FDS Annual Report 2024/25

28 Presentations, Conferences & Workshops... 2024 Exploring Substance Use in Oceania: A Lecture Series These short courses for Pacific Health and Community Workers also included presentations by: International Society of Addiction Medicine – Oceania, St. Vincent’s Postgraduate Overseas Specialist Training (POST) Program, The College of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences - Fiji National University, University of South Pacific and Harm Reduction Australia In November 2024, James Lomas, Volunteer Manager facilitated an online presentation to international participants on ‘Working with Families’ as part of a lecture series. There were 53 participants from around Oceania including Fiji, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Australia. Those attending had a variety of professional backgrounds including counselling, nursing, mental health and community support and other medical services. Feedback on this session was overwhelmingly positive: 96% agree or strongly agree it was helpful to the way they think about working with families 100% agree or strongly agree the session was relevant to their practice 92% agree or strongly agree it built their confidence to work with people experiencing potential harms from substance use. FDS invited to NSW Drug Summit FDS were honoured to receive invites to the recent NSW Drug Summit. Our CEO, Business Manager and Volunteer Manager attended in Sydney, and our QLD Clinical Services Manager attended regional events in Griffith and Lismore. It was a who’s who of the drug and alcohol sector, and robust conversations were had in focus groups to give recommendations to the government around improving service delivery. It was great to see our Support Line number listed on the big screen in the main theatre! Cigdem Watson and Tony Trimingham (Front) Tony Trimingham (FDS Founder) with (L to R) Gino Vumbaca (Harm Reduction Australia), Dr Alex Wodak (Former Director of AOD at St Vincents Hospital Sydney), Dr John Della Bosca (FDS Chair) and Rev. Bill Crews (Bill Crews Foundation)