Webinar 1: Setting the Scene: Reforming Australia’s ODTP – Key Evidence, Priorities and Unfinished Business

Webinar 1: 

Setting the Scene: Reforming Australia’s ODTP – Key Evidence, Priorities and Unfinished Business

When
Tuesday 11 August

NSW, VIC, QLD, ACT, TAS
1:00pm - 3:00pm (AEST)

SA & NT
12:30pm - 2:30pm (ACDT)

WA
11:00am - 1:00pm (AWST)

REGISTER:      or 

The ODTP National Consensus for Action Roundtable will be held on 7 September 2026 at Parliament House Canberra, where expert representatives including lived and living experience advocates, policy makers, clinicians, researchers and other key stakeholders will be joined by Australian Government Parliamentarians, bureaucrats and ministerial representatives to build and endorse a National Opioid Dependency Treatment (ODT) Program consensus statement. Our aim is that this document will outline critical, cross-jurisdictional ODT program principles that centre efficacy, equity and sustainability, and the associated actions required to implement meaningful healthcare and systems reform. This process is a crucial unified step towards an internationally accepted gold-standard for ODT in this country and a commitment to future healthcare innovation, that Australian communities should rightfully expect, and that clinical and policy experts agree is an imperative priority to deliver. 

This webinar, the first in a series of three pre-roundtable events, will guide participants through a detailed overview of two key documents: the recently launched Harm Reduction Australia (HRA) Opioid Treatment Program Policy Brief and the PBS Post-Market Review of PBS ODTP Medicines Report to PBAC (March 2023). An overview of available ODTP medications, additional formulations and alternative approaches to ODT that have succeeded in other jurisdictions internationally, will also be explored. Informing the consensus building discussions that will take place at Parliament House in September, this webinar is intentionally informative and sets the groundwork for building meaningful consensus in the lead-up to the face‑to‑face Roundtable event. Providing a backdrop for policy and research perspectives in the Australian setting,  we warmly invite webinar participants to take up the opportunity to participate by contributing questions, as well as to become familiar with what is possible in building our own successful future model for ODT.

How can I submit pre-webinar questions to be included in the discussion?

Please follow the SLIDO link to log questions for presenters ahead of the webinar. There is no maximum number permitted and we encourage your collaboration in building a valuable online discussion. During the session we will be using the Zoom chat function to moderate audience participation and presenters will collate SLIDO pre-poll questions ahead of time.

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS WITH SLIDO USING THE QR CODE BELOW OR VIA THIS LINK.

• What we'll talk about and what you'll take away
• Speakers

What we'll talk about and what you'll take away

Target Audience

• Anyone planning to attend or thinking about attending the ODTP National Consensus for Action Forum.
• Anyone with an interest in the future of the ODTP in Australia.

Presentation Topic Areas:

1. Why Reform? The Need for a National Conversation on the Future of Australia’s ODTP
2. Inside the HRA ODTP Policy Brief: Evidence, Process and Priorities
3. Understanding the PBS Post-Market Review of ODTP Medicines (PBAC, 2023)
4. Beyond the Status Quo – Other ODTP Medications, Formulations & Approaches
5. Open Discussion: Priorities, Gaps and Building Consensus

By the end of the webinar participants will:

• Have a shared understanding of the purpose, evidence base, development process and priorities outlined in the HRA ODTP Policy Brief.
• Be familiar with the key content of the PBS Post-Market Review of ODTP Medicines Report, including which recommendations were implemented through the 2023/24 reforms and which issues remain unresolved.
• Have an overview of some of the additional possibilities for new ODTP medications, additional formulations and alternative approaches being implemented in other countries
• Have had the opportunity to provide feedback on all presentations and identify additional issues or gaps for consideration.
• Have helped identify emerging areas of agreement and divergence to support a more focused, solutions-oriented National Consensus for Action Roundtable in Canberra in September.

This webinar provides an opportunity for learning and discussion to ensure that ahead of the National Consensus for Action Roundtable:

• All participants are familiar with the key documents and reports informing the National Consensus for Action Roundtable discussions
• Key priorities as well as areas of agreement and divergence are identified
• The process of building sector-wide consensus on key ODTP priorities and new initiatives is well progressed
• September’s forum participants can focus on consensus statements, advocacy priorities, and action planning.

Speakers

		Richard Di Natale Richard Di Natale is a board member of HRA and a former Australian Senator and leader of the Australian Greens from 2015 to 2020. Prior to entering the Senate, Dr Di Natale was a general practitioner and public health specialist who worked in Aboriginal health in the Northern Territory, on HIV prevention in India and as a drug and alcohol clinician in regional Victoria. After leaving parliament, Richard worked as a public health advisor for Cohealth, a large, not for profit community health service in Victoria until 2025 and recently resumed working part time as a GP/OTP prescriber in regional Victoria. Richard says, ‘Australia was once a leader in Harm Reduction policies and it’s time we were again!’
		Dr Annie Madden Dr Annie Madden is the Executive Director of Harm Reduction Australia (HRA) and part time Project Lead at the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD). She is a leading advocate for centring community voices in research, policy and practice. Annie has a PhD in drug policy, living experience of injecting drug use, OTP and hepatitis C and she has dedicated over 3 decades to improving the health, rights and dignity of people who use drugs. She remains hopeful that she will see an end to drug prohibition in her lifetime.
		Dr Jake Rance Jake has worked in the harm reduction and drugs field for nearly 30 years, as both practitioner and researcher. After nearly a decade working in Sydney’s Kings Cross, he joined the Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Sydney. Most recently, Jake worked on Australia’s first feasibility trial of supervised injectable opioid treatment (SIOT) using injectable hydromorphone.
		Anna McVinish Anna McVinish was the nurse clinical lead for Australia’s first study looking at the feasibility of supervised injectable opioid treatment (SIOT) and was subsequently awarded a Churchill Fellowship to survey heroin-assisted treatment models internationally. She currently works for NSW Health as a clinical nurse consultant in community consultation liaison and is a clinical advisor to Harm Reduction Australia. Her work is motivated by justice, and the upward revision of lowest common denominator approaches to care.