NFP Calls for Reverse on Drug Agency Abolition
28 November 2013 at 9:25 am
The Western Australian Network of Alcohol and other Drug Agencies has called on the Coalition Government to reverse its decision to axe the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA).
Funding for the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA) – the national peak body representing organisations and workers in the – was axed by the Coalition Government, making it the latest casualty in the new government’s austerity drive.
The ADCA’s abolition follows announcements that the Government will also be “winding down” the operations of the Prime Minister’s Council on Homelessness and the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).
WANADA Chief Executive Officer and ADCA Board Member Jill Rundle said as the national peak body for the alcohol and other drug sector, ADCA had played a crucial role in coordinating Australia’s response to alcohol and other drug issues for nearly 50 years.
“The decision to axe ADCA’s funding is short-sighted and will cost Australia in the long-run,” WANADA CEO and ADCA Board Member Jill Rundle said.
“This is devastating news. ADCA’s work benefits alcohol and other drug services throughout the nation and therefore benefits individuals, families and communities.
“We will be losing a crucial part of our national work on alcohol and other drugs and a respected source of information.”
WANADA plans to write to the Federal Government to voice its concerns and to recommend that the decision be reversed.
In a statement on the cut, a spokesman for Assistant Minister for Health Fiona Nash said the Rudd-Gillard government had left behind a projected net debt of $200 billion and a Coalition Government has had to review the funding of a number of organisations.
He said the Coalition Government seeked advice on alcohol and drugs policy from wide-ranging sources in the sector and funds a number of national peak body organisations.
