams delivering care. There is significant variation between and even within individual regions.
The Atlas reveals key differences in the provision of mental health and AOD services across Metropolitan Perth and within and across Country WA, when compared with other regions in Australia and other countries around the world. These are:
• A lack of services providing day care
• A lack of sub-acute inpatient care
• High variability in patterns of care across Country regions
• Regional imbalances in patterns of care requiring further analysis, and
• A concentration of metropolitan services towards the inner-city areas rather than the outer suburban growth corridors.
There was significant disparity in the availability and capacity of services across the different jurisdictions, both between Perth North and Perth South, but more particularly between the seven Country regions. Whilst most of this variation can be explained by the very different characteristics of each region, some however, could be due to limitations with the analysis.
Data collection for the Atlas project took place during a time of intense change particularly in the metropolitan health sector. Additionally, the complexity and unique characteristics of service provision across remote areas presented unique challenges. Many teams in regional areas must necessarily be flexible and adaptive and frequently provide both acute and non-acute care of varying intensities. Functions that may be provided by separate clinical teams in the Metropolitan area are often covered by the one team in regional areas. Additionally, it is acknowledged that given the remote nature of some communities, emergency services, hospital emergency departments and many generalist services (including Aboriginal services) provide responses to and support for mental health issues.
Additional analysis around the unique characteristics of rural and remote service provision, including bed occupancy, care transfer rates and the unique characteristics of the Aboriginal services would be highly beneficial.
There is no generally accepted ‘perfect’ system of care for mental health or AOD. Needs, environments and circumstances vary significantly between regions and indeed even within regions, especially regions as large as those in Country WA. This should be reflected in regional and sub-regional variations in care. What is generally accepted is that there should be a balance between the different types of care.
In considering future system structure, consistent with National and State strategies, it should rely less heavily on acute inpatient acute care and provide more resource in sub-acute beds, early intervention and prevention and community based outpatient care. Whilst still contentious in the Australian context, it is also considered that an ideal balance of care would include more day programs, particularly those specifically targeted at providing supported employment, vocational training and assistance, structured programs and social opportunities.
This Atlas provides a baseline measure of service availability at a critical time, immediately preceding the full roll-out of the NDIS and significant changes in commissioning of services at State and Federal levels. It is the ‘before’ picture against which the changes to the system can be measured and visualised in the future. As such it not only serves as a planning tool, but also as a measure of change.
The Atlas would not have been possible without the initiative of the Government of Western Australian Mental Health Commission and the Western Australian Primary Health Alliance that may lead to better planning and ultimately better service delivery for people experiencing mental illness and alcohol and other drug issues in Western Australia.
The 2014 National Review of Mental Health Programmes and Services by the National Mental Health Commission drew attention to the need of local planning of care for people with a lived experience of mental illness in Australia and the relevance of a bottom-up approach to understanding “services available locally [in] the development of national policy”. It also called for responsiveness to the diverse local needs of different communities across Australia (NHMC, 2014).
This Integrated Atlas of Western Australia, commissioned by the Western Australian Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) and the Western Australia Mental Health Commission aligns with this recommendation. It is a tool for evidence-informed planning that critically analyses the pattern of mental health care provided across Western Australia.
The Atlas uses a standard classification system, the "Description and Evaluation of Services and Directories in Europe for Long-Term Care" model (DESDE-LTC), to describe and classify the services; as well as geographical information systems to geolocate the services. By utilising this internationally recognised and evidence-based tool as its supporting methodology, it is possible to derive benchmarks and comparisons with other regions both within Australia and internationally. This provides a sound basis for long-term service planning and development and significantly advances efforts towards more integrated care and achieving improved outcomes for all service users.
This supports WAPHA’s stated intention to focus on integrating services and building collaborative models of care, an approach also in line with the Western Australian Mental Health Commission’s strategic policy (Western Australian Mental Health Commission, 2015). The National Ice Taskforce report also highlights the need for improved coordination between existing services, including the need to improve referral pathways and provide greater access to care through GPs (Commonwealth of Australia, 2015).
The Integrated Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drug Atlas of Western Australia comes at a pivotal moment in time, with reforms underway both at State and Federal level, including the recommissioning of services and the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
The Atlas project involved 240 stakeholders, with 75 interviews conducted and 165 organisations invited to complete a survey. There were 192 Organisations with services that met the criteria for inclusion in the Atlas, comprising 847 service delivery teams. Of these, 77% were providing mental health care (n = 654) and 23% AOD care (n = 193). This data is examined by PHN and is presented in two parts. Volume I (this report) covers Metropolitan Perth and encompasses Perth North (PNPHN) and Perth South (PSPHN). Volume II covers the Country WA PHN and its seven sub-regions.
Summary of Findings
The PNPHN catchment covers an area of just under 3000 square kilometres with a population of 1.07 million. The region includes the North Metropolitan Health Service, as well as 17 Local Government Areas. A total of 237 mental health service delivery teams were identified across PNPHN. Of these, 62% were provided by the Non-Government (NGO) Sector, with the remainder provided by the Health services. Services were generally concentrated towards the south end of the region, especially around the large teaching hospitals, with relatively fewer services in the newer and highly populated areas of Wanaroo and Joondalup.
The PSPHN catchment covers an area of 5,148 km2, with a population of 978,278 people. The region includes the South Metropolitan Health Service, as well as 16 LGAs. A total of 192 mental health service delivery teams or BSIC were identified across PSPHN. Services were generally concentrated towards the north end of the region, with relatively fewer services in Murray, Serpentine-Jarradale, Waroona and Mandurah.
The Country WA PHN (CWAPHN) catchment covers an area of just over 2.5 million km2, representing approximately 32% of Australia’s land area and encompassing a population of just over half a million people. It is a vast geographical area, approximately as big as half of the United States of America. It is comprised of seven regional health districts with 105 LGAs in total. Health service (clinical) teams are 58% of the total number of teams delivering care. There is significant variation between and even within individual regions.
The Atlas reveals key differences in the provision of mental health and AOD services across Metropolitan Perth and within and across Country WA, when compared with other regions in Australia and other countries around the world. These are:
• A lack of services providing day care
• A lack of sub-acute inpatient care
• High variability in patterns of care across Country regions
• Regional imbalances in patterns of care requiring further analysis, and
• A concentration of metropolitan services towards the inner-city areas rather than the outer suburban growth corridors.
There was significant disparity in the availability and capacity of services across the different jurisdictions, both between Perth North and Perth South, but more particularly between the seven Country regions. Whilst most of this variation can be explained by the very different characteristics of each region, some however, could be due to limitations with the analysis.
Data collection for the Atlas project took place during a time of intense change particularly in the metropolitan health sector. Additionally, the complexity and unique characteristics of service provision across remote areas presented unique challenges. Many teams in regional areas must necessarily be flexible and adaptive and frequently provide both acute and non-acute care of varying intensities. Functions that may be provided by separate clinical teams in the Metropolitan area are often covered by the one team in regional areas. Additionally, it is acknowledged that given the remote nature of some communities, emergency services, hospital emergency departments and many generalist services (including Aboriginal services) provide responses to and support for mental health issues.
Additional analysis around the unique characteristics of rural and remote service provision, including bed occupancy, care transfer rates and the unique characteristics of the Aboriginal services would be highly beneficial.
There is no generally accepted ‘perfect’ system of care for mental health or AOD. Needs, environments and circumstances vary significantly between regions and indeed even within regions, especially regions as large as those in Country WA. This should be reflected in regional and sub-regional variations in care. What is generally accepted is that there should be a balance between the different types of care.
In considering future system structure, consistent with National and State strategies, it should rely less heavily on acute inpatient acute care and provide more resource in sub-acute beds, early intervention and prevention and community based outpatient care. Whilst still contentious in the Australian context, it is also considered that an ideal balance of care would include more day programs, particularly those specifically targeted at providing supported employment, vocational training and assistance, structured programs and social opportunities.
This Atlas provides a baseline measure of service availability at a critical time, immediately preceding the full roll-out of the NDIS and significant changes in commissioning of services at State and Federal levels. It is the ‘before’ picture against which the changes to the system can be measured and visualised in the future. As such it not only serves as a planning tool, but also as a measure of change.
The Atlas would not have been possible without the initiative of the Government of Western Australian Mental Health Commission and the Western Australian Primary Health Alliance that may lead to better planning and ultimately better service delivery for people experiencing mental illness and alcohol and other drug issues in Western Australia.
Introduction: There is a growing body of work regarding alcohol use and the workplace. However, little work has been conducted on risk factors for alcohol use in male-dominated industries. Method: A systematic review of risk factors for... more
Introduction: There is a growing body of work regarding alcohol use and the workplace. However, little work has been conducted on risk factors for alcohol use in male-dominated industries. Method: A systematic review of risk factors for alcohol use in male-dominated industries was undertaken. A male-dominated industry was defined as an industry comprising predominantly male workers (i.e. P70%). This included agriculture, construction, mining, manufacturing, transport, and utilities industries. Searches were undertaken of major electronic databases (CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Informit, PsycINFO, PubMed and Scopus), the grey literature, and reference lists of retrieved papers for English language studies published between January 1990 and June 2012. Results: Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Most were cross-sectional in design. Methodological quality was assessed as moderate in nine studies and weak in the remainder. Factors associated with risky alcohol use were categorised into seven domains: demographic (being male, middle age), individual (depressed, negative life events), social norms at work (permissive drinking norms), work conditions (high workloads and job stress, low collegial support), team environment (supervisory abuse), work-home interference (using alcohol to unwind after work), and structural/socio-economic (lower SES workers), with some attenuation by income and other SES factors. Conclusion: Alcohol primary prevention strategies and future research that targets specific high risk industries are warranted to address workplace drinking norms, reduce job workloads and stress, and improve workplace support. Multi-pronged, tailored strategies are needed in male-dominated industries that reflect the needs of high risk groups as well as targeting environmental, social, and contextual factors.
- by Jane A FISCHER and +1
- •
- Engineering, Addiction, Drugs And Addiction, Alcohol Studies
This encyclopedia entry is part of the The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol: Social, Cultural, and Historical Perspectives edited by Scott C. Martin.
The strong symbolic value of illicit drug use makes it a contested issue, which attracts mixed public opinion, intense media attention and close political scrutiny. This means that the formulation of plausible, authoritative policies... more
The strong symbolic value of illicit drug use makes it a contested issue, which attracts mixed public opinion, intense media attention and close political scrutiny. This means that the formulation of plausible, authoritative policies governing illicit drugs must navigate fraught political terrain. In a country like South Africa with its long unique history of institutionalised oppression of the black majority, the issues confronting drug policy are particularly complex and the need for carefully formulated policy responses especially urgent. Yet despite this, the area of drug policy development in South Africa has received little scholarly attention to date. This paper explores the complexities of policymaking in the South African context by drawing on feminist scholar Carol Bacchi's poststructuralist approach to policy analysis, which focusses on how policy helps to produce the problems it purports to solve. Taking as its empirical focus, South Africa's current drug policy, the third National Drug Master Plan (NDMP), 2013–2017, the paper analyses how the policy constitutes the ‘problem of alcohol and other drugs’ (AODs). We identify three central policy proposals through which specific problematisations emerge: 1) The proposal that drug use is a global issue requiring a coordinated policy response, 2) appeals to evidence-based policy proposals and 3) the proposal that AOD ‘use’ and ‘abuse’ be treated interchangeably. We suggest that these proposals reveal a tendency towards inflating the ‘problem of AODs’ and thus work to justify punitive policy measures. In an effort to explore the implications of particular problematisations for effecting social change, we clarify the ways in which the policy may work to undermine the interests of those it seeks to aid by reinforcing stigma and marginalisation.
In 2011, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) initiated an inquiry to determine whether there is a need for expanded ethical guidance in the form of a discrete guidance document for alcohol and other drug... more
In 2011, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) initiated an inquiry to determine whether there is a need for expanded ethical guidance in the form of a discrete guidance document for alcohol and other drug (AOD) research.An issues paper was developed to frame the inquiry.AOD researchers,Human Research Ethics Committees and others were invited to discuss whether there are distinctive ethical issues facing researchers and Human Research Ethics Committees
in the AOD setting. Based on the public submissions, the NHMRC recommended that no AOD research-specific guidance is required.The inquiry and the NHMRC decision were not widely publicized, and we feel there is a need for further discussion. In order to do so, we have analysed the public inquiry submissions and described the central themes. Few submissions in the inquiry explicitly agreed AOD research warrants a specific guidance framework. Most were concerned that the NHMRC issues paper unfairly targeted people who use drugs as complex research participants.The inquiry highlights tensions around research
governance and ethics review boards dealing with illicit and stigmatised behaviours.While we agree that a specific guidance framework for AOD research is not needed and could potentially be harmful and restrictive,we are concerned that the wholesale rejection of a guidance framework has closed the door to much needed debate.There remains, we argue, a need for alternative
strategies and tools to support ethical research, inform and streamline institutional ethics approval, and engage and protect participants. [Olsen A, Mooney-Somers J. Drug Alcohol Rev 2014;33:637–42]
in the AOD setting. Based on the public submissions, the NHMRC recommended that no AOD research-specific guidance is required.The inquiry and the NHMRC decision were not widely publicized, and we feel there is a need for further discussion. In order to do so, we have analysed the public inquiry submissions and described the central themes. Few submissions in the inquiry explicitly agreed AOD research warrants a specific guidance framework. Most were concerned that the NHMRC issues paper unfairly targeted people who use drugs as complex research participants.The inquiry highlights tensions around research
governance and ethics review boards dealing with illicit and stigmatised behaviours.While we agree that a specific guidance framework for AOD research is not needed and could potentially be harmful and restrictive,we are concerned that the wholesale rejection of a guidance framework has closed the door to much needed debate.There remains, we argue, a need for alternative
strategies and tools to support ethical research, inform and streamline institutional ethics approval, and engage and protect participants. [Olsen A, Mooney-Somers J. Drug Alcohol Rev 2014;33:637–42]
Online counselling services for a range of health conditions have proliferated in recent years. However, there is ambiguity and tension around their role and function. It is often unclear whether online counselling services are intended... more
Online counselling services for a range of health conditions have proliferated in recent years. However, there is ambiguity and tension around their role and function. It is often unclear whether online counselling services are intended to provide only a brief intervention, the provision of information or referral, or constitute an alternative to face-to-face treatment. In line with recent analyses of alcohol and other drug (AOD) policy and interventions that draw on a critical social science perspective, we take an evidence-making intervention approach to examine how online counselling in the AOD field is made in policy and through processes of local implementation. In this article, we analyse how online AOD counselling interventions and knowledges are enacted in Australia’s AOD policy, and compare these enactments with an analysis of information about Australia’s national online AOD counselling service, Counselling Online, and transcripts of counselling sessions with clients of Counselling Online. We suggest that while the policy enacts online counselling as a brief intervention targeting AOD use, and as an avenue to facilitate referral to face-to-face treatment services, in its implementation in practice online counselling is enacted in more varied ways. These include online counselling as attempting to attend to AOD use and interconnected psychosocial concerns, as a potential form of treatment in its own right, and as supplementing face-to-face AOD treatment services. Rather than viewing online counselling as a singular and stable intervention object, we suggest that multiple ‘online counsellings’ emerge in practice through local implementation practices and knowledges. We argue that the frictions that arise between policy and practice enactments need to be considered by policy makers, funders, clinicians and researchers as they affect how the concerns of those targeted by the intervention are attended to.
Alcohol consumption among adolescents and young adults is a persistent community concern. Little is known about the short-term effects on the young adult drinker's quality of life (QOL), particularly prior to the first use of alcohol... more
Alcohol consumption among adolescents and young adults is a persistent community concern. Little is known about the short-term effects on the young adult drinker's quality of life (QOL), particularly prior to the first use of alcohol and the effect of alcohol consumption on subsequent QOL assessments. There is a need to know more about the QOL of those who decide to use alcohol in adolescence and the effect of alcohol consumption on young adult QOL. This is a prospective longitudinal study of a birth cohort. Data were taken from the 14- and 21-year follow ups. At both time points, QOL was indicated by a measure of happiness and satisfaction. Alcohol use was also measured at 14- and 21-year follow ups. At the 21-year follow up, alcohol use disorder (AUD) was assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. At the 14-year follow up, there was a strong association between QOL and quantity of alcohol consumed. QOL at 14 years also predicted more frequent alcohol use ...
Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to assess participants' perception that tramadol enhances physical work performance and acts as a pain relief. Design/methodology/approach-The participants were 30 (18 male and 12 female)... more
Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to assess participants' perception that tramadol enhances physical work performance and acts as a pain relief. Design/methodology/approach-The participants were 30 (18 male and 12 female) tramadol-using emerging adults, aged 16-27 years, selected through respondent-driven sampling. The majority of the participants were university students, whereas others had completed senior secondary education. The study adopted a qualitative design. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analyses. Findings-In general, respondents perceived and used tramadol for pain relief and physical work performance enhancement. The result showed that sex, employment status and daily dosage were not associated with respondents' perception of tramadol as a pain-relieving medication. In contrast, sex and employment status were associated with participants' perception of tramadol as a physical work performance enhancement medication, but daily dosage was not. Research limitations/implications-Some users refused to participate because they were afraid of being exposed to law enforcement. Practical implications-Male and female emerging adults are involved in non-medical use of tramadol. Prevention and intervention programs to reduce or stop this behaviour are needed, especially in the rural communities. Social implications-The result showed that users were mostly from poor homes, whose parents could not afford university education and who were not qualified to get good government paying jobs. So, the use of tramadol became necessary for them to make more money from the kind of jobs they did. Reduction of the cost of university education and provision of regular jobs for this population are some of the measures recommended to counter non-medical use of tramadol by this population. Originality/value-This is the first study in Southeastern Nigeria that focused on the non-medical use of tramadol among emerging adults, using a qualitative design.
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