by Cam Lucadou-Wells
There are calls for more safe injecting rooms after 547 Victorians died from overdoses in 2023, including a record toll in Greater Dandenong.
The Victorian overdose toll was the second-highest on record, according to the Victorian Overdose Deaths 2014–2023 report from the Coroner’s Court of Victoria.
Last year, 25 people died from drug overdoses in Greater Dandenong – also its highest yearly toll in the past 10 years.
It was fifth-highest in the state, behind council areas Yarra (33), Brimbank (27), Geelong (27) and Melbourne (27).
In Casey, there were 15 overdose deaths. Its annual toll has fluctuated between nine and 20 over the past decade.
In Cardinia, there were six deaths last year – with figures fluctuating between two and 13 in the past 10 years.
Greater Dandenong recorded its highest overdose toll in the past decade, including a decade-high number of deaths involving heroin.
There were 17 fatal overdoses involving heroin in the council area last year – the second-highest in the state, behind City of Yarra (19) which is home to Melbourne’s only safe-injecting facility.
Heroin was involved in 68 per cent of fatal overdoses in Greater Dandenong.
Neither Casey or Cardinia featured in the top 13 council areas for fatal heroin-involved overdoses over the past decade. Greater Dandenong was ranked fifth-highest.
Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association, a peak group which represents drug and alcohol services, stated there was a clear need for additional medically-supervised injecting centres in high-risk areas.
It stated that the North Richmond facility managed more than 9000 overdoses and supported more than 1000 people onto opioid pharmacotherapy.
“While the Victorian Government is to be commended on progressing harm reduction policies like drug checking and expanding access to naloxone, deep frustration remains with the decision to abandon a CBD medically supervised injecting room,” chief executive Chris Christoforou said.
“Each person who fatally overdosed in 2023 had family, friends and loved ones who now keenly feel their loss.
“Bereaved families are often left to pick up the pieces and work through the associated trauma that comes with their grief.
“This is complicated by the stigma and discrimination experienced with overdose.”
State Coroner Judge John Cain said the statewide toll was “deeply troubling”.
“These deaths are preventable and we must strengthen our public health response and increase access to supports and treatment.
“Drug-related harms are complex and are driven by a variety of factors including changes in drug use, availability and regulation.”
The Coroner’s report found a majority of overdose deaths in Victoria involved multiple drugs (71.5 per cent). The vast majority were deemed unintentional deaths.
The top contributing drugs included legal and illicit substances – diazepam (213 deaths), heroin (204), methamphetamine (164), alcohol (153) and pregabalin (78).
Over the past decade, pharmaceutical drugs were the most frequent contributors. This role had declined from 82 per cent in 2014 to 69 per cent in 2023.
Heroin-involved deaths had decreased slightly from 230 in 2022 to 204.
“Heroin-involved overdose deaths vary substantially from year to year amongst local government areas, with the exception of Yarra, where heroin-involved overdose deaths have been consistently elevated,” the Coroner report stated.
New psychoactive substances – which mimic the effects of other drugs – were an “emerging concern”, increasingly involved in overdose deaths since 2019.
These included NPS benzodiazepines, NPS opioids and NPS nitazenes.
