The formation of Ice Bank was prompted by the concerns and mixed range of experiences and viewpoints reported to PeakCare by our Members during Roundtable meetings held in 2015 and 2016. Ice Bank was also informed by this study undertaken by the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services about the prevalence of methamphetamine use amongst parents whose children were made subject to a child protection order or intervention with parental agreement.
‘Just Ice?’ Symposium Video Series
‘Just Ice?’ Symposium Video Series – Introduction
by Lindsay Wegener, Executive Director, PeakCare Queensland and Natalie Lewis, Chief Executive Officer, Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak.
The Queensland response: Action on Ice
by Graham Fraine, Deputy Director General, Policy, Department of the Premier and Cabinet
Ice in Context: Prevalence of ice in the tertiary child protection system
by Merrilyn Strohfeldt, former Deputy Director General, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services
Understanding methamphetamine
by Cameron Francis, Social Worker, Dovetail
Domestic and family violence and the impact of ice
by Belinda Cox, Communities and Partnerships Program Manager, Brisbane Domestic Violence Service, Micah Projects
The interface between mental health and ice use
by Carmel Ybarlucea, Executive Director, Queensland Mental Health Commission
Act for Kids Brisbane Therapy Programs
by Stephanie Jordan, Program Coordinator/Therapist, Act for Kids
The role of the Director of Child Protection Litigation
by Nigel Miller, Director of Child Protection Litigation, Department of Justice and Attorney-General
The personal journey to family drug support
by Tony Trimingham, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Family Drug Support Australia
Day two opening address: Message from the Minister
by Shannon Fentiman, Minister for Communities, Women and Youth, Minister for Child Safety, Mister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence
Much bigger than rehabilitation
by Jane Bowman, Program Manager, Queensland Injectors Health Network, and Niki Parry, Treatment Support Worker/Queensland Pharmacotherapy Advocacy and Mediation Service Coordinator, Queensland Injectors Health Network
Finding the information we need to succeed
by Eddie Fewings, Substance Use Policy and Program Coordinator, Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council, and Cameron Francis, Social Worker, Dovetail
‘Just Ice?’ Symposium Video Series – Introduction
by Lindsay Wegener, Executive Director, PeakCare Queensland and Natalie Lewis, Chief Executive Officer, Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak.
The Queensland response: Action on Ice
by Graham Fraine, Deputy Director General, Policy, Department of the Premier and Cabinet
Ice in Context: Prevalence of ice in the tertiary child protection system
by Merrilyn Strohfeldt, former Deputy Director General, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services
‘Just Ice?’ Symposium Video Series – Introduction
by Lindsay Wegener, Executive Director, PeakCare Queensland and Natalie Lewis, Chief Executive Officer, Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak.
The Queensland response: Action on Ice
by Graham Fraine, Deputy Director General, Policy, Department of the Premier and Cabinet
Ice in Context: Prevalence of ice in the tertiary child protection system
by Merrilyn Strohfeldt, former Deputy Director General, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services
The Queensland government has released the final Action on ice plan. The plan places ice within the broader context of responding to alcohol and other drugs and has a focus on reducing supply (primarily through law enforcement activity), reducing demand (through prevention, early intervention and treatment) and minimising harm (through specialised programs, services and initiatives).
Access Action on ice – the Government’s plan to address use and harms caused by crystal methamphetamine.
The draft plan for public consultation and feedback was released in February 2017. View the draft plan here.
In September 2016, a once-off study based on a representative sample was conducted by the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services regarding the prevalence of methamphetamine use amongst parents whose children came into care (either intervention with parental agreement or child protection order) as part of a wider study into family and household characteristics of those involved in the Queensland child protection system.
Access more information on this study and access findings from the study.
In 2015, the Final Report of the National Ice Taskforce made 38 recommendations across five areas of priority to the government for providing a multifaceted response to ice use in Australia, finding that that the resilience of the market reflected the unique nature of the drug and must therefore shape the government’s response.
Access the Report.
In 2018, Insight Alcohol and other drug training and workforce development Queensland, an initiative of Queensland Health, produced the Methamphetamine – Factsheet for Families that offers realistic advice as to how to respond to those close who are using ice and potentially behaving in ways that confront those around them.
Access the fact sheet, and access more information from Queensland Health’s initiative into prevention of ice use.
In 2008, the National Drug Strategy published Treatment Approaches for Users of Methamphetamine: A Practical Guide for Frontline Workers based on recent research, national and international guidelines, and expert opinion.
Access the guide online.
Australian Alcohol and Drug Foundation is a advocacy group that was established in 1959 to support war veterans suffering from alcohol dependence. Their website contains many resources on alcohol and drug use and harms. View their information on ice here as well as their Good Sports initiative to support sporting club leaders and and administrators to structure club activities to encourage healthier behaviour and create positive club culture for young people.
Developed by the Department of Health, Positive Choices is an online portal to help school communities access accurate, evidence-based up-to-date drug education resources and prevention programs. Access the portal’s resources on ice here.
Developed by the Department of Health, the Cracks in the Ice Toolkit is an online toolkit to provide evidence-based information about ice (crystal methamphetamine) for the Australian community. Access Cracks in the Ice Toolkit here.
Family Drug Support Australia is a not-for-profit organisation offering support to those with family who are drug-dependant. Find out more about their services on their website.
Lives Lived Well is a not-for-profit support organisation for people who have problems with alcohol and drugs and associated mental health issues with community and residential programs. Find out more on their website.
In April 2017, Kathy McLeish wrote an article for the ABC finding that ‘ice corridors’ in Queensland mean that one in every three children in protection have a parent who is a user of ice.
Access the article online.
In September 2016, Nicole Lee and Paula Ross wrote an opinion piece for The Conversation on the impacts of ice on the drug user’s family and what families can do to help.
Access the article online.
In October 2015, Alex Greenwich, Independent Member for Sydney, wrote an article for Huffington Post Australia arguing that treating ice users like criminals will not solve the problem of ice use in Australia.
Access the article online.
Articles and Research
In 2010, the article Parental Methamphetamine Use and Implications for Child Welfare Intervention: A Review of the Literature was published in the Journal of Public Child Welfare, describing effects of methamphetamine use on families and the research on intervention outcomes.View the abstract.
In 2006, the article The Impact of Methamphetamine Use on Parenting was published in the Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions exploring the self-reported traits of parents being treated for methamphetamine abuse, and finding that while using, parents allowed exposure to violence, created upheaval in their children’s daily living structure, and felt ambivalence when discussing these effects on children. View the abstract.
In 2006, the First Nations Centre of Canada published the discussion paper The Emerging Issue of Crystal Methamphetamine Use in First Nations Communities with an emphasis on the prevalence of ice in First Nations in North America and Canada, and strategies to combat ice use specific to these communities. Access the study and read more about the findings.
In 2008, the article Improving outcomes for children living in families with parental substance misuses: What do we know and what should we do was published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies to provide insight into the research, sociological considerations, programs and community responses that may be of assistance whilst continuing to examine the issues and pose solutions. Access the article and read more about the findings.
In 2010, the study Issues for the safety and wellbeing of children in families with multiple and complex problems: The co-occurrence of domestic violence, parental substance misuse, and mental health problems was published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies outlining systemic causal factors of child endangerment and risk assessment options and interventions. Access the study and read more about the findings.
In 2010, the article Parental Substance Abuse and Family Reunification was published in the Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, examining the reunification outcomes of four groups of children placed in foster care in Oklahoma, USA.View the abstract.
In 2010, the Methamphetamine treatment evaluation study (MATES): Three-year outcomes from the Sydney site technical report was published by the National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre at the University of Sydney on the findings of a follow-up study of the MATES cohort to understand more about long-term treatment options and outcomes for methamphetamine dependence.Access the report.
In 2012, the article Methamphetamine-Involved Parents in the Child Welfare System: Are They More Challenging Than Other Substance-Involved Parents? was published in the Journal of Public Child Welfare, examining the characteristics of methamphetamine use by parents involved in the child welfare system as compared to the use of other drugs, and whether methamphetamine use resulted in greater self-reported impairment as indicated by employment, stable long term relationships, and child maltreatment allegations. View the abstract.
In 2013, the article Methamphetamine use in Melbourne, Australia: baseline characteristics of a prospective methamphetamine-using cohort and correlates of methamphetamine dependence was published in the Journal of Substance Use, presenting data from the first cohort study of methamphetamine users in Melbourne, and finding that methamphetamine dependence was independently associated with experience of high levels of psychological distress during the previous month, current use of prescribed mental health medication and primarily injecting methamphetamine over other routes of administration. View the abstract.
In September 2013, the Methamphetamine issue of the Research Report Series was published by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the US Department of Health and Human Services that examined the scope and nature of methamphetamine use in the United States to date..Access the report.
In September 2015, the Findings from the DUMA program: Methamphetamine drug market trends research in practice paper was published by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), distilling the characteristics and trends of the methamphetamine market in Australia. This research paper examines the trends in the use, availability, purity and price of methamphetamine in 2014 via data collected from the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program implemented by AIC.Access the paper.
In October 2015, the Methamphetamine: Focusing Australia’s National Ice Strategy on the problem, not the symptoms Special Report was published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, arguing that Australia needs a paradigm shift in its design and delivery of an ice strategy. Access the Report and read more about the findings.
In July 2016, The Social Costs of Methamphetamine in Australia 2013/14 research report was published by the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University, to estimate the discrete cost of methamphetamine use to Australian society in the year 2013/14.Access the study.
In May 2017, Statistical Bulletin No. 3 – Australian methamphetamine user outcomes was published by the Australian Institute of Criminology to determine whether methamphetamine users, compared with other drug users and non-users, experienced worse outcomes and whether these outcomes were observed across different methamphetamine user groups. Access the bulletin and read more about the findings.
In April 2018, The methamphetamine market: police detainee perspectives was published by the Australian Institute of Criminology on the use of methamphetamines by police detainees in 2015-16, with most police detainees reporting that they had used methamphetamine in the previous 12 months, and the majority having used the drug in the last 30 days. Access the study.
In September 2013, the Methamphetamine issue of the Research Report Series was published by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the US Department of Health and Human Services that examined the scope and nature of methamphetamine use in the United States to date..Access the report.
In September 2015, the Findings from the DUMA program: Methamphetamine drug market trends research in practice paper was published by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), distilling the characteristics and trends of the methamphetamine market in Australia. This research paper examines the trends in the use, availability, purity and price of methamphetamine in 2014 via data collected from the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program implemented by AIC.Access the paper.
In October 2015, the Methamphetamine: Focusing Australia’s National Ice Strategy on the problem, not the symptoms Special Report was published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, arguing that Australia needs a paradigm shift in its design and delivery of an ice strategy. Access the Report and read more about the findings.