The National Alcohol and Other Drug Workforce Development Strategy: latest update
May 2022
NCETA has been commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Health (the Department) to review and revise the National Alcohol and Other Drug Workforce Development Strategy (2015-2018).
Progress so far
Commencing in the second half of 2021, NCETA established a Project Advisory Group comprising representatives of the State and Territory Departments of Health, the AOD non-government sector, Aboriginal health, and addiction medicine. Based on input from this group, as well as a review of the peer-reviewed literature and contemporary State and Territory workforce development strategies and initiatives, NCETA developed a Discussion Paper to inform the Strategy’s revision.
The Discussion Paper, and accompanying Discussion Questions, were released on 17 December 2021. Stakeholders were invited to provide written submissions in response. Targeted stakeholders were also invited to participate in one-on-one or group consultations with the NCETA project team.
The consultation period ended on 28 February 2022. In total, NCETA received 63 written submissions and conducted consultations with representatives from 16 organisations. Non-confidential stakeholder submissions are now available on the NCETA website. A summary of stakeholder consultation feedback will be made available as soon as possible and shared via NCETA’s social media channels, however, note that this process has been delayed while the Department operates under caretaker conventions ahead of the Federal Election.
Next steps
NCETA is currently collating and synthesising feedback from stakeholders and beginning to draft a revised Strategy with input from the Department and the Project Advisory Group. In response to strong feedback from the sector that stakeholders would appreciate an opportunity to review and comment on the draft revised Strategy, the Department has commissioned NCETA to undertake an additional round of stakeholder consultation. It is anticipated that consultations on the draft Strategy will open in the third quarter of 2022, with a revised draft Strategy finalised and provided to the Department in late 2022 or early 2023.
