News

Through NCETA’s onoing international involvment in the Global addiction academy Project (GaaP) and based on its reputation as an international leader in AOD workforce development, Professor Ann Roche was invited to give the opening keynote address at The Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (DARC), Middlesex University’s annual drug and alcohol conference 'Workforce Development: Where we have been, where we are, and where we are going' held on 29 April 2016.                              

The conference addressed issues such as the:

• increasing professionalisation of the workforce in the substance use field
• meaning of workforce development
• needs of individual workers, organisations, and the wider treatment system
• worker welfare and wellbeing
• political, economic and social influences on workforce development
• history and future directions of the alcohol and other drug workforce.

Ann’s presentation focused on ’Identifying and Overcoming The Complexities and Conundrums of Workforce Development: Global Perspectives and Some Pacific Rim Illustrations’. The presentation also highlighted key components of Australia’s National Alcohol and Other Drugs Workforce Development Strategy and its utility in informing workforce development initiatives in other countries.

The May 2016 issue of Drink and Drugs News also referenced some of the viewpoints provided by presenters such as Dr Sarah Galvani, Dr Carmel Clancy, Dr Kostas Agath, Dr Christopher Whiteley, and George Burton. These presenters discussed the changing face of the addiction workforce in the UK from a social worker, nurse, addiction doctor, psychologist, and programme manager perspective. Read the Drink and Drugs News article.

Whilst in the UK during April/May 2016, Professor Roche also gave a presentation to senior staff at Kings College London on Wednesday 11 May 2016. The presentation was titled ‘The Intractable Challenges Confronting the Alcohol and Other Drug Sector in the 21st Century‘.