Changes in Australians' attitudes towards supervised injecting facilities
Introduction: Supervised injecting facilities (SIF) have been shown to reduce negative outcomes experienced by people who inject drugs. They are often subject to intense public and media scrutiny. This article aimed to explore population attitudes to SIFs and how these changed over time in Australia...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT210100656 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/96542 |
| _version_ | 1848766167158620160 |
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| author | Lloyd, Z. Colledge-Frisby, Samantha Taylor, Nicholas Livingston, Michael Jauncey, M. Roxburgh, A. |
| author_facet | Lloyd, Z. Colledge-Frisby, Samantha Taylor, Nicholas Livingston, Michael Jauncey, M. Roxburgh, A. |
| author_sort | Lloyd, Z. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Introduction: Supervised injecting facilities (SIF) have been shown to reduce negative outcomes experienced by people who inject drugs. They are often subject to intense public and media scrutiny. This article aimed to explore population attitudes to SIFs and how these changed over time in Australia. Methods: Data were drawn from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey, a national sample collecting data on illicit drug use and attitudes towards drug policy among Australians (2001–2019). Ordinal logistic regression assessed sociodemographic characteristics associated with different attitudes to SIFs and binary logistic regression assessed trends over time and by jurisdiction. Results: In 2019, 54% of respondents (95% CI 52.9, 55.1) supported SIFs, 27.5% (95% CI 26.6, 28.4) opposed and 18.4% (95% CI 17.7, 19.2) were ambivalent. Support for SIFs correlated with having a university degree (OR 1.75; 95% CI 1.58, 1.94), non-heterosexual identity (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.51, 2.17) and recent illicit drug use (OR = 1.74, 95% CI 1.55, 1.94). Male respondents or those living in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas had lower odds of supporting SIFs (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.85, 1.00; OR 0.64–0.80, respectively). Between 2001 and 2019, support for SIFs increased modestly by 3.3%, those who ‘don't know’ by 7.4%, whereas opposition decreased by 11.7%. Between 2001 and 2019, support for SIFs increased in NSW and Queensland, whereas opposition decreased in all jurisdictions. Discussion and Conclusions: Opposition to SIFs declined over the past 20 years, but a substantial proportion of respondents are ambivalent or ‘don't know enough to say’. Plain language information about SIFs and their potential benefits, targeted to those who are ambivalent/’don't know’ may further increase public support. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:46:50Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-96542 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:46:50Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-965422025-01-17T02:46:59Z Changes in Australians' attitudes towards supervised injecting facilities Lloyd, Z. Colledge-Frisby, Samantha Taylor, Nicholas Livingston, Michael Jauncey, M. Roxburgh, A. drug consumption room drug policy injecting drug use public opinion supervised injecting facility Humans Male Australia Female Adult Substance Abuse, Intravenous Middle Aged Needle-Exchange Programs Young Adult Adolescent Surveys and Questionnaires Attitude Australasian People Humans Substance Abuse, Intravenous Attitude Adolescent Adult Middle Aged Needle-Exchange Programs Australia Female Male Young Adult Surveys and Questionnaires Australasian People Introduction: Supervised injecting facilities (SIF) have been shown to reduce negative outcomes experienced by people who inject drugs. They are often subject to intense public and media scrutiny. This article aimed to explore population attitudes to SIFs and how these changed over time in Australia. Methods: Data were drawn from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey, a national sample collecting data on illicit drug use and attitudes towards drug policy among Australians (2001–2019). Ordinal logistic regression assessed sociodemographic characteristics associated with different attitudes to SIFs and binary logistic regression assessed trends over time and by jurisdiction. Results: In 2019, 54% of respondents (95% CI 52.9, 55.1) supported SIFs, 27.5% (95% CI 26.6, 28.4) opposed and 18.4% (95% CI 17.7, 19.2) were ambivalent. Support for SIFs correlated with having a university degree (OR 1.75; 95% CI 1.58, 1.94), non-heterosexual identity (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.51, 2.17) and recent illicit drug use (OR = 1.74, 95% CI 1.55, 1.94). Male respondents or those living in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas had lower odds of supporting SIFs (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.85, 1.00; OR 0.64–0.80, respectively). Between 2001 and 2019, support for SIFs increased modestly by 3.3%, those who ‘don't know’ by 7.4%, whereas opposition decreased by 11.7%. Between 2001 and 2019, support for SIFs increased in NSW and Queensland, whereas opposition decreased in all jurisdictions. Discussion and Conclusions: Opposition to SIFs declined over the past 20 years, but a substantial proportion of respondents are ambivalent or ‘don't know enough to say’. Plain language information about SIFs and their potential benefits, targeted to those who are ambivalent/’don't know’ may further increase public support. 2024 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/96542 10.1111/dar.13937 eng http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT210100656 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1173505 restricted |
| spellingShingle | drug consumption room drug policy injecting drug use public opinion supervised injecting facility Humans Male Australia Female Adult Substance Abuse, Intravenous Middle Aged Needle-Exchange Programs Young Adult Adolescent Surveys and Questionnaires Attitude Australasian People Humans Substance Abuse, Intravenous Attitude Adolescent Adult Middle Aged Needle-Exchange Programs Australia Female Male Young Adult Surveys and Questionnaires Australasian People Lloyd, Z. Colledge-Frisby, Samantha Taylor, Nicholas Livingston, Michael Jauncey, M. Roxburgh, A. Changes in Australians' attitudes towards supervised injecting facilities |
| title | Changes in Australians' attitudes towards supervised injecting facilities |
| title_full | Changes in Australians' attitudes towards supervised injecting facilities |
| title_fullStr | Changes in Australians' attitudes towards supervised injecting facilities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Changes in Australians' attitudes towards supervised injecting facilities |
| title_short | Changes in Australians' attitudes towards supervised injecting facilities |
| title_sort | changes in australians' attitudes towards supervised injecting facilities |
| topic | drug consumption room drug policy injecting drug use public opinion supervised injecting facility Humans Male Australia Female Adult Substance Abuse, Intravenous Middle Aged Needle-Exchange Programs Young Adult Adolescent Surveys and Questionnaires Attitude Australasian People Humans Substance Abuse, Intravenous Attitude Adolescent Adult Middle Aged Needle-Exchange Programs Australia Female Male Young Adult Surveys and Questionnaires Australasian People |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT210100656 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT210100656 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/96542 |