Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol: from research to practice [pdf - 663.36Kb]
Rosemary McClean, DrugInfo Clearinghouse. Posted 15 June 2009

This paper examines the new National Health and Medical Research Council alcohol guidelines and issues related to communicating these to the wider community. This paper also looks at how an 'alcohol guidelines' document can be used. The paper is designed to be of assistance to anyone who has responsibility for using the guidelines in their work, for example health and welfare workers; counsellors; teachers and community educators; and health planners.

 The bioprofiling of illicit drugs [pdf - 1.39Mb]
Leigh A. Burgoyne, David E. A. Catcheside and Kenneth P. Kirkbride, National Drug Law Enforcement Research fund, Monograph no. 30. June 2009.

It has been found that DNA sequences can be extracted and amplified from typical drug seizures. Non-human DNA in seizures was readily compared for similarities, pair-wise, seizure to seizure and this should be applicable to police intelligence almost immediately and court usage after considerable experience and validation.

 Bridges and barriers: addressing Indigenous incarceration and health [pdf - 420.25Kb]
National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Committee, June 2009.

Indigenous Australians make up almost one-quarter of Australia’s prison population. In the past 20 years, Indigenous Australians have continued to fill our country’s prisons at alarmingly disproportionate rates. The issues experienced by Indigenous offenders are significant and complex. The strong links between substance misuse and Indigenous incarceration highlight an urgent need for government to address this disturbing problem.

 Enhancing the implementation and management of drug diversion strategies in Australian law enforcement agencies [pdf - 1.14Mb]
Aynsley Kellow … [et. al.], Law Enforcement Research fund, Monograph no. 31. June 2009

The cases of South Australia Police, Tasmania Police and Victoria Police during the period 2000 – 2005

llicit Drug Data Report 2007–2008 [website]
Australian Crime Commission, June 2009.

The Illicit Drug Data Report is produced by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) and is recognised as one of the most valuable tools for law enforcement agencies, policy and decision makers, research bodies and other stakeholders in combating illicit drugs.
It provides a statistical overview of illicit drug arrests and seizures as well as profiling the current situation, national impact and the emerging trends and threats of illicit drugs in Australia.

 The mental health of Australians 2 [website]
Department of Health and Ageing, June 2009.

This report presents a comprehensive summary of the results of the 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. It provides information on the prevalence of mental disorders, their severity, associated suicidality, and comorbidity with other mental disorders and physical conditions, as well as what services people use for their mental health problems.

[Page updated - 8 December 2009]