Ross Fitzgerald: An underfunded and overlooked local hero

Alcoholism and other drug addiction is the primary scourge of indigenous Australians. As Tony Koch recently highlighted in [the Australian], disadvantage continues to stalk indigenous people from the cradle to the grave. Yet in Queensland, despite Premier Peter Beattie's personal commitment to social justice, the state Labor Government has been tardy in supporting creative and well-proven initiatives by Aborigines to combat these deep-rooted problems.

There is a good news story on this front, though. Since being established in the outer Brisbane suburb of Cleveland in 1997 by John Close, an Aborigine, Goori House Addiction Treatment Centre has achieved one of Australia's highest success rates in alcohol and drug rehabilitation of indigenous men.

Close is now the centre's managing director, heading a team of counsellors and support staff who provide a range of interventions aimed not only at long-term freedom from alcohol and other drugs, but also at assisting clients to achieve healthy reintegration into the wider community.

Significantly, Goori House delivers successful treatment services to non-indigenous as well as indigenous clients from almost every state in Australia. Its three-month residential program achieves completion rates of more than 60 per cent, and this in an industry where 90 per cent recidivism is considered the norm.

Its success rate is achieved through a holistic treatment program, which includes working with the families of alcoholics and addicts, and linking closely with non-governmental, community-based organisations including Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and other long-standing 12-step groups. And for its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients in particular, but not exclusively, Goori House has developed a training program for clients and staff that includes a strong cultural awareness component.

Impressively, of those indigenous and non-indigenous men who attend its six-month halfway house program of recovery, more than 50 per cent of Goori House clients go on to long-term gainful employment.

Yet despite its proven track record, Goori House lacks substantial state government assistance. This is despite the fact that 60 per cent of its clients are referred by the Queensland criminal justice system. The reality is that more than 95 per cent of Goori House's total funding base has been derived from non-state sources, especially from the federal Department of Health and Ageing, and from the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation, which is supported by a fund established by the federal Government. The organisation has an annual funding shortfall of $200,000.

For some reason, treatment for indigenous and non-indigenous alcoholism, which causes enormous personal, familial and collateral damage, remains low on Australia's public health agenda. The focus on addiction services remains on illicit drug use. Admittedly, petrol-sniffing and to a lesser extent marijuana and narcotic abuse are rife in many indigenous communities. But alcoholism and alcohol abuse causes by far the greatest damage to Aboriginal men and women than all the other drugs combined.

While federal and state governments have passed the funding buck back and forth over the years, the feds, as I pointed out, have been much more forthcoming and willing to financially support indigenous self-help programs.

Fortunately, Goori House Addiction Centre has at last received some funding from the Queensland Government under the Drug Court program. However, $100,000 a year over three years is little more than a band-aid solution. With truckloads of cash flooding into state government coffers courtesy of the GST, rather than spending more money on salary increases for consultants and public servants, the state treasury should not find it hard to fund proven local initiatives in such a crucial field.

If the Beattie Government is serious about helping indigenous people recover from alcoholism and other drug addiction so they can take their place in the community again as healthy, productive individuals, it should seize the opportunity to do so by more fully supporting Goori House Addiction Treatment Centre. And the rest of the country could also learn a thing or two from this outstanding organisation.

First published in The Australian, February 12, 2007