WHAT IS THE KEN LAY REPORT?
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* Former premier Daniel Andrews committed the government to a CBD supervised injecting centre in 2020
* In July 2020 former Victoria Police commissioner Ken Lay was appointed to investigate such a service
* He was told to go back and do more consultation in September 2022
* The final report was handed to the government on May 31, 2023
WHAT DID IT FIND AND RECOMMEND?
* Mr Lay's report recommended an injecting facility with four to six booths in the CBD, citing the death of one drug injector a month in the city
* Fifty-two per cent of respondents surveyed for the report said there was no need for a supervised injecting service in the city
* A separate 40 per cent said there was a need for such a facility in the CBD
* In 2022, 549 Victorians died from drug overdoses and more than one in 10 fatal heroin overdoses occurred in the City of Melbourne
* Data on heroin-related harms in the city found overdoses had returned to pre-COVID levels
* Heroin-related call outs in the CBD went from 130 in July 2019 to June 2020; and 158 in July 2021 to June 2022 and the area had the highest number of heroin-related deaths
* In a bid to monitor CBD drug-use patterns, the council weighs needles and syringes, the number of which decreased by 24 per cent during COVID restrictions, but increased in 2022
* Analysis of the state's wastewater found heroin supply and consumption fell during COVID, but is now two per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels
* Mr Lay's report recommended a four to six booth, discreet injecting service, with accessible wraparound supports
* He also advised a health-led inter-agency committee be established along with a government-backed Community Advisory Group and increased community outreach
WHAT HAS THE GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED?
* Premier Jacinta Allan and Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt ruled out second injecting centre on Tuesday
* However, the government will implement all eight other recommendations from the report
* $95 million will be spent on health strategies to help aid vulnerable Victorians, mostly in the CBD
* $36.4m will be used to start a new community health service on Flinders Street
* $21.3m to bolster community outreach teams
* $9.4m will be spent on extra support services in the city
*$8.4m on addiction treatments at 30 Victorian health facilities
* $7.2m will be used to trial hydromorphone medication, a treatment to wean people off heroin, at the new Flinders Street hub
* Naloxone, a strong anti-overdose drug, will be trialled at 20 vending machines at needle exchange programs
* A chief addiction adviser within the state's health system will also be appointed by the government
WHY DID THE GOVERNMENT REJECT A SECOND INJECTING ROOM?
* Ms Allan said the government could not find a suitable site for the second supervised injecting room, which was a "sticking point"
* The government bought the former Yooralla building at 244 Flinders Street as a site for the centre in 2021, which will now be used for the community health service
* The Salvation Army on Bourke Street became the preferred site in 2023 and this will now host the wraparound health service
Australian Associated Press
