Richmond safe injecting room to remain open permanently

Victoria’s first safe injecting room in North Richmond will become permanent, Premier Daniel Andrews has announced.

The facility opened as a trial in 2018 and was extended in 2021, in legislation that was due to expire on June 30 and required Labor to act, despite the party sitting on a decision for the state’s second proposed injecting room in the City of Melbourne.

New legislation will be introduced in the Victorian Parliament to make permanent the existing facility run by the North Richmond Community Health centre.

The injecting room has been visited almost 350,000 times between June 2018 and September 2022, and 6355 overdoses have been safely managed by staff.

More to come

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