Sir David Martin Foundation joins sector partners in expressing disappointment on the NSW Government's response to the Drug Summit Report
Sir David Martin Foundation joins our partners in the Fair Treatment campaign and across the sector in responding to the NSW Government’s recent release of their response to the Drug Summit 2024 Co-Chair Report. As a Foundation dedicated to supporting young people affected by alcohol and other drug (AOD) use, we are particularly concerned about the implications of this response for vulnerable youth across NSW.
Young people deserve bold, evidence-based action that addresses the unique challenges they face. The Government’s response, whilst acknowledging some important areas, falls short of the comprehensive reform needed to truly support young people navigating drug use and the systems meant to help them.
The Fair Treatment Campaign shared a Media Release:
October 28, 2025
NSW Government squibs it in their response to the NSW Drug Summit Report
Responding to today’s announcement of the NSW Government’s response to the NSW Drug Summit Report, Emma Maiden, Uniting NSW.ACT’s Director of Advocacy and External Relations said: “The whole community will be shocked and disappointed at the lack of vision and boldness in the Government’s response to the Drug Summit.
“We saw the Bob Carr Labor Government meet the moment of the original Drug Summit in 1999 but the lack of leadership to meet the moment of the latest Drug Summit by the current government is profoundly disappointing.
“The NSW Government have let down the community down today.
“This response does not reflect what the community and the experts wanted.
“They have squibbed it.
“The mums and dads of NSW, the people who have lost someone they love, the people who can’t access treatment and the many, many organisations, officials and experts all came to the Drug Summit last year with goodwill, hope and high expectations for real, meaningful and positive change.
“Law enforcement, health experts, the community sector, academics, AOD specialists.
“This response today is really out of touch with community attitudes on these issues and is a real let down.
“While we welcome the reforms to the EDDI scheme- this was already going to happen as part of the two-year review into the scheme.
“In terms of an “investigation into cannabis driving laws”- we don’t need another ‘investigation’ we need the action already identified by the Cannabis Inquiry.
“First Nations people and regional communities are notably absent from this long-awaited response from government. Considering the failures of First Nations inclusion at the Drug Summit itself, this is a particularly hurtful exclusion of the people most disproportionately impacted by our unfair drug laws.
“We, along with everyone who contributed to and participated in the NSW Drug Summit in good faith, are fundamentally let down,” Emma said.
“The response today fails to adopt, resource and implement the 56 recommendations of the Drug Summit Report in full – to comprehensively deal with our unfair drug laws and the very real harm they cause.
“This weak response today is a win for bad politics over good policy” she said.
“This response fails to measure up to the bravery and efforts of the Carr Government 25 years ago.
“The reason we had a Drug Summit was that the status quo wasn’t enough, wasn’t working and was doing very real harm.
“This latest disappointment is only going to lead to further harm, further stigma in NSW and that needs to be worn by the NSW Government.
“The community, the experts, the sector, and the people of NSW deserve so much better than this.
“Despite this – we will continue to, along with everyone in the community and sector, campaign for real, meaningful reform to our unfair drug laws in NSW,” Emma said.
Uniting has run the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in Kings Cross for nearly 25 years and has spearheaded the Fair Treatment campaign for fairer drug laws for over seven years.
Read the media release on Fair Treatment’s website here.
Key implications for young people
The Government’s response reveals concerning gaps in addressing young people’s needs:
- Youth Drug and Alcohol Court not reinstated: The Government explicitly rejects reinstating the evidence-based Youth Drug and Alcohol Court (Recommendation 12.5), removing a proven therapeutic pathway for young people in the justice system. This specialist court provided tailored, health-focused responses to young people with AOD issues – its absence represents a significant missed opportunity.
- Strip searching continues: The outright rejection of Recommendation 12.10 , means young people will continue to be subjected to invasive strip searches – a traumatic practice that contradicts harm reduction principles.
- Limited commitment to reducing criminalisation: Young people continue to be disproportionately impacted by drug laws. The refusal to strengthen youth diversion programs perpetuates harm. While the Government supports reducing spent conviction periods for juveniles from 3 years to 1 year (Recommendation 9.4), no implementation timeline is provided, meaning young people continue facing barriers to employment, housing and education due to minor drug convictions.
- Treatment access remains inadequate: Recommendation 6.2 (enhance youth treatment access) is only “supported in principle” with no concrete funding, timelines, or acknowledgment of current service gaps and waitlists.
- Regional and First Nations young people overlooked: As noted in the Fair Treatment media release, First Nations people and regional communities are “notably absent” from this response. This exclusion particularly harms young First Nations people in regional areas who face compounding disadvantage and disproportionate contact with the justice system.
- Insufficient investment in early intervention: The Government supports prevention and early intervention “in principle” (Recommendation 3.1), but the response lacks concrete funding commitments or timelines specifically targeting young people during critical developmental periods.
Sir David Martin Foundation has been a member of the Fair Treatment campaign since 2024, advocating for fairer drug laws and better support for people affected by drug use in NSW, and will continue to collaborate with the sector to advocate for change.
We believe young people deserve a health-based, evidence-informed approach to drug use that prioritises their wellbeing, reduces stigma, and provides meaningful pathways to support when needed.
