Agency history in brief
On 1 July 1988 the Alcohol and Drug Services Unit (ADSU) was formally separated from the Office of Psychiatric Services (OPS) in terms of budget and program management and transferred into the Statewide Operations Division of the Health Department.
The aims of the Alcohol and Drug Services Unit were to:
- minimise the negative physical, economic, personal and social influence of illicit and licit drugs; and
- ensure the standard of living afforded to substance dependent persons is equal to that of other community members.
The Unit sought to achieve these aims by:
- promoting and improving health and fitness in drug-dependent persons.
- ensuring a range of services were available and accessible to meet client needs.
- ensuring that specialised regional services were available and accessible for women, young people, Koories, and people from non-English speaking backgrounds.
- promoting early intervention in drug use throughout the community.
- ensuring that clients receive services appropriate to their needs.
- ensuring that alcohol and drug agencies interact with community based organizations to provide a comprehensive range of services which meet client needs.
Organizational Context
The Alcohol and Drug Services Unit (ADSU) was a branch of the Statewide Operations Division of the Health Department Victoria and had a central unit and regional services.
The central unit comprised:
- Policy and Programs - policy development, implementation and coordination of services;
- Finance and Operations - ADSU budget management, non-government sector funding co-ordination, and Office Support Services;
- Research and Evaluation - designs, implements and manages data collection systems for monitoring and evaluation of services; conducts research and assess applications for funding of research projects.
Regional services were administered and co-ordinated by Regional Coordinators of alcohol and drug services located in the eight Health Regional Offices. The role of the Regional Co-ordinators included:
- development and co-ordination of alcohol and drug services within a regional community health framework
- monitoring of regional alcohol and drug service provision;
- ensuring that regional development plans adequately reflected community alcohol and drug service needs.
- promoting integration of alcohol and drug services with other regional health and community services.
Alcohol and Drug Services
There were four government and sixty-eight non-government alcohol and drug agencies in Victoria, at that time providing a range of both prevention and intervention services.
The government centres were :
- Pleasant View Assessment and Treatment Centre
- Gresswell Centre
- Heatherton Hospital
- Smith Street Detoxification Clinic
Warning about distressing information
This guide contains information that some people may find distressing. If you experienced abuse as a child or young person in an institution mentioned in this guide, it may be a difficult reading experience. Guides may also contain references to previous views, policies and practices that are regrettable and do not reflect the current views, policies or practices of the department or the State of Victoria. If you find this content distressing, please consult with a support person either from the Department of Health and Human Services or another agency.
Disclaimer
Please note that the content of this administrative history is provided for general information only and does not purport to be comprehensive. The department does not guarantee the accuracy of this administrative history. For more information on the history of child welfare in Australia, see Find & .
Source
- Department of Health and Human Services Collection, viewed 24 October 2016.
Alcohol and other Drug Services files collection guide
Reviewed 02 November 2016