Substance Abuse in the Community - 9th Assembly

Terms of Reference - Media Releases - Submissions - Transcripts - Reports

Substance Abuse in the Community 10th Assembly

The Legislative Assembly appointed the Select Committee on Substance Abuse in the Community - the Substance Abuse Committee - on 16 October 2001, with a charter to inquire into, and report to the Assembly on, issues with regard to the use and abuse of licit and illicit drugs and other substances, which come under the broad heading of "substance abuse".

Such drugs and substances include alcohol and tobacco; abuse of substances such as petrol, glue, paint and the like through sniffing; kava; cannabis; "hard" drugs like heroin and cocaine; misuse of pharmaceutical drugs, whether legally prescribed or obtained illicitly; and the so-called "designer" and "recreational" drugs.

The committee may, in view of the breadth of its charter, from time to time place priority on the abuse of certain substances for inquiry. Its inquiry will include wide consultation with people and organisations in the Northern Territory, including holding hearings and meetings in regional centres and selected communities.

Terms of Reference

(1) A committee to be known as the Select Committee on substance abuse in the community be appointed comprising, unless otherwise ordered, Mr L F Kiely, Ms M R Scrymgour, Mr E McAdam, Mr G Wood, two members to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition and that the Committee shall elect a government member as Chairman.

(2) The Committee be empowered, unless otherwise ordered, to inquire into and report on the issue of substance abuse in the community, in particular:

(a) ascertain community concern about the use and abuse of licit and illicit substances;
(b) current trends in the use and abuse of licit and illicit substances in the Northern Territory and, as far as possible, taking into account regional, age, gender, other demographic characteristics and ethnic factors;
(c) the social and economic consequences of current patterns of substance abuse with special reference to the well-being of individuals and communities and to the demands placed upon government and non-government services;
(d) the services currently available within the Northern Territory by both government and non-government agencies to deal with issues directly or indirectly related to substance abuse;
(e) factors which directly affect the level and nature of substance abuse in the Northern Territory community or parts of that community, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing:
(i) the accessibility/availability of licit and illicit substances within communities;
(ii) the demographic and ethnic structure of the Northern Territory; and
(iii) the correlation between socio-economic conditions and substance abuse; and
(f) appropriate policies and services for the prevention and treatment of substance abuse in the Northern Territory.

(3) The Committee or any subcommittee be empowered to send for persons, papers and records, to sit in public or in private session notwithstanding any adjournment of the Assembly, to adjourn from place to place and have leave to report from time to time its proceedings and the evidence taken and make such interim recommendations as it may deem fit, and to publish information pertaining to its activities from time to time.

(3) (a) The Chairman of the Committee may, from time to time, appoint another member of the Committee to be Deputy-Chairman of the Committee, and that the member so appointed act as Chairman of the Committee at any time when there is no Chairman or the Chairman is not present at a meeting of the Committee.

(3) (b) The Committee have power to appoint subcommittees consisting of 2 or more of its members and to refer to any such subcommittee any matter which the Committee is empowered to examine and that the quorum of a subcommittee shall be 2.

(4) The Committee be empowered to publish from day to day such papers and evidence as may be ordered by it, and, unless otherwise ordered by the Committee, a daily Hansard be published of such proceedings as take place in public.

(5) The Committee be empowered to consider, disclose and publish the Minutes of Proceedings, evidence taken and records of the Committee on the Use and Abuse of Alcohol by the Community in the previous Assembly.

(7) The foregoing provisions of the resolution, so far as they are inconsistent with Standing Orders, have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the Standing Orders.

Last updated: 28 Sep 2020

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Substance Abuse in the Community - 9th Assembly

Terms of Reference

Media Releases

Submissions

Transcripts

Reports