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<v Chair>Good afternoon everybody and welcome. I hope I'm welcoming you to the right session because there has been a change of venue.

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<v Chair>This is about women and substance misuse. If you thought that you were here to hear about you ain't heard nothing yet,

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<v Chair>you may not have heard nothing yet, but actually that session has now been moved to the Benythin Hall.

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<v Chair>So we won't mind if people get up and leave now, we won't be deeply and gravely offended, but we will take your names.

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<v Chair>My name is Eleanor Ramsey, I'm a Pro Vice Chancellor at the University of South Australia.

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<v Chair>I'm one of the sponsors of this Festival of Ideas and this of course is I think the third main session on issues to do with drug and intoxication and use of substance abuse.

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<v Chair>But the only one on the program to do with gender issues of women and sex.

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<v Chair>And substance misuse.

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<v Chair>It's our delight to have a wonderful line up of speakers.

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<v Chair>One international speaker and two locals.

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<v Chair>I think one of them more directly speaking from local practitioner and I suppose client issues, perhaps I might put it that way.

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<v Chair>But in each case profound and theoretical as well as practical knowledge of this subject.

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<v Chair>I suppose the thing that I would like to say is that I'm very grateful to the

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<v Chair>!

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<v Chair>I'm sure that our speakers will draw our attention to some of these intersections between knowledge and health, public policy, governance and financing of these as well.

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<v Chair>I think I should now hand over to the speakers.

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<v Chair>We have a short amount of time this afternoon and we do very much want you to participate.

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<v Chair>We have microphones in the hall for you to do that.

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<v Chair>We've decided to present the speakers.

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<v Chair>I'd like to begin with Professor Fran Worm from Flinders University where she is the head of the department and the professor of public health.

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<v Chair>Fran is also the immediate past president of the Public Health Association of Australia.

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<v Chair>A very important organisation that has recently been defunded by the federal government.

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<v Chair>Apparently as a direct result of the organisation's public campaigning for the Friends of Medicare.

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<v Chair>In particular criticisms of private health insurance rebate.

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<v Chair>Fran's PhD is in social demography from the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

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<v Chair>And she has an extensive publication record, books, articles and reports relating to aspects of research and evaluation in community health.

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<v Chair>Theories of health promotion, healthy cities and most recently social capital and health promotion.

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<v Chair>Amongst her current research interests are concerns with the political economy of health.

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<v Chair>Especially the links between health and wealth in a globalising world.

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<v Chair>An area in which I've been fortunate enough to hear her speak in the past.

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<v Chair>Professor Worm also undertakes regular consultancies for organisations such as AusAid and the World Health Organisation in South East Asia and South Africa.

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<v Chair>These have related to our discussion.

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<v Chair>Aspects of health promotion, planning and evaluation and particularly related to healthy cities.

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<v Chair>An international project I think that's still current.

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<v Chair>Fran's most recent book is the new public health and Australian perspective.

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<v Chair>Which considers the social, economic and environmental determinants of health and assesses key health promotion strategies.

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<v Chair>Please welcome Professor Worm.

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<v Speaker 2>Thanks and good afternoon.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you everybody.

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<v Speaker 2>And we're a very female audience aren't we?

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<v Speaker 2>There are not many men here who have come to hear about women and substance abuse.

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<v Speaker 2>There's been much talk so far I think in this festival about what do we mean by substance abuse.

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<v Speaker 2>And I think it's been broadly recognised that we're not only talking about illicit drugs such as heroin, cocaine, ecstasy.

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<v Speaker 2>But also about alcohol, tobacco and I think one area that hasn't had much publicity so far but that is particularly pertinent for women.

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<v Speaker 2>Is legal prescription drugs.

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<v Speaker 2>And I'm sure many of you will know of the public health problems that they create.

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<v Speaker 2>My perspective is obviously a public health perspective.

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<v Speaker 2>And if we take that perspective then the effect on health from those legal drugs, alcohol, tobacco and the legal prescription drugs.

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<v Speaker 2>Is far greater than that from the illicit drugs.

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<v Speaker 2>But of course if you looked at the latest campaign material from the government.

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<v Speaker 2>You would really get the impression that the only drugs of concern were the illegal ones.

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<v Speaker 2>Yet certainly far more damage to health, wellbeing and I think community life are done by the other drugs.

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<v Speaker 2>So today I'll be talking about all substances that have an addictive quality whether they're legal or illegal.

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<v Speaker 2>I think Eleanor already said well why should we focus on women's and substance abuse?

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<v Speaker 2>In terms of social problems created by addictive behaviour they're hardly the problem.

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<v Speaker 2>Anthony Clare the British psychiatrist and broadcaster.

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<v Speaker 2>Noted that throughout the world developed and developing anti-social behaviour is essentially male.

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<v Speaker 2>Violence, sexual abuse of children, illicit drug use, alcohol misuse, gambling are all overwhelmingly male activities.

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<v Speaker 2>The courts and prisons bulge with men.

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<v Speaker 2>When it comes to aggression, delinquent behaviour, risk taking and social mayhem men win gold.

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<v Speaker 2>So we might want to remember that as a backdrop to this discussion I think.

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<v Speaker 2>And women's addictive behaviour.

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<v Speaker 2>Certainly do not wreak havoc on the broader society like male addictive behaviours do.

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<v Speaker 2>But I think probably the use of addictive substances probably causes a more silent harm.

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<v Speaker 2>And a harm that's less readily discerned amongst women.

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<v Speaker 2>And that's much more internalised to women.

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<v Speaker 2>And it's also much more likely to be hidden.

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<v Speaker 2>Although probably less so than in the period when most women were at home full time.

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<v Speaker 2>And it's more likely to damage them and their immediate family rather than community more generally.

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<v Speaker 2>And many feminists, and I particularly draw on the work of Dorothy Broome from the ANU,

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<v Speaker 2>has noticed that addicted or alcoholic women are doubly deviant.

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<v Speaker 2>And Dorothy notes that these women have transgressed not only the law or general social convention,

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<v Speaker 2>but they've specifically violated the norm of being a good woman.

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<v Speaker 2>The drunken woman offends more than her male counterpart.

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<v Speaker 2>There is something that shocks about drunk out of control behaviour.

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<v Speaker 2>And that's the behaviour from women for example.

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<v Speaker 2>She's more to blame, has less excuse, should have known better, will be less acceptable

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<v Speaker 2>and will probably suffer more as a result of her addiction.

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<v Speaker 2>I was just recently reading a novel by Amy Whitting.

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<v Speaker 2>And in her novel The Visit she was describing the wife of a GP in a country town

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<v Speaker 2>where the main action of the novel was set.

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<v Speaker 2>And this woman had a problem with alcohol.

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<v Speaker 2>And she I think captures some of this social attitude.

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<v Speaker 2>She said, she was a woman who was very

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<v Speaker 2>!

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<v Speaker 2>She took a bottle of brandy she was cuddling and pulled it out neatly,

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<v Speaker 2>like an expert defusing the bomb.

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<v Speaker 2>She was so limp that the signs of life in her were disgusting.

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<v Speaker 2>Her breath reeked and snored.

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<v Speaker 2>The warmth and weight of her body sickened him.

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<v Speaker 2>Such dead meat shouldn't be warm.

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<v Speaker 2>As they pulled her clear of the bed, her skirt rode up over her thighs,

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<v Speaker 2>which didn't matter at all.

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<v Speaker 2>So clearly, the addicted women are presented as not living up to the stereotypes

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<v Speaker 2>of women as good wife and mother and guardians of moral standards.

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<v Speaker 2>In other words, as Anne Summers' God's police,

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<v Speaker 2>as women, as part of the Australian mythology, should be.

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<v Speaker 2>And their abuse is clearly seen as being worse

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<v Speaker 2>because it's affecting not just them but their children as well.

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<v Speaker 2>And this is particularly the case, I think, during pregnancy.

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<v Speaker 2>And it's probably true that addicted women are seen as less doubly deviant than in the past.

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<v Speaker 2>Women's roles are changing.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, for instance, they're more likely to be in the workforce

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<v Speaker 2>and young women commonly drink with their male colleagues after work.

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<v Speaker 2>And if recent press reports are to be believed, we'll try and keep up with them.

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<v Speaker 2>But I think Charlotte will be saying more about that.

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<v Speaker 2>And binge drinking for young women is much more common than in the past.

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<v Speaker 2>So witness the phenomenon of Bridget Jones.

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<v Speaker 2>And young women now also smoke as much as young men.

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<v Speaker 2>But by and large, women and substance abuse is still seen as the result of the failings of individual women.

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<v Speaker 2>And this is despite a few decades of analysis from feminists and others

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<v Speaker 2>pointing to the social roots of addiction.

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<v Speaker 2>And one thing I think this festival has done in a wonderful way

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<v Speaker 2>is to really blow open the social and economic roots of addiction.

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<v Speaker 2>And I think that's what's happening in our society.

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<v Speaker 2>But really, addiction is treated very like other public health problems.

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<v Speaker 2>It's not only addiction that we try and pathologize

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<v Speaker 2>and make seen as a failing of individuals.

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<v Speaker 2>We tend to do that generally with public health problems

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<v Speaker 2>and see them as the result of individuals

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<v Speaker 2>rather than as being produced through social and economic processes.

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<v Speaker 2>Thus, the abuse of alcohol and minor tranquilizers by women in the 50s and through to the 70s

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<v Speaker 2>was clearly very closely tied to their social position.

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<v Speaker 2>And that position very often created isolation and depression.

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<v Speaker 2>Yet at the time, the problem was either not acknowledged

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<v Speaker 2>or very clearly seen as a weakness of the women.

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<v Speaker 2>And similarly, with heroin abuse in the late 1990s and 21st century,

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<v Speaker 2>is it that we suddenly have a rash of people not able to control the urge for heroin?

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<v Speaker 2>Or is it that heroin abuse in the 90s and early 20th century

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<v Speaker 2>are reflecting not the failure of individuals,

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<v Speaker 2>but the existence of a profitable illegal trade that needs a market?

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<v Speaker 2>And I think, again, we've heard lots of evidence at the festival that that might be the case.

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<v Speaker 2>And of course, that market is found because of the mirrored pressures on young people

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<v Speaker 2>that make a drug that offers escape from the everyday grind very attractive.

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<v Speaker 2>Even at legal drugs such as tobacco,

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<v Speaker 2>if we look at the marketing of tobacco, it clearly targets young women.

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<v Speaker 2>If you look at Professor Simon Chapman at Sydney University's website,

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<v Speaker 2>you'll find lots of examples of the way this is done.

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<v Speaker 2>Even in a society such as ours that's banned advertising,

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<v Speaker 2>there's lots of examples of fashion parties that are silently sponsored by Philip Morris

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<v Speaker 2>or one of their shelf companies.

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<v Speaker 2>And at the fashion events, they provide free cigarettes, for instance,

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<v Speaker 2>very clearly targeting young women.

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<v Speaker 2>White invasion and the subsequent dislocation for indigenous people

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<v Speaker 2>are widely recognised as a crucial cause of the high levels of substance use

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<v Speaker 2>in indigenous communities.

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<v Speaker 2>Yet so often people's responses are to blame the victim of these deep-rooted social problems

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<v Speaker 2>whose emergence reflects the times, not the failing of individuals.

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<v Speaker 2>Did anyone see Four Corners on Monday?

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<v Speaker 2>Did anyone listen to Tony Abbott?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, our much-esteemed minister was asked to comment on the growth of the working poor in Australia.

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<v Speaker 2>And what did Tony say, reflecting this deeply-seated individualism

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<v Speaker 2>and blame-the-victim mentality of politicians?

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<v Speaker 2>He said,

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<v Speaker 2>And he said that after hearing the story of a woman who earned $400 a week

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<v Speaker 2>living in Sydney and was supporting four people.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm sure she was out drinking, gambling, and drinking.

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<v Speaker 2>She was gambling all the time.

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<v Speaker 2>But you can see how deep-seated that individualism is

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<v Speaker 2>when we talk about substance abuse.

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<v Speaker 2>And of course, what happens?

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<v Speaker 2>Because we say it's an individual problem,

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<v Speaker 2>treatment for individuals tops the bill,

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<v Speaker 2>followed closely by education messages.

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<v Speaker 2>And from a public health point of view,

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<v Speaker 2>they are particularly wishful thinking.

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<v Speaker 2>Simply telling people to stop using addictive drugs does not work.

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<v Speaker 2>There is no evidence base at all.

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<v Speaker 2>Together with other policy measures,

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<v Speaker 2>this education approach can be effective, but not alone.

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<v Speaker 2>Most recently, by a federal government campaign,

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<v Speaker 2>we were told that if only parents would talk to their children,

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<v Speaker 2>then drug problems of young people would be largely solved.

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<v Speaker 2>And the Prime Minister assured us that in an introduction to the pamphlet

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<v Speaker 2>that many of us got delivered to our house.

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<v Speaker 2>Forget about high youth unemployment.

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<v Speaker 2>Forget about increases in contract employment,

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<v Speaker 2>declining rural and outer suburban areas,

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<v Speaker 2>which are suffering terribly,

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<v Speaker 2>child sexual abuse,

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<v Speaker 2>employment,

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<v Speaker 2>increasing pressures to succeed at school,

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<v Speaker 2>the quest for conformity from consumer advertising,

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<v Speaker 2>the pushing of impossibly thin body images,

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<v Speaker 2>a deteriorating environment,

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<v Speaker 2>just to mention a few of the issues that will concern most young people.

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<v Speaker 2>No, as John Howard told us,

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<v Speaker 2>a chat from mum and dad will keep you off the drugs

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<v Speaker 2>and on the straight and narrow.

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<v Speaker 2>So what should we do instead?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, what we need to do is turn the question around

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<v Speaker 2>and ask,

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<v Speaker 2>what is it about society that we need to do instead?

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<v Speaker 2>What is it about society that causes us to have so many people

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<v Speaker 2>who are attracted to using substances that change their brain chemical,

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<v Speaker 2>as we've just heard in the session from Sadie Plant,

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<v Speaker 2>but also trying to escape from a reality that they don't want to face?

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<v Speaker 2>And I think we heard a very good Buddhist perspective on that last night.

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<v Speaker 2>But clearly, focusing on individuals will not solve the problem of substance abuse.

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<v Speaker 2>The focus should be on changing society,

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<v Speaker 2>and making it a better place to be and a less addictive place.

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<v Speaker 2>Combating illicit drug use is high on the policy agendas of governments around the world,

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<v Speaker 2>and approaches vary considerably.

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<v Speaker 2>And we've seen in the US that their policy of prohibition just hasn't worked.

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<v Speaker 2>What it's led to is a burgeoning prison population.

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<v Speaker 2>I think 650 people per 100,000 in the US are in prison, which is just amazing.

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<v Speaker 2>In Australia, the drug use rate in Australia is up to the same.

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<v Speaker 2>something like 70% of women in prison are there because of drug-related offences,

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<v Speaker 2>a burglary associated or something like that.

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<v Speaker 2>And the cost in economic terms,

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<v Speaker 2>let alone the personal cost to the women and their families,

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<v Speaker 2>are absolutely huge.

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<v Speaker 2>Similarly, if we take the example of tobacco,

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<v Speaker 2>you can see how individual strategies don't work.

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<v Speaker 2>Tobacco alone is responsible for so many lost years of life.

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<v Speaker 2>And the take-up rate amongst young women is still worryingly high.

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<v Speaker 2>In South Australia, we've been a world leader in combating tobacco.

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<v Speaker 2>And by and large, we haven't done that by educating people.

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<v Speaker 2>It's played some role.

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<v Speaker 2>But we've done it by making smoking tobacco socially undesirable.

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<v Speaker 2>Just a few years ago, it was okay to light up without asking in a friend's house.

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<v Speaker 2>It was okay to smoke in a restaurant and at work.

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<v Speaker 2>Now you get up and go outside without asking if you want to smoke

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<v Speaker 2>in most places.

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<v Speaker 2>But you can't smoke in public health homes.

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<v Speaker 2>You know you can't smoke in restaurants.

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<v Speaker 2>And smoking is banned in most workplaces.

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<v Speaker 2>And policy has been the tool by which that's happened.

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<v Speaker 2>And policy is usually the main weapon in the public health armoury.

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<v Speaker 2>And by and large, it's much more effective than education on its own.

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<v Speaker 2>So public health strategies that are effective,

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<v Speaker 2>and this goes for drugs and other areas,

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<v Speaker 2>are those that are embedded in and seek to change

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<v Speaker 2>the social and economic context that produced the problems in the first place.

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<v Speaker 2>So you might say, why then are rates among young women

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<v Speaker 2>not going down as much as other groups?

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<v Speaker 2>But if you look at cigarette companies,

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<v Speaker 2>they've taken a severe battering in the last decade,

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<v Speaker 2>but they aren't ready to lie down and die.

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<v Speaker 2>They represent a very powerful economic interest and lobby group.

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<v Speaker 2>And they're still pushing, drug pushing, at an alarming rate.

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<v Speaker 2>It's clear if you look at their marketing strategies that are produced within the companies,

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<v Speaker 2>that one of their intended markets of the future is working women in Asia.

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<v Speaker 2>They see that as a huge market.

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<v Speaker 2>For young women in Australia, the marketing is aimed at creating the idea that smoking is cool.

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<v Speaker 2>And some commentators have suggested that for some young women,

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<v Speaker 2>taking up smoking is a form of resistance to social norms,

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<v Speaker 2>a way of saying, I am not a good girl.

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<v Speaker 2>And if you look at some of the tobacco advertising in Europe,

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<v Speaker 2>in countries where it's still legal,

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<v Speaker 2>you can see that image being pushed, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>that if you smoke, you're something of a rebel,

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<v Speaker 2>very clearly and very carefully marketed.

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<v Speaker 2>We also know that smoking has a link to the

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<v Speaker 2>socioeconomic status, and women who live in poverty

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<v Speaker 2>or have a lower income are more likely to smoke.

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<v Speaker 2>Many people put this down to ignorance and say,

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<v Speaker 2>well, what we have to do is educate these women,

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<v Speaker 2>tell them they shouldn't smoke during pregnancy.

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<v Speaker 2>Some very good research by Hilary Graham, a UK sociologist,

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<v Speaker 2>spoke to many low-income women who smoke,

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<v Speaker 2>and found that they know the risks very well.

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<v Speaker 2>They're not stupid, you know, they've read about the links between smoking and lung cancer.

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<v Speaker 2>It's just that having a cup of tea in a fag was one of the few pleasures that they had.

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<v Speaker 2>In a life that was ground down by poverty,

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<v Speaker 2>the short-term pleasure of having that fag and a cup of tea

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<v Speaker 2>far outweighed the thought of long-term consequences.

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<v Speaker 2>So what we need to do something about there is,

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<v Speaker 2>clearly the social situation those people are living in,

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<v Speaker 2>to build up communities, provide social support,

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<v Speaker 2>what's now being called social capital,

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<v Speaker 2>rather than pick off each drug substance we know about

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<v Speaker 2>and say, what are we going to do about this, what are we going to do about that,

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<v Speaker 2>what are we going to do about the other drug,

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<v Speaker 2>and then, of course, the social problem,

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<v Speaker 2>but take a whole of community approach.

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<v Speaker 2>So clearly we shouldn't be worrying about addicted women,

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<v Speaker 2>we should be worrying about an addicted society

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<v Speaker 2>that worships consumption, as we've heard from Sadie Plant,

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<v Speaker 2>and that pushes all sorts of products at us,

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<v Speaker 2>some of which happen to offer release from a daily grind

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<v Speaker 2>that really anybody would probably want release for.

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<v Speaker 2>None of us make our choices in social and economic vacuums.

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<v Speaker 2>Our decisions about what substances to use,

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<v Speaker 2>how much and whether we use them,

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<v Speaker 2>are sustained by the laws we live under,

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<v Speaker 2>the social and economic pressures we face,

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<v Speaker 2>and the advertising of multinational companies,

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<v Speaker 2>the desire for profits from crime cartels,

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<v Speaker 2>and of course the moral dictates of society.

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<v Speaker 2>And in this, whatever we think, our individual choice

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<v Speaker 2>is only one very small element of what ends up as a social problem.

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<v Speaker 2>A far greater influence can be the policies of governments

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<v Speaker 2>who are committed to intervene,

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<v Speaker 2>and I think one of Don Dunstan's famous sayings was,

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<v Speaker 2>we intervene or we sink,

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<v Speaker 2>making a plea for the power of interventionist governments.

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<v Speaker 2>And obviously what we need here,

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<v Speaker 2>interventionist policies that support public health

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<v Speaker 2>and work to make a society with an environment

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<v Speaker 2>that is less conducive to addiction.

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<v Speaker 2>So that's what I think the debate for addiction should be about.

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<v Speaker 2>How can we make societies that are satisfying for people to live in,

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<v Speaker 2>how can we make societies that support women

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<v Speaker 2>in the many multiple roles they have?

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<v Speaker 2>If we answer that question,

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<v Speaker 2>then I think we'll be a long way to solving

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<v Speaker 2>what we see as the problem of addiction.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you.

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<v Chair>Thank you very much indeed, Fran.

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<v Chair>Our next speaker is Dr Virginia McGowan,

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<v Chair>who comes from South West Alberta,

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<v Chair>where she works at the University of Lethbridge

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<v Chair>as the coordinator of the Addictions Counselling Programme

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<v Chair>in the UK.

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<v Chair>She's a graduate student at the School of Health Sciences.

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<v Chair>Dr McGowan is an applied anthropologist

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<v Chair>specialising in addiction research

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<v Chair>with a special interest in the socio-cultural context

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<v Chair>of addictive behaviours

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<v Chair>and in community approaches to program development and evaluation.

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<v Chair>Dr McGowan's work has included health services research,

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<v Chair>program evaluation for First Nations Women's Healing Circle

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<v Chair>and contributions to development of alcohol

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<v Chair>and other drug-related policy.

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<v Chair>Her field research has taken her to inner city and rural communities,

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<v Chair>to First Nations reserves and community-based agencies and clinics,

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<v Chair>acute care settings and other venues in the Caribbean,

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<v Chair>across Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

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<v Chair>Her current research projects include

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<v Chair>indigenous women's stories of healing from addictions,

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<v Chair>experiences of treatment,

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<v Chair>socio-cultural dimensions of gambling,

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<v Chair>development of health services,

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<v Chair>development of prevention and health promotion programmes

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<v Chair>and cultural competence in addiction education.

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<v Chair>Please welcome Dr Virginia McGowan.

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<v Speaker 3>I think I just lassoed the chair on my way past.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a real pleasure for me to be back here in Adelaide.

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<v Speaker 3>I see some familiar faces in the audience.

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<v Speaker 3>I think I've seen a few of you at the other sessions

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<v Speaker 3>and I'll try not to repeat myself

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<v Speaker 3>for things that I've said in the two previous sessions

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<v Speaker 3>that I've participated in.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm going to try to do this rather quickly

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<v Speaker 3>so that we can move to audience participation

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<v Speaker 3>as quickly as we can because I think it's been one of the great things

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<v Speaker 3>about this festival is that we have such an interactive audience.

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<v Speaker 3>I think it's just wonderful.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm going to bring to you a social science perspective.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm also going to speak slowly so that my Canadian vowels don't confuse.

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<v Speaker 3>I tend to get a little lost in Australian vowels at times

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<v Speaker 3>which has led to some amusing situations.

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<v Speaker 3>I hope that you can follow what I say without any difficulty.

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<v Speaker 3>Before I begin, Eleanor has given me a bit of my background.

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<v Speaker 3>To that I'd like to add that some of the perspective that I bring

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<v Speaker 3>and the thoughts that I plan to share with you today

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<v Speaker 3>are based both on my own and others' similar kind of research.

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<v Speaker 3>My research tends to take place in what we call natural settings

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<v Speaker 3>which generally tends to be where people live their lives.

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<v Speaker 3>So we do quite an engaged type of research in my field.

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<v Speaker 3>It's something that I often call cup of tea research

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<v Speaker 3>because it often ends up over a cup of tea.

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<v Speaker 4>It pays to have a very healthy bladder in this kind of work.

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<v Speaker 3>My work has taken me into prisons, women's prisons,

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<v Speaker 3>into indigenous communities, into inner city environments

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<v Speaker 3>with immigrant populations and refugee populations

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<v Speaker 3>and also with people of varied ethno-cultural background

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<v Speaker 3>in Canada and other places as Eleanor mentioned.

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<v Speaker 3>So I hope that something of what I say has some relevance for the Australian context.

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<v Speaker 3>I'll begin by stating the obvious, I suppose,

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<v Speaker 3>that women's experience of substance abuse,

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<v Speaker 3>the experience of healing,

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<v Speaker 3>must be understood in the social and cultural context

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<v Speaker 3>in which these experiences are situated.

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<v Speaker 3>And there are a few key fundamental concepts

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<v Speaker 3>that inform this kind of thinking.

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<v Speaker 3>The first one, of course, is that context is fundamentally important.

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<v Speaker 3>The realities of women's lives cannot be understood

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<v Speaker 3>in isolation from their context,

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<v Speaker 3>nor can they be fragmented or pulled out

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<v Speaker 3>and little portions of it looked at

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<v Speaker 3>and still retain any kind of meaning

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<v Speaker 3>for the world in which women live.

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<v Speaker 3>Now, the other part of that is that we all give meaning to what we do

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<v Speaker 3>and we act towards those meanings.

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<v Speaker 3>So, for example, the famous example that is always given in these situations

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<v Speaker 3>is that a twitch is very different from a wink.

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<v Speaker 3>But the meaning that is given to either a twitch or a wink

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<v Speaker 3>is very contextualized.

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<v Speaker 3>We also understand the context in which these lives are lived

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<v Speaker 3>extends beyond the very immediate social settings

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<v Speaker 3>and networks in which they're found.

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<v Speaker 3>So, though our concern, our focus, our lens may be focused on,

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<v Speaker 3>say, a family setting or within a prison environment or something,

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<v Speaker 3>we still retain the knowledge

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<v Speaker 3>and extend our understanding of those meanings

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<v Speaker 3>socially across all types of relationships,

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<v Speaker 3>remembering that gender and class and ethnicity and so on

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<v Speaker 3>and the experiences that people bring

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00:25:50.820 --> 00:25:53.240
<v Speaker 3>as individuals and families and communities

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00:25:53.240 --> 00:25:54.540
<v Speaker 3>are also important.

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00:25:55.560 --> 00:25:59.100
<v Speaker 3>The second point is that change is the only constant.

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00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:04.840
<v Speaker 3>So, drug issues and their problems are continuously shifting.

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<v Speaker 3>One writer has called them the

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<v Speaker 3>fads, fashions, rages and crazes.

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<v Speaker 3>There are also these shifts in social norms

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<v Speaker 3>about women's position in society,

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<v Speaker 3>and Fran has given us a wonderful overview

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<v Speaker 3>of those kinds of shifts.

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<v Speaker 3>The third point is that what we're dealing with

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<v Speaker 3>are highly complex issues.

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<v Speaker 3>We can't know it all.

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<v Speaker 3>We could only approach knowing.

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<v Speaker 3>It requires understanding not only the individual circumstance

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<v Speaker 3>but the social relationships in which the circumstances are embedded.

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<v Speaker 3>We're always in relationships as human beings.

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<v Speaker 3>We have to understand that,

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<v Speaker 3>we have to take into account cultural diversity

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<v Speaker 3>as well as age-related differences

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<v Speaker 3>in the experiences that women have

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<v Speaker 3>and their experience of and their response to gender norms.

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<v Speaker 3>And I guess the last thing I'd like to mention

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<v Speaker 3>in this part of my talk

425
00:27:02.320 --> 00:27:05.380
<v Speaker 3>is that there's always a gap between what we say we do

426
00:27:05.380 --> 00:27:06.580
<v Speaker 3>and what we actually do.

427
00:27:07.120 --> 00:27:08.860
<v Speaker 3>And it's something that we have to remember

428
00:27:08.860 --> 00:27:10.660
<v Speaker 3>when we're doing the kind of research

429
00:27:10.660 --> 00:27:13.300
<v Speaker 3>that I think the three of us are involved here

430
00:27:13.300 --> 00:27:15.700
<v Speaker 3>have had a part in playing.

431
00:27:17.400 --> 00:27:17.960
<v Speaker 3>So...

432
00:27:19.900 --> 00:27:21.180
<v Speaker 3>When we talk about...

433
00:27:21.180 --> 00:27:23.560
<v Speaker 3>I'm going to touch on four different areas

434
00:27:23.560 --> 00:27:27.120
<v Speaker 3>of women's substance use and abuse.

435
00:27:27.580 --> 00:27:30.800
<v Speaker 3>There are active involvement in substance misuse,

436
00:27:31.080 --> 00:27:33.040
<v Speaker 3>our gendered roles as caregivers,

437
00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:34.980
<v Speaker 3>societal responses,

438
00:27:35.600 --> 00:27:37.280
<v Speaker 3>and our search for healing.

439
00:27:38.320 --> 00:27:40.540
<v Speaker 3>And give you some examples of some of the things

440
00:27:40.540 --> 00:27:41.780
<v Speaker 3>that are happening in Canada

441
00:27:41.780 --> 00:27:43.100
<v Speaker 3>and communities that I've worked with.

442
00:27:43.980 --> 00:27:46.340
<v Speaker 3>First of all, in terms of women's active involvement

443
00:27:46.340 --> 00:27:47.780
<v Speaker 3>in substance misuse,

444
00:27:47.980 --> 00:27:51.320
<v Speaker 3>one of the points I'd like to leave you with, though,

445
00:27:51.340 --> 00:27:53.800
<v Speaker 3>is that there are links with women's substance misuse

446
00:27:53.800 --> 00:27:54.700
<v Speaker 3>and with gambling,

447
00:27:54.900 --> 00:27:56.700
<v Speaker 3>and with eating disorders,

448
00:27:57.300 --> 00:27:58.420
<v Speaker 3>and with sexuality.

449
00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:01.940
<v Speaker 3>And we must remember that these links are very real.

450
00:28:02.100 --> 00:28:03.760
<v Speaker 3>Oftentimes, as Fran had noted,

451
00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:05.300
<v Speaker 3>we tend to not only...

452
00:28:05.300 --> 00:28:07.960
<v Speaker 3>We particularize little types of drug use,

453
00:28:08.020 --> 00:28:10.120
<v Speaker 3>and we say, oh, we're going to do heroin this week.

454
00:28:10.320 --> 00:28:13.140
<v Speaker 3>And then the drug of choice for the research,

455
00:28:13.140 --> 00:28:15.200
<v Speaker 3>funding is going to be something else next week.

456
00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:18.140
<v Speaker 3>But we also have to remember that addictive behaviors

457
00:28:18.660 --> 00:28:20.960
<v Speaker 3>cross a variety of types and forms.

458
00:28:22.320 --> 00:28:25.140
<v Speaker 3>Women's active involvement in drug use is...

459
00:28:25.980 --> 00:28:28.880
<v Speaker 3>And when I say drug, I mean alcohol, tobacco,

460
00:28:29.140 --> 00:28:31.800
<v Speaker 3>and all the other drugs, including prescription drugs.

461
00:28:32.460 --> 00:28:35.620
<v Speaker 3>We have solitary use that occurs particularly

462
00:28:35.620 --> 00:28:37.800
<v Speaker 3>with prescription drugs and alcohol,

463
00:28:38.060 --> 00:28:40.340
<v Speaker 3>where drinking alone is more often the norm

464
00:28:40.340 --> 00:28:42.940
<v Speaker 3>when people get to problematic levels.

465
00:28:43.140 --> 00:28:46.040
<v Speaker 3>We've just completed a series of screening interviews

466
00:28:46.040 --> 00:28:47.720
<v Speaker 3>for some narratives of healing.

467
00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:50.060
<v Speaker 3>And again, I was struck by the fact,

468
00:28:50.120 --> 00:28:52.300
<v Speaker 3>when you look across the life history of women's drinking,

469
00:28:52.520 --> 00:28:54.460
<v Speaker 3>then when it gets to problematic levels,

470
00:28:54.560 --> 00:28:56.020
<v Speaker 3>we see a lot of drinking alone.

471
00:28:56.240 --> 00:28:58.500
<v Speaker 3>We see a lot of prescription drug use.

472
00:28:59.520 --> 00:29:02.360
<v Speaker 3>A second form of women's active involvement in drinking

473
00:29:02.360 --> 00:29:04.620
<v Speaker 3>is use in relationships with others.

474
00:29:05.120 --> 00:29:08.220
<v Speaker 3>That's with male and female drinking and drugging partners.

475
00:29:08.600 --> 00:29:10.380
<v Speaker 3>And oftentimes, in the narratives

476
00:29:10.380 --> 00:29:12.280
<v Speaker 3>that we've been working with on women,

477
00:29:12.280 --> 00:29:14.920
<v Speaker 3>they'll talk about a male partner, and they'll say,

478
00:29:15.020 --> 00:29:16.560
<v Speaker 3>yeah, well, he was someone that I drank with,

479
00:29:16.580 --> 00:29:18.620
<v Speaker 3>or he's someone that I did drugs with or shot up with.

480
00:29:21.240 --> 00:29:24.760
<v Speaker 3>We also have a third form, and that is use in reaction to others,

481
00:29:24.940 --> 00:29:27.480
<v Speaker 3>especially related to abuse at the hands of men.

482
00:29:28.860 --> 00:29:32.480
<v Speaker 3>Women have talked about this in terms of a coping mechanism.

483
00:29:32.940 --> 00:29:35.580
<v Speaker 3>They talk about it as being a form of self-medication.

484
00:29:36.200 --> 00:29:38.340
<v Speaker 3>But something that's emerged from a recent...

485
00:29:38.340 --> 00:29:40.780
<v Speaker 3>this recent part of the research that we've been doing

486
00:29:40.780 --> 00:29:43.600
<v Speaker 3>is what I would call as acts of resistance

487
00:29:43.600 --> 00:29:44.860
<v Speaker 3>in a difficult situation.

488
00:29:45.620 --> 00:29:48.440
<v Speaker 3>Sometimes the media likes to call this spiteful acts,

489
00:29:48.520 --> 00:29:51.520
<v Speaker 3>and I really resent them using those kinds of terms.

490
00:29:51.640 --> 00:29:54.340
<v Speaker 3>I think it belittles the circumstances in which women are in.

491
00:29:54.600 --> 00:29:56.800
<v Speaker 3>These acts of resistance take the form,

492
00:29:56.900 --> 00:29:59.900
<v Speaker 3>in several instances, I'll give you some quotations,

493
00:30:00.040 --> 00:30:02.580
<v Speaker 3>to get back at them, I'd steal a stash,

494
00:30:02.620 --> 00:30:04.420
<v Speaker 3>or I'd just get really drunk.

495
00:30:04.840 --> 00:30:05.740
<v Speaker 3>That'll show them.

496
00:30:07.520 --> 00:30:10.680
<v Speaker 3>The second point that I'd like to make is that we have women's,

497
00:30:10.780 --> 00:30:14.100
<v Speaker 3>women's involvement with drugs in terms of women's gendered roles

498
00:30:14.100 --> 00:30:14.960
<v Speaker 3>as caregivers.

499
00:30:16.780 --> 00:30:19.800
<v Speaker 3>And in this we see women coping with and are managing

500
00:30:19.800 --> 00:30:23.320
<v Speaker 3>the substance misuse of other people in their family

501
00:30:23.320 --> 00:30:24.180
<v Speaker 3>and extended family,

502
00:30:24.420 --> 00:30:27.480
<v Speaker 3>as well as the related problems in living

503
00:30:27.480 --> 00:30:30.820
<v Speaker 3>that they experience themselves and that their families experience

504
00:30:30.820 --> 00:30:34.640
<v Speaker 3>as a result of the substance use of other people,

505
00:30:34.820 --> 00:30:37.420
<v Speaker 3>particularly the men in their families.

506
00:30:39.220 --> 00:30:40.760
<v Speaker 3>The third area is that women are not alone.

507
00:30:40.760 --> 00:30:43.240
<v Speaker 3>The third area is societal responses to women's involvement

508
00:30:43.240 --> 00:30:45.260
<v Speaker 3>with their own and other substance misuse.

509
00:30:46.060 --> 00:30:49.440
<v Speaker 3>And Fran again has given us a wonderful overview of that.

510
00:30:49.660 --> 00:30:51.100
<v Speaker 3>As fallen women,

511
00:30:52.760 --> 00:30:55.560
<v Speaker 3>they feel the brunt of our culture of shame and blame.

512
00:30:56.520 --> 00:30:59.860
<v Speaker 3>And severe sanctions are often imposed by child welfare

513
00:30:59.860 --> 00:31:01.080
<v Speaker 3>and the correction systems,

514
00:31:01.560 --> 00:31:04.800
<v Speaker 3>because no one likes to think that the hand that rocks the cradle

515
00:31:04.800 --> 00:31:05.700
<v Speaker 3>is a shaky one.

516
00:31:06.880 --> 00:31:09.040
<v Speaker 3>As social bearers of pathology,

517
00:31:09.040 --> 00:31:12.000
<v Speaker 3>women assume the burden for other people's problems.

518
00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:14.380
<v Speaker 3>They could have, they should have,

519
00:31:14.520 --> 00:31:16.180
<v Speaker 3>they must have done something.

520
00:31:16.800 --> 00:31:20.660
<v Speaker 3>They're implicated and codified as being codependent.

521
00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:26.280
<v Speaker 3>Finally, they're assumed to be much, to be passive,

522
00:31:26.580 --> 00:31:29.700
<v Speaker 3>to be somehow sicker and less motivated

523
00:31:29.700 --> 00:31:31.360
<v Speaker 3>than their male counterparts.

524
00:31:32.620 --> 00:31:35.280
<v Speaker 3>Which leads me to the final section of my talk,

525
00:31:36.040 --> 00:31:37.460
<v Speaker 3>is women's search for healing.

526
00:31:38.840 --> 00:31:42.520
<v Speaker 3>Therapy itself has been criticized as a form of social control,

527
00:31:44.020 --> 00:31:46.320
<v Speaker 3>representing institutionalized societal values

528
00:31:46.320 --> 00:31:48.060
<v Speaker 3>and middle class norms.

529
00:31:49.080 --> 00:31:51.900
<v Speaker 3>Now this is in contrast to the potential of therapy

530
00:31:51.900 --> 00:31:53.300
<v Speaker 3>as a vehicle for empowerment,

531
00:31:53.460 --> 00:31:57.180
<v Speaker 3>that helps women question the imposed standards

532
00:31:57.180 --> 00:31:59.620
<v Speaker 3>that both constrain and oppress them.

533
00:32:01.060 --> 00:32:03.880
<v Speaker 3>Women tend to have a pattern, noted by clinicians,

534
00:32:04.180 --> 00:32:05.700
<v Speaker 3>of internalizing problems,

535
00:32:06.080 --> 00:32:07.440
<v Speaker 3>of understanding the need for healing,

536
00:32:07.460 --> 00:32:08.740
<v Speaker 3>of understanding their problems in terms of,

537
00:32:08.740 --> 00:32:09.520
<v Speaker 3>with substance abuse,

538
00:32:09.760 --> 00:32:14.900
<v Speaker 3>in terms of depression, guilt, loss, anxiety, fear,

539
00:32:15.060 --> 00:32:16.360
<v Speaker 3>and frustration,

540
00:32:16.540 --> 00:32:20.140
<v Speaker 3>rather than attributing them to external structural issues.

541
00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:24.100
<v Speaker 3>Then there's the nature of the treatment services offered themselves.

542
00:32:25.080 --> 00:32:28.300
<v Speaker 3>They've been noted as not being responsive to women's needs.

543
00:32:29.520 --> 00:32:33.700
<v Speaker 3>Do they recognize and respond to the cultural diversity and gender norms?

544
00:32:34.660 --> 00:32:37.060
<v Speaker 3>Do they recognize that women are often

545
00:32:37.460 --> 00:32:38.720
<v Speaker 3>solely responsible for childcare,

546
00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:42.200
<v Speaker 3>particularly women who have experience of substance misuse?

547
00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:46.060
<v Speaker 3>Do they recognize concurrent mental health issues,

548
00:32:46.140 --> 00:32:46.780
<v Speaker 3>such as depression?

549
00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:51.940
<v Speaker 3>Are they friendly, welcoming, and open to lesbian women?

550
00:32:54.520 --> 00:32:57.660
<v Speaker 3>We also have issues about social and geographic isolation.

551
00:32:58.300 --> 00:33:00.260
<v Speaker 3>Now where I live in southwest Alberta

552
00:33:00.260 --> 00:33:04.220
<v Speaker 3>is much like the situation you might find in outback Australia.

553
00:33:04.420 --> 00:33:06.840
<v Speaker 3>We're a little closer to, perhaps, some larger centers.

554
00:33:08.300 --> 00:33:11.040
<v Speaker 3>But there's a long way for many women to travel.

555
00:33:11.380 --> 00:33:15.340
<v Speaker 3>They simply cannot get any help in the small towns in which they live.

556
00:33:16.900 --> 00:33:19.320
<v Speaker 3>They lack, therefore, the accessibility

557
00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:23.300
<v Speaker 3>and the resources that they need.

558
00:33:23.620 --> 00:33:26.080
<v Speaker 3>It costs a lot of money to travel.

559
00:33:26.200 --> 00:33:32.100
<v Speaker 3>Even if you have a freely, cost-free service offered to you,

560
00:33:32.160 --> 00:33:33.760
<v Speaker 3>you still have to find a way to get there.

561
00:33:33.960 --> 00:33:35.800
<v Speaker 3>And how do you do that if you don't have a car?

562
00:33:35.800 --> 00:33:37.660
<v Speaker 3>If you can't afford the bus?

563
00:33:38.280 --> 00:33:40.140
<v Speaker 3>And who's going to look after the kids?

564
00:33:40.580 --> 00:33:42.660
<v Speaker 3>Who's going to look after those older parents?

565
00:33:42.820 --> 00:33:44.640
<v Speaker 3>Who's going to explain it to your partner,

566
00:33:44.760 --> 00:33:47.400
<v Speaker 3>who may not like the fact that you're going to be talking to someone?

567
00:33:49.640 --> 00:33:51.380
<v Speaker 3>There are also issues of safety.

568
00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:56.780
<v Speaker 3>Most women who appear for treatment for substance misuse

569
00:33:56.780 --> 00:33:58.280
<v Speaker 3>have a history of sexual abuse.

570
00:33:59.700 --> 00:34:03.120
<v Speaker 3>And mixed group therapy simply is not a safe place for them,

571
00:34:03.940 --> 00:34:05.780
<v Speaker 3>particularly in the initial stages of sexual abuse.

572
00:34:05.800 --> 00:34:06.220
<v Speaker 3>They're seeking help.

573
00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:10.860
<v Speaker 3>Finally, they're usually in the minority in any residential treatment program.

574
00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:16.200
<v Speaker 3>So there they are, with a history of a particularly nasty form of relationship

575
00:34:16.200 --> 00:34:17.480
<v Speaker 3>with the men in their lives.

576
00:34:17.780 --> 00:34:20.500
<v Speaker 3>They're in a very different environment,

577
00:34:20.700 --> 00:34:22.840
<v Speaker 3>and again, they're in a very unsafe place.

578
00:34:22.980 --> 00:34:24.880
<v Speaker 3>And we need to address these kinds of issues

579
00:34:24.880 --> 00:34:27.680
<v Speaker 3>if we're going to provide meaningful treatment services for women.

580
00:34:29.600 --> 00:34:32.600
<v Speaker 3>Not surprisingly, natural recovery, as it's called,

581
00:34:33.100 --> 00:34:35.040
<v Speaker 3>which is an interesting term,

582
00:34:35.800 --> 00:34:39.640
<v Speaker 3>simply refers to recovery that takes place outside of formal treatment services.

583
00:34:40.580 --> 00:34:45.760
<v Speaker 3>It appears to be the norm, rather than women going to formal treatment.

584
00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:48.720
<v Speaker 3>And I was sharing with some people yesterday

585
00:34:48.720 --> 00:34:51.700
<v Speaker 3>that in a study that we were doing, which we hoped to,

586
00:34:51.800 --> 00:34:54.900
<v Speaker 3>or our intention was, was to interview women

587
00:34:54.900 --> 00:34:58.960
<v Speaker 3>both who had gone to formal treatment in their healing,

588
00:34:59.160 --> 00:35:03.980
<v Speaker 3>and women who had pursued a form of healing

589
00:35:03.980 --> 00:35:05.780
<v Speaker 3>outside of the treatment.

590
00:35:05.800 --> 00:35:10.920
<v Speaker 3>And we're having a really hard time finding women

591
00:35:10.920 --> 00:35:14.400
<v Speaker 3>who have actually sought help in formal treatment,

592
00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:18.300
<v Speaker 3>and or who will acknowledge that formal treatment

593
00:35:18.300 --> 00:35:21.780
<v Speaker 3>played any significant and positive part in their healing.

594
00:35:23.320 --> 00:35:27.280
<v Speaker 3>What they have been doing is relying upon social networks of support

595
00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:29.740
<v Speaker 3>comprising largely other women.

596
00:35:29.940 --> 00:35:32.520
<v Speaker 3>And they talk about their extended family,

597
00:35:32.660 --> 00:35:34.420
<v Speaker 3>they talk about girlfriends,

598
00:35:34.840 --> 00:35:35.720
<v Speaker 3>support,

599
00:35:35.800 --> 00:35:36.320
<v Speaker 3>supportive girlfriends.

600
00:35:36.880 --> 00:35:39.200
<v Speaker 3>They talk about older women in their lives.

601
00:35:39.460 --> 00:35:42.860
<v Speaker 3>Indigenous women talk about the elders that they were able to turn to.

602
00:35:44.660 --> 00:35:47.000
<v Speaker 3>And one of the hopeful things that I find

603
00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:49.680
<v Speaker 3>is some of the stories that women in various communities

604
00:35:49.680 --> 00:35:51.940
<v Speaker 3>have shared with me about the things that they're doing

605
00:35:52.460 --> 00:35:54.940
<v Speaker 3>to actively help other women.

606
00:35:55.120 --> 00:35:58.280
<v Speaker 3>And I want to leave you with some examples of some of these grassroots initiatives.

607
00:35:59.300 --> 00:36:00.800
<v Speaker 3>These are two initiatives,

608
00:36:01.020 --> 00:36:04.720
<v Speaker 3>and they're not formalized in any way, shape, or form.

609
00:36:04.720 --> 00:36:06.880
<v Speaker 3>They're just women helping women.

610
00:36:07.940 --> 00:36:11.360
<v Speaker 3>Both of them happen to come from First Nations communities in Canada.

611
00:36:13.780 --> 00:36:18.100
<v Speaker 3>They're based on the proposition that it's important to support women

612
00:36:18.100 --> 00:36:20.340
<v Speaker 3>and their families and help the family unit stay together,

613
00:36:20.540 --> 00:36:24.300
<v Speaker 3>because these women have noticed that things go sadly awry

614
00:36:24.300 --> 00:36:27.360
<v Speaker 3>when the kids are gone, when the kids are taken away.

615
00:36:27.800 --> 00:36:31.180
<v Speaker 3>And they go badly for both the women and for the kids.

616
00:36:31.560 --> 00:36:34.280
<v Speaker 3>So what they're trying to do is to help the family unit

617
00:36:34.280 --> 00:36:37.740
<v Speaker 3>stay together and to support them to find a better place of being.

618
00:36:38.900 --> 00:36:43.360
<v Speaker 3>One of them is organized by women in a small prairie town

619
00:36:43.360 --> 00:36:45.120
<v Speaker 3>of about 30,000 people.

620
00:36:46.120 --> 00:36:47.920
<v Speaker 3>And these women are all leaders.

621
00:36:48.140 --> 00:36:50.020
<v Speaker 3>They happen to be First Nations women

622
00:36:50.020 --> 00:36:54.460
<v Speaker 3>who are leaders in local social and family services networks

623
00:36:54.460 --> 00:36:57.120
<v Speaker 3>and organizations in this small community.

624
00:36:58.620 --> 00:37:00.960
<v Speaker 3>Interestingly enough, they have the full compliance

625
00:37:00.960 --> 00:37:02.720
<v Speaker 3>of the local provincial authorities

626
00:37:02.720 --> 00:37:04.560
<v Speaker 3>in the work that they do.

627
00:37:05.020 --> 00:37:07.220
<v Speaker 3>And what they're doing is keeping an eye out.

628
00:37:07.740 --> 00:37:09.840
<v Speaker 3>They're doing that neighborhood watch idea,

629
00:37:09.960 --> 00:37:11.440
<v Speaker 3>but on a slightly larger scale.

630
00:37:11.760 --> 00:37:13.840
<v Speaker 3>And when they notice that things are going badly,

631
00:37:14.300 --> 00:37:15.360
<v Speaker 3>they show up.

632
00:37:15.500 --> 00:37:16.840
<v Speaker 3>They come in, they talk.

633
00:37:17.240 --> 00:37:21.500
<v Speaker 3>They suggest that maybe the kids could go and stay with Granny for a while

634
00:37:21.500 --> 00:37:22.880
<v Speaker 3>or with the auntie down the road.

635
00:37:23.420 --> 00:37:27.480
<v Speaker 3>And they find that this little bit of respite care can really help.

636
00:37:27.920 --> 00:37:30.140
<v Speaker 3>And if mom is going to go off in a bender,

637
00:37:30.240 --> 00:37:32.700
<v Speaker 3>well, that can happen without the kids being there

638
00:37:32.720 --> 00:37:36.840
<v Speaker 3>and being noticed by child welfare authorities

639
00:37:36.840 --> 00:37:39.380
<v Speaker 3>that mom's in a bender and there are kids in the house

640
00:37:39.380 --> 00:37:40.640
<v Speaker 3>and having them put at risk.

641
00:37:41.040 --> 00:37:43.460
<v Speaker 3>And then when things calm down, the kids come back

642
00:37:43.460 --> 00:37:45.300
<v Speaker 3>and they can get on with their lives.

643
00:37:45.420 --> 00:37:47.380
<v Speaker 3>And they're finding this is working very well.

644
00:37:47.440 --> 00:37:48.780
<v Speaker 3>It's keeping the families intact.

645
00:37:49.120 --> 00:37:53.680
<v Speaker 3>It's recognizing that the women have particular patterns of substance misuse.

646
00:37:53.740 --> 00:37:57.260
<v Speaker 3>It also gives them a point, a non-threatening point of contact with these women

647
00:37:57.260 --> 00:37:59.060
<v Speaker 3>in a harm reduction strategy

648
00:37:59.720 --> 00:38:01.560
<v Speaker 3>that can help them to begin the process

649
00:38:01.560 --> 00:38:04.220
<v Speaker 3>of reconnecting them back with family and with community.

650
00:38:05.360 --> 00:38:09.180
<v Speaker 3>The second example is just a group of women

651
00:38:09.180 --> 00:38:11.120
<v Speaker 3>who've had experience of being incarcerated

652
00:38:11.120 --> 00:38:15.040
<v Speaker 3>and who've had experience of run-ins with child welfare authorities.

653
00:38:15.980 --> 00:38:18.300
<v Speaker 3>They call it the traditional villages initiative.

654
00:38:18.740 --> 00:38:21.980
<v Speaker 3>And what they're doing is the same thing that that other group of women are doing,

655
00:38:22.140 --> 00:38:23.920
<v Speaker 3>but they're doing it on a smaller scale.

656
00:38:24.180 --> 00:38:27.160
<v Speaker 3>They all live within a certain few blocks radius of one another.

657
00:38:27.340 --> 00:38:29.160
<v Speaker 3>And again, they're looking out for each other.

658
00:38:29.300 --> 00:38:31.240
<v Speaker 3>And when things start to go off the rails,

659
00:38:31.560 --> 00:38:33.400
<v Speaker 3>they just pay a visit, have a cup of tea,

660
00:38:33.480 --> 00:38:36.020
<v Speaker 3>and suggest that maybe the kids could come and stay with them for a while.

661
00:38:37.700 --> 00:38:40.160
<v Speaker 3>So I'd just like to leave you with those two examples

662
00:38:40.920 --> 00:38:42.880
<v Speaker 3>because sometimes when we look at the situation,

663
00:38:43.280 --> 00:38:44.900
<v Speaker 3>it can seem pretty desolate.

664
00:38:44.940 --> 00:38:46.600
<v Speaker 3>It can seem pretty mind-numbing.

665
00:38:46.740 --> 00:38:49.280
<v Speaker 3>And we think, oh boy, where can we go from here?

666
00:38:49.400 --> 00:38:50.280
<v Speaker 3>Where can we start?

667
00:38:50.580 --> 00:38:52.960
<v Speaker 3>And I think one of the great things of hope that I see

668
00:38:52.960 --> 00:38:55.160
<v Speaker 3>is that women are out there helping other women.

669
00:38:55.280 --> 00:38:57.840
<v Speaker 3>And there are men in their lives who are helping as well.

670
00:38:58.160 --> 00:39:01.420
<v Speaker 3>I don't mean to imply that the men are not part of the solution.

671
00:39:01.560 --> 00:39:04.500
<v Speaker 3>But it is largely women helping other women.

672
00:39:04.740 --> 00:39:06.720
<v Speaker 3>And I think it's a wonderful thing.

673
00:39:06.840 --> 00:39:10.920
<v Speaker 3>And it gives us a really strong message of hope

674
00:39:10.920 --> 00:39:13.100
<v Speaker 3>that things can be turned around.

675
00:39:13.340 --> 00:39:14.080
<v Speaker 3>Thank you.

676
00:39:23.100 --> 00:39:24.960
<v Chair>Thank you very much indeed.

677
00:39:25.220 --> 00:39:28.560
<v Chair>And our third speaker, Professor Charlotte de Crepney

678
00:39:28.560 --> 00:39:31.540
<v Chair>from Flinders University here in Adelaide, South Australia,

679
00:39:31.560 --> 00:39:33.580
<v Chair>where she's the Professor of Nursing.

680
00:39:35.100 --> 00:39:38.520
<v Chair>Professor de Crepney has spent more than a decade

681
00:39:38.520 --> 00:39:42.100
<v Chair>of professional involvement in alcohol and the drug field

682
00:39:42.100 --> 00:39:43.560
<v Chair>as well as nurse education.

683
00:39:44.500 --> 00:39:47.760
<v Chair>She's consulted for various government and non-government agencies

684
00:39:47.760 --> 00:39:50.460
<v Chair>and is the author of many books, articles and reports.

685
00:39:50.860 --> 00:39:53.360
<v Chair>Her publication is having a particular focus

686
00:39:53.360 --> 00:39:56.720
<v Chair>on young women and intoxication, public drinking,

687
00:39:57.120 --> 00:40:00.860
<v Chair>Aboriginal mental health and drug and alcohol abuse.

688
00:40:01.100 --> 00:40:01.540
<v Chair>Please go ahead.

689
00:40:01.560 --> 00:40:03.400
<v Chair>And please welcome Professor Charlotte de Crepney.

690
00:40:12.240 --> 00:40:13.160
<v Speaker 5>Hello, everyone.

691
00:40:13.400 --> 00:40:17.120
<v Speaker 5>First of all, I'd like to recognise the Kaurna people,

692
00:40:17.220 --> 00:40:19.800
<v Speaker 5>and particularly the Kaurna women whose land we're standing on

693
00:40:19.800 --> 00:40:20.620
<v Speaker 5>and sitting on.

694
00:40:20.820 --> 00:40:21.740
<v Speaker 5>Thank you to them.

695
00:40:22.560 --> 00:40:26.440
<v Speaker 5>I'd also like to and hope that what I'm going to talk to you about,

696
00:40:26.540 --> 00:40:28.540
<v Speaker 5>which is more of a local South Australian experience,

697
00:40:29.100 --> 00:40:31.540
<v Speaker 5>will complement and link with what our other two speakers have said.

698
00:40:31.540 --> 00:40:36.000
<v Speaker 5>And I don't know if any of you were lucky enough

699
00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:40.080
<v Speaker 5>to go to Sadie Plante's wonderful talk earlier,

700
00:40:41.360 --> 00:40:43.900
<v Speaker 5>but I can't help but say this to you.

701
00:40:44.060 --> 00:40:46.960
<v Speaker 5>Having just been to her extraordinary exposition

702
00:40:46.960 --> 00:40:51.160
<v Speaker 5>of the effect of drugs and drug use that's been so dramatic

703
00:40:51.160 --> 00:40:54.940
<v Speaker 5>in influencing Western society over the last 150 or so years,

704
00:40:55.260 --> 00:40:58.620
<v Speaker 5>and that being in various ways, such as the trade,

705
00:40:59.280 --> 00:41:01.520
<v Speaker 5>psychoanalysis, literature, philosophy, and the use of drugs,

706
00:41:01.520 --> 00:41:03.420
<v Speaker 5>as well as the deliberate oppression of others,

707
00:41:03.660 --> 00:41:07.000
<v Speaker 5>I could not help but hear the silence of women's voices.

708
00:41:07.720 --> 00:41:10.160
<v Speaker 5>And this is not a criticism of Sadie.

709
00:41:10.360 --> 00:41:14.320
<v Speaker 5>It's a criticism of how history is recorded and how women are omitted.

710
00:41:15.420 --> 00:41:21.720
<v Speaker 5>And what influence has women's drug use and knowledge had on our history,

711
00:41:21.780 --> 00:41:24.840
<v Speaker 5>and what have we lost by not hearing their voices?

712
00:41:25.620 --> 00:41:26.560
<v Speaker 5>So that's that.

713
00:41:27.280 --> 00:41:28.480
<v Speaker 5>Today I'm not...

714
00:41:33.220 --> 00:41:36.100
<v Speaker 5>Mind you, I haven't found an answer to how to address that yet,

715
00:41:36.140 --> 00:41:37.200
<v Speaker 5>but I'll think about it.

716
00:41:37.260 --> 00:41:38.560
<v Speaker 5>Maybe you can give us some answers.

717
00:41:39.300 --> 00:41:42.720
<v Speaker 5>Today I'm not going to be talking about secretive sherry drinkers,

718
00:41:43.280 --> 00:41:45.920
<v Speaker 5>middle-aged luscious clinging to front bars,

719
00:41:46.540 --> 00:41:48.580
<v Speaker 5>the out-of-control adolescent girl,

720
00:41:49.140 --> 00:41:51.620
<v Speaker 5>or the whore peddling her body for the next hit,

721
00:41:52.540 --> 00:41:55.800
<v Speaker 5>all of which are images that are often still evoked in many of us

722
00:41:55.800 --> 00:41:58.020
<v Speaker 5>when we're asked to think about women and drugs,

723
00:41:59.680 --> 00:42:01.440
<v Speaker 5>and women's drug-taking lives.

724
00:42:02.640 --> 00:42:05.500
<v Speaker 5>I am going to talk to you about a group of real women,

725
00:42:05.660 --> 00:42:08.100
<v Speaker 5>in particular some young Australian women,

726
00:42:08.260 --> 00:42:10.240
<v Speaker 5>from their voices and experiences.

727
00:42:11.340 --> 00:42:13.680
<v Speaker 5>But I'll have a little bit of a preamble first.

728
00:42:15.040 --> 00:42:18.180
<v Speaker 5>You may be well aware of and perhaps unsettled by the frequency

729
00:42:18.180 --> 00:42:20.700
<v Speaker 5>in which drug use issues are reported in our media.

730
00:42:21.500 --> 00:42:23.880
<v Speaker 5>Accidental heroin overdoses, police raids,

731
00:42:24.140 --> 00:42:26.880
<v Speaker 5>blood-borne infections from unclean injecting equipment,

732
00:42:27.700 --> 00:42:31.240
<v Speaker 5>violence, crime, police diversion, drug courts,

733
00:42:31.380 --> 00:42:31.500
<v Speaker 5>and more.

734
00:42:31.520 --> 00:42:32.440
<v Speaker 5>The list goes on.

735
00:42:32.700 --> 00:42:35.900
<v Speaker 5>All of which are emotive, as well as very serious issues

736
00:42:35.900 --> 00:42:37.720
<v Speaker 5>which capture our attention and fears,

737
00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:39.440
<v Speaker 5>and this is understandable.

738
00:42:40.180 --> 00:42:43.060
<v Speaker 5>In fact, many aspects of addiction and related problems

739
00:42:43.060 --> 00:42:46.920
<v Speaker 5>such as intoxication have been major topics of discussion

740
00:42:46.920 --> 00:42:49.620
<v Speaker 5>that have challenged us all in this festival of ideas,

741
00:42:49.940 --> 00:42:51.380
<v Speaker 5>and thank goodness for that.

742
00:42:52.120 --> 00:42:54.200
<v Speaker 5>In relation to women's drug use,

743
00:42:54.320 --> 00:42:56.160
<v Speaker 5>we know that in Australia and possibly elsewhere,

744
00:42:56.620 --> 00:42:59.460
<v Speaker 5>women are the largest group of consumers of prescription

745
00:42:59.460 --> 00:43:00.840
<v Speaker 5>and over-the-counter substances.

746
00:43:00.840 --> 00:43:04.260
<v Speaker 5>As a result of the major drug pusher, probably.

747
00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:08.740
<v Speaker 5>In particular, minor analgesics, antidepressants and sedatives,

748
00:43:08.820 --> 00:43:11.840
<v Speaker 5>such as Serapax and Valium, which we call benzodiazepines.

749
00:43:13.480 --> 00:43:16.120
<v Speaker 5>In addition, we know, but are yet to understand,

750
00:43:16.220 --> 00:43:18.500
<v Speaker 5>why there's a sharp rise in the use of these drugs

751
00:43:18.500 --> 00:43:19.740
<v Speaker 5>by women in their middle years.

752
00:43:20.320 --> 00:43:23.020
<v Speaker 5>The reason we don't know is that there's very little research

753
00:43:23.020 --> 00:43:27.940
<v Speaker 5>in the drug field on women's issues in any discipline.

754
00:43:29.700 --> 00:43:30.820
<v Speaker 5>There's also a very large number of studies

755
00:43:30.820 --> 00:43:31.460
<v Speaker 5>on the rise in the use of these drugs.

756
00:43:31.460 --> 00:43:32.480
<v Speaker 5>In particular, a rising rate of illicit drug use

757
00:43:32.480 --> 00:43:35.140
<v Speaker 5>amongst younger women, a relatively new trend,

758
00:43:35.360 --> 00:43:37.620
<v Speaker 5>with almost equal numbers of men and women

759
00:43:37.620 --> 00:43:41.140
<v Speaker 5>now consuming injectable drugs, such as amphetamines,

760
00:43:41.220 --> 00:43:42.500
<v Speaker 5>commonly known as speed,

761
00:43:43.080 --> 00:43:45.200
<v Speaker 5>which next to cannabis in our country

762
00:43:45.200 --> 00:43:47.660
<v Speaker 5>is currently the most used street drug.

763
00:43:48.660 --> 00:43:51.360
<v Speaker 5>And while the population in general is smoking less,

764
00:43:51.560 --> 00:43:54.620
<v Speaker 5>the rate of uptake of smoking amongst very young women is rising,

765
00:43:54.740 --> 00:43:56.360
<v Speaker 5>and we've heard Fran talking about that.

766
00:44:00.820 --> 00:44:02.000
<v Speaker 5>But simultaneously to these issues

767
00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:04.020
<v Speaker 5>that are so frequently in front of us

768
00:44:04.020 --> 00:44:05.720
<v Speaker 5>is a sort of growing blindness

769
00:44:05.720 --> 00:44:09.540
<v Speaker 5>amongst community leaders, researchers, service providers,

770
00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:13.300
<v Speaker 5>politicians, policy makers, and the community itself,

771
00:44:13.640 --> 00:44:16.880
<v Speaker 5>to the problems associated with our much-loved drug, alcohol.

772
00:44:18.020 --> 00:44:20.440
<v Speaker 5>Our attention to alcohol use is inadequate

773
00:44:20.440 --> 00:44:23.160
<v Speaker 5>and has been diverted from the illicit drug arena

774
00:44:23.820 --> 00:44:25.500
<v Speaker 5>despite this drug and its related problems

775
00:44:25.500 --> 00:44:28.200
<v Speaker 5>having the largest impact on health and wellbeing

776
00:44:28.200 --> 00:44:29.260
<v Speaker 5>other than tobacco,

777
00:44:29.260 --> 00:44:33.620
<v Speaker 5>and perhaps legitimate prescribed drugs,

778
00:44:34.360 --> 00:44:37.200
<v Speaker 5>and being the most commonly used psychoactive drug

779
00:44:37.200 --> 00:44:39.740
<v Speaker 5>apart from caffeine, another much-loved drug.

780
00:44:40.980 --> 00:44:43.420
<v Speaker 5>It is also one of the largest money earners

781
00:44:43.420 --> 00:44:46.580
<v Speaker 5>in the legitimated Australian and worldwide industry.

782
00:44:47.660 --> 00:44:50.200
<v Speaker 5>And so while acknowledging that men and women alike

783
00:44:50.200 --> 00:44:52.520
<v Speaker 5>use a wide gamut of drugs

784
00:44:52.520 --> 00:44:55.140
<v Speaker 5>and can experience a spectrum of problems,

785
00:44:55.260 --> 00:44:57.140
<v Speaker 5>all of which need brave responses

786
00:44:57.140 --> 00:44:59.000
<v Speaker 5>and strategies from us to address,

787
00:44:59.560 --> 00:45:02.540
<v Speaker 5>alcohol still impacts deeply and widely on our community,

788
00:45:02.800 --> 00:45:05.340
<v Speaker 5>families and loved ones all too often.

789
00:45:06.740 --> 00:45:08.880
<v Speaker 5>This is through accidental death and injuries,

790
00:45:09.000 --> 00:45:10.940
<v Speaker 5>chronic illness, both physical and mental,

791
00:45:11.060 --> 00:45:12.820
<v Speaker 5>social and legal problems, suicide,

792
00:45:13.120 --> 00:45:14.640
<v Speaker 5>crimes against people and property,

793
00:45:14.880 --> 00:45:17.180
<v Speaker 5>domestic violence, and the list goes on.

794
00:45:18.920 --> 00:45:21.440
<v Speaker 5>I'm now going to move on to talking about young women,

795
00:45:21.560 --> 00:45:22.880
<v Speaker 5>our new generations.

796
00:45:24.140 --> 00:45:27.380
<v Speaker 5>Young women now make up a significant group of drinkers,

797
00:45:27.400 --> 00:45:28.700
<v Speaker 5>in fact, single and role,

798
00:45:28.700 --> 00:45:32.480
<v Speaker 5>have claimed in 1997 that they are the most hazardous group

799
00:45:32.480 --> 00:45:34.600
<v Speaker 5>amongst the population of drinkers in our country.

800
00:45:35.220 --> 00:45:37.100
<v Speaker 5>And this is a relatively new trend.

801
00:45:37.800 --> 00:45:39.660
<v Speaker 5>Despite this, young women in particular,

802
00:45:39.760 --> 00:45:41.520
<v Speaker 5>those aged between 18 and 30,

803
00:45:41.740 --> 00:45:43.840
<v Speaker 5>have been almost absent in the research,

804
00:45:44.020 --> 00:45:45.780
<v Speaker 5>in policy and service arenas,

805
00:45:45.860 --> 00:45:48.980
<v Speaker 5>as well as contemporary feminist debate, I'm ashamed to say.

806
00:45:50.240 --> 00:45:53.060
<v Speaker 5>I'm now going to concentrate on their drinking

807
00:45:53.060 --> 00:45:55.020
<v Speaker 5>and related issues from this point on.

808
00:45:56.340 --> 00:45:58.680
<v Speaker 5>I want to draw your attention away from the media,

809
00:45:58.680 --> 00:45:58.720
<v Speaker 5>and I want to draw your attention away from the myth

810
00:45:58.720 --> 00:46:01.400
<v Speaker 5>that young women who drink, particularly to intoxication,

811
00:46:01.600 --> 00:46:05.280
<v Speaker 5>do so without consideration for their own safety and wellbeing.

812
00:46:06.120 --> 00:46:08.900
<v Speaker 5>This has been a long-standing assumption often displayed

813
00:46:08.900 --> 00:46:12.800
<v Speaker 5>in the media and media campaigns, the academic literature,

814
00:46:13.680 --> 00:46:15.400
<v Speaker 5>with a view that young women's drinking problems

815
00:46:15.400 --> 00:46:18.720
<v Speaker 5>are as a result of their inferior capacity to handle their drink,

816
00:46:18.800 --> 00:46:22.280
<v Speaker 5>and that any consequences that accrue are solely their responsibility

817
00:46:22.280 --> 00:46:24.040
<v Speaker 5>and within their own agency.

818
00:46:24.720 --> 00:46:27.960
<v Speaker 5>This is in spite of the lack of information about how young women

819
00:46:27.960 --> 00:46:29.140
<v Speaker 5>manage their drinking lives,

820
00:46:29.960 --> 00:46:33.380
<v Speaker 5>or the many powerful external risks over which they have little or no control.

821
00:46:35.060 --> 00:46:37.720
<v Speaker 5>I can offer you at least some explanations of this aspect

822
00:46:37.720 --> 00:46:40.080
<v Speaker 5>of their socialising from their own direct experiences

823
00:46:40.080 --> 00:46:42.280
<v Speaker 5>as modern young women in our country.

824
00:46:42.740 --> 00:46:45.720
<v Speaker 5>In their words, I'm talking about the girls' night out

825
00:46:45.720 --> 00:46:47.120
<v Speaker 5>and they just want to have fun.

826
00:46:48.620 --> 00:46:52.040
<v Speaker 5>We know that around 80% of Australians drink alcohol socially

827
00:46:52.040 --> 00:46:53.620
<v Speaker 5>at some time in their adult lives,

828
00:46:53.800 --> 00:46:55.720
<v Speaker 5>with most starting at the age of about 15.

829
00:46:56.260 --> 00:46:57.700
<v Speaker 5>Young women are no exception.

830
00:46:58.740 --> 00:47:03.600
<v Speaker 5>Unlike women of my age, I'm 52, and I grew up in the 50s and 60s,

831
00:47:03.600 --> 00:47:04.860
<v Speaker 5>I think I grew up anyway,

832
00:47:05.500 --> 00:47:09.540
<v Speaker 5>and for whom drinking in public places like pubs was unsanctioned,

833
00:47:09.580 --> 00:47:13.220
<v Speaker 5>pub drinking now plays a significant role in young women's lives.

834
00:47:13.860 --> 00:47:15.360
<v Speaker 5>They go to pubs openly.

835
00:47:15.500 --> 00:47:18.640
<v Speaker 5>They go to front bars, back bars, inside bars, outside bars.

836
00:47:19.060 --> 00:47:21.000
<v Speaker 5>They often go in groups of girlfriends.

837
00:47:21.780 --> 00:47:22.460
<v Speaker 5>The link.

838
00:47:23.760 --> 00:47:25.700
<v Speaker 5>With an emergent pub culture that is a result of

839
00:47:25.720 --> 00:47:28.400
<v Speaker 5>growing alongside Australian women's increasing equality

840
00:47:28.400 --> 00:47:31.200
<v Speaker 5>and buying power over the last few years.

841
00:47:32.380 --> 00:47:35.440
<v Speaker 5>There are major issues for young women who go to pubs, however,

842
00:47:35.600 --> 00:47:38.820
<v Speaker 5>most of which relate to the external risks to their safety,

843
00:47:38.920 --> 00:47:41.260
<v Speaker 5>not just from their own consumption of alcohol.

844
00:47:42.100 --> 00:47:44.400
<v Speaker 5>Such risks are due to unsafe environments

845
00:47:44.400 --> 00:47:46.360
<v Speaker 5>and the behaviours of a minority of males

846
00:47:46.360 --> 00:47:50.020
<v Speaker 5>who verbally abuse, sexually harass or assault young women

847
00:47:50.020 --> 00:47:53.340
<v Speaker 5>and all too frequently involve young women in violent incidents

848
00:47:53.340 --> 00:47:55.700
<v Speaker 5>simply because the young women happen to be there.

849
00:47:57.560 --> 00:47:59.980
<v Speaker 5>Many young women are at pubs to have fun.

850
00:48:00.120 --> 00:48:03.240
<v Speaker 5>I would claim most young women are like other people

851
00:48:03.240 --> 00:48:04.600
<v Speaker 5>that go to pubs to have fun.

852
00:48:04.940 --> 00:48:06.580
<v Speaker 5>And drinking is part of that.

853
00:48:06.740 --> 00:48:09.220
<v Speaker 5>They're not necessarily drinking for negative reasons,

854
00:48:09.320 --> 00:48:11.120
<v Speaker 5>as can often be assumed,

855
00:48:11.340 --> 00:48:14.460
<v Speaker 5>such as low self-esteem or emotional problems.

856
00:48:14.600 --> 00:48:16.700
<v Speaker 5>In fact, many are drinking because they are independent

857
00:48:16.700 --> 00:48:18.060
<v Speaker 5>and have high self-esteem,

858
00:48:18.720 --> 00:48:20.980
<v Speaker 5>and it's an expression of their status as equal citizens.

859
00:48:22.140 --> 00:48:25.480
<v Speaker 5>As such, they're not passive in their social and public interactions.

860
00:48:25.480 --> 00:48:27.780
<v Speaker 5>Drinking styles are other choices

861
00:48:27.780 --> 00:48:31.120
<v Speaker 5>and hold expectations that they should be treated respectfully as customers.

862
00:48:32.060 --> 00:48:35.520
<v Speaker 5>These young women are aware of their intention to consume alcohol

863
00:48:35.520 --> 00:48:38.240
<v Speaker 5>to the point of getting tipsy, fair words,

864
00:48:38.800 --> 00:48:40.340
<v Speaker 5>but staying in control.

865
00:48:41.180 --> 00:48:44.860
<v Speaker 5>Their main goal is to socialise in places where they can be themselves,

866
00:48:45.320 --> 00:48:48.320
<v Speaker 5>meet with friends, make new friends, be safe,

867
00:48:48.460 --> 00:48:50.440
<v Speaker 5>and generally they stick together with girlfriends.

868
00:48:52.680 --> 00:48:55.460
<v Speaker 5>We know now that significant numbers of young women

869
00:48:55.480 --> 00:48:57.220
<v Speaker 5>in Australia binge drink,

870
00:48:57.360 --> 00:48:59.460
<v Speaker 5>and by that I mean five standard drinks,

871
00:48:59.620 --> 00:49:01.500
<v Speaker 5>which has about 10 grams of alcohol in it,

872
00:49:02.080 --> 00:49:04.420
<v Speaker 5>in a session of hours.

873
00:49:04.540 --> 00:49:08.660
<v Speaker 5>I'm not talking about a binge that is sometimes thought of over days or weeks.

874
00:49:09.940 --> 00:49:12.220
<v Speaker 5>And that young women are doing this at least weekly,

875
00:49:12.780 --> 00:49:14.600
<v Speaker 5>sometimes two or three times a week,

876
00:49:14.740 --> 00:49:16.740
<v Speaker 5>which is extremely hazardous drinking.

877
00:49:17.400 --> 00:49:20.120
<v Speaker 5>They state that while they consume wine in restaurants,

878
00:49:20.300 --> 00:49:22.300
<v Speaker 5>they prefer spirits in clubs and pubs,

879
00:49:22.300 --> 00:49:25.000
<v Speaker 5>and due to cost, tend to drink full-strength beer at pubs

880
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:26.000
<v Speaker 5>because it's cheaper.

881
00:49:26.960 --> 00:49:29.620
<v Speaker 5>They don't contemplate drinking light beer, I might add.

882
00:49:30.340 --> 00:49:33.520
<v Speaker 5>In fact, many now say that they have developed a taste for beer,

883
00:49:33.640 --> 00:49:35.280
<v Speaker 5>and that it is often their preferred drink.

884
00:49:36.600 --> 00:49:39.520
<v Speaker 5>One can see the parallel with young males drinking.

885
00:49:40.400 --> 00:49:43.760
<v Speaker 5>Young women actually modify the type of alcoholic drink they select

886
00:49:43.760 --> 00:49:45.900
<v Speaker 5>according to how much money they have at the time,

887
00:49:46.000 --> 00:49:48.540
<v Speaker 5>such as because spirits are more expensive,

888
00:49:48.620 --> 00:49:49.780
<v Speaker 5>they then may go to beer.

889
00:49:53.420 --> 00:49:57.720
<v Speaker 5>This, however, has little impact on the actual quantity of pure alcohol

890
00:49:57.720 --> 00:49:58.900
<v Speaker 5>they consume in a session,

891
00:49:59.060 --> 00:50:02.740
<v Speaker 5>because they'll actually moderate by price what they drink,

892
00:50:02.800 --> 00:50:04.700
<v Speaker 5>not the numbers of drinks they have,

893
00:50:04.840 --> 00:50:07.940
<v Speaker 5>which is how health promotion has addressed this issue in the past.

894
00:50:09.280 --> 00:50:11.940
<v Speaker 5>Because they want a known level of intoxication,

895
00:50:12.040 --> 00:50:16.140
<v Speaker 5>which they've learnt about over experience of drinking.

896
00:50:16.840 --> 00:50:19.200
<v Speaker 5>And it's this known level of intoxication

897
00:50:19.200 --> 00:50:21.040
<v Speaker 5>which is the one where one feels happy.

898
00:50:21.120 --> 00:50:23.700
<v Speaker 5>I don't know if anyone here in this room has ever had a drink,

899
00:50:23.800 --> 00:50:24.780
<v Speaker 5>but I have.

900
00:50:25.100 --> 00:50:27.700
<v Speaker 5>And maybe I'm the exception,

901
00:50:27.880 --> 00:50:30.680
<v Speaker 5>but I have been known to feel quite happy when I did it.

902
00:50:31.340 --> 00:50:32.760
<v Speaker 5>And I wanted to...

903
00:50:32.760 --> 00:50:34.800
<v Speaker 5>Oh, I still want to repeat that feeling.

904
00:50:35.740 --> 00:50:37.500
<v Speaker 5>But they still want to feel in control.

905
00:50:38.420 --> 00:50:41.120
<v Speaker 5>Be relaxed, be confident, be sociable.

906
00:50:42.100 --> 00:50:43.300
<v Speaker 5>Young women get more...

907
00:50:43.300 --> 00:50:45.860
<v Speaker 5>Younger women get more drunk on more occasions

908
00:50:45.860 --> 00:50:48.980
<v Speaker 5>if they are less experienced at drinking and socialising.

909
00:50:49.200 --> 00:50:51.280
<v Speaker 5>And being in licensed premises.

910
00:50:51.880 --> 00:50:54.420
<v Speaker 5>And therefore it's not surprising that the younger ones

911
00:50:54.420 --> 00:50:56.200
<v Speaker 5>are less able to control their level of intoxication.

912
00:50:56.860 --> 00:50:59.520
<v Speaker 5>I think this often contributes to the sort of media representation

913
00:51:00.200 --> 00:51:03.160
<v Speaker 5>of young women's drinking, being out of control

914
00:51:03.160 --> 00:51:06.480
<v Speaker 5>and accruing really nasty things happening to them

915
00:51:06.480 --> 00:51:07.460
<v Speaker 5>because they were drunk.

916
00:51:08.500 --> 00:51:11.240
<v Speaker 5>Nevertheless, because young women find gross intoxication

917
00:51:11.240 --> 00:51:13.520
<v Speaker 5>embarrassing and dangerous, once it has happened,

918
00:51:14.200 --> 00:51:17.000
<v Speaker 5>they say that mostly they will try and avoid it

919
00:51:17.000 --> 00:51:18.880
<v Speaker 5>in subsequent drinking sessions.

920
00:51:19.500 --> 00:51:21.580
<v Speaker 5>Saying that they learn from their past mistakes.

921
00:51:22.080 --> 00:51:25.160
<v Speaker 5>And I think that if we look at hospital separations

922
00:51:25.160 --> 00:51:28.320
<v Speaker 5>and drink-driving accidents, et cetera,

923
00:51:28.380 --> 00:51:31.280
<v Speaker 5>the numbers of young women represented so far

924
00:51:32.060 --> 00:51:35.000
<v Speaker 5>in those statistics are about a third to two-thirds males.

925
00:51:35.260 --> 00:51:40.080
<v Speaker 5>So maybe they are controlling a lot of what could happen to them

926
00:51:40.080 --> 00:51:41.560
<v Speaker 5>better than their male peers.

927
00:51:42.920 --> 00:51:45.380
<v Speaker 5>Young women are attracted to cheap drink promotions

928
00:51:45.380 --> 00:51:47.320
<v Speaker 5>such as happy hours in pubs.

929
00:51:47.380 --> 00:51:48.880
<v Speaker 5>And may or may not be aware

930
00:51:48.880 --> 00:51:51.940
<v Speaker 5>that they are often used through the marketing of cheap drinks

931
00:51:51.940 --> 00:51:58.580
<v Speaker 5>of venues for women only as a lure to attract men into the venue.

932
00:51:59.480 --> 00:52:01.760
<v Speaker 5>They can then experience really unhelpful,

933
00:52:01.780 --> 00:52:04.720
<v Speaker 5>and I've got that in inverted commas, security staff,

934
00:52:05.400 --> 00:52:08.300
<v Speaker 5>male security staff, who are not willing to intervene

935
00:52:08.300 --> 00:52:11.240
<v Speaker 5>or assist these young women if they do become overly intoxicated,

936
00:52:11.400 --> 00:52:13.900
<v Speaker 5>even if they are being harassed by males.

937
00:52:14.660 --> 00:52:18.260
<v Speaker 5>Viewing this as a consequence brought on by these women themselves,

938
00:52:18.260 --> 00:52:20.240
<v Speaker 5>by drinking too much cheap alcohol

939
00:52:20.900 --> 00:52:25.040
<v Speaker 5>and leaving the young women to deal with the situation themselves.

940
00:52:25.420 --> 00:52:29.280
<v Speaker 5>And that was directly from the research undertaken in this town.

941
00:52:30.320 --> 00:52:35.280
<v Speaker 5>Young women like also to have spontaneous big nights, as they call it.

942
00:52:35.500 --> 00:52:38.000
<v Speaker 5>And by that they mean not just the night at the pub

943
00:52:38.000 --> 00:52:39.620
<v Speaker 5>with the girlfriends or other friends,

944
00:52:39.880 --> 00:52:42.920
<v Speaker 5>but the things that just happen when you have a really...

945
00:52:42.920 --> 00:52:45.920
<v Speaker 5>a celebration or for some reason it's a big night out.

946
00:52:46.180 --> 00:52:47.640
<v Speaker 5>And on these occasions,

947
00:52:47.640 --> 00:52:50.040
<v Speaker 5>they do drink more than their usual binge.

948
00:52:50.760 --> 00:52:52.700
<v Speaker 5>And they are more adventurous.

949
00:52:53.000 --> 00:52:56.740
<v Speaker 5>They say they let their hair down and they can be someone else,

950
00:52:56.960 --> 00:52:59.760
<v Speaker 5>which is sort of ringing true of some of the things

951
00:52:59.760 --> 00:53:01.660
<v Speaker 5>that Sadie was saying about other drug use.

952
00:53:02.800 --> 00:53:06.460
<v Speaker 5>They will still, however, stick together and watch over one another.

953
00:53:06.660 --> 00:53:10.120
<v Speaker 5>And while they drink excessively when celebrating,

954
00:53:10.460 --> 00:53:12.980
<v Speaker 5>they also deliberately moderate their drinking

955
00:53:12.980 --> 00:53:15.900
<v Speaker 5>according to other responsibilities they might have at the time,

956
00:53:15.920 --> 00:53:17.620
<v Speaker 5>such as studies, exams, a job,

957
00:53:17.640 --> 00:53:18.860
<v Speaker 5>being a parent.

958
00:53:19.680 --> 00:53:21.320
<v Speaker 5>And some of these young parents,

959
00:53:21.920 --> 00:53:25.520
<v Speaker 5>while they might have binged weekly prior to being a parent,

960
00:53:26.080 --> 00:53:27.640
<v Speaker 5>now still binge drink,

961
00:53:27.760 --> 00:53:30.040
<v Speaker 5>but that depends on whether or not they have a babysitter

962
00:53:30.640 --> 00:53:32.000
<v Speaker 5>for the night and the next day

963
00:53:32.000 --> 00:53:34.960
<v Speaker 5>so that they can relax and get over the hangover.

964
00:53:35.640 --> 00:53:38.960
<v Speaker 5>In other words, they may not binge drink as often as they used to,

965
00:53:39.640 --> 00:53:40.840
<v Speaker 5>but they will still binge drink

966
00:53:40.840 --> 00:53:44.980
<v Speaker 5>because that's part of socialising and girls' culture when they go out.

967
00:53:45.240 --> 00:53:46.820
<v Speaker 5>But they plan around this.

968
00:53:48.480 --> 00:53:51.080
<v Speaker 5>Most young women also pre-plan their transport

969
00:53:51.080 --> 00:53:53.540
<v Speaker 5>and share responsibility to try and be safe.

970
00:53:54.040 --> 00:53:56.420
<v Speaker 5>However, the external environment is very important

971
00:53:56.420 --> 00:53:58.060
<v Speaker 5>in terms of threats to their safety.

972
00:53:58.280 --> 00:53:59.440
<v Speaker 5>In Adelaide, for example,

973
00:54:00.160 --> 00:54:02.880
<v Speaker 5>public transport generally closes at about 1am.

974
00:54:04.080 --> 00:54:06.320
<v Speaker 5>And I don't know if you realise,

975
00:54:06.520 --> 00:54:08.720
<v Speaker 5>but most young people these days go out after 10

976
00:54:08.720 --> 00:54:10.280
<v Speaker 5>and come home maybe at 4 or 5.

977
00:54:11.040 --> 00:54:11.920
<v Speaker 5>I envy them.

978
00:54:13.180 --> 00:54:15.360
<v Speaker 5>Even if it were available, young women say

979
00:54:15.360 --> 00:54:17.620
<v Speaker 5>that they do not like to use public transport.

980
00:54:17.620 --> 00:54:18.980
<v Speaker 5>Because they're unsafe anyway.

981
00:54:19.840 --> 00:54:23.420
<v Speaker 5>Many have been sexually harassed at bus stops or train stations

982
00:54:23.420 --> 00:54:25.380
<v Speaker 5>or while riding on buses and trains

983
00:54:25.380 --> 00:54:29.000
<v Speaker 5>or walking home after alighting from the bus or train.

984
00:54:29.200 --> 00:54:31.520
<v Speaker 5>And this has happened during the day and the night.

985
00:54:32.460 --> 00:54:34.740
<v Speaker 5>Neither will they go in a taxi if they're alone

986
00:54:34.740 --> 00:54:38.060
<v Speaker 5>because they know of incidents where taxi drivers have harassed

987
00:54:38.060 --> 00:54:41.140
<v Speaker 5>or assaulted young women or sought sexual favours in lieu of money.

988
00:54:42.160 --> 00:54:44.700
<v Speaker 5>In other words, they do not trust taxi drivers

989
00:54:44.700 --> 00:54:46.320
<v Speaker 5>and will only travel in groups.

990
00:54:47.620 --> 00:54:50.320
<v Speaker 5>Thus, poor transport situations influence some young women

991
00:54:50.320 --> 00:54:51.920
<v Speaker 5>in choosing to walk or drink drive,

992
00:54:52.520 --> 00:54:55.420
<v Speaker 5>seeing that these are their best choices in these circumstances

993
00:54:55.420 --> 00:54:58.720
<v Speaker 5>and despite knowing that these choices are also risky.

994
00:54:59.440 --> 00:55:02.000
<v Speaker 5>In other words, their ability and choices to be safe

995
00:55:02.000 --> 00:55:04.820
<v Speaker 5>are limited due to the external environmental situations

996
00:55:04.820 --> 00:55:07.040
<v Speaker 5>that they are faced with.

997
00:55:08.360 --> 00:55:10.080
<v Speaker 5>Many pubs are also unsafe,

998
00:55:10.340 --> 00:55:12.520
<v Speaker 5>particularly where poor patron behaviour is allowed.

999
00:55:13.040 --> 00:55:17.100
<v Speaker 5>There is overcrowding, poor security and a lack of police presence.

1000
00:55:18.820 --> 00:55:23.200
<v Speaker 5>There are also issues such as poorly lit areas and streets,

1001
00:55:23.240 --> 00:55:26.480
<v Speaker 5>such as streets, lanes, car parks, nearby parks and gardens

1002
00:55:26.480 --> 00:55:28.920
<v Speaker 5>and if there is a lack of safe transport nearby,

1003
00:55:29.200 --> 00:55:30.180
<v Speaker 5>which I've just alluded to.

1004
00:55:31.340 --> 00:55:34.980
<v Speaker 5>So whose responsibility is the safety of our young women

1005
00:55:34.980 --> 00:55:37.900
<v Speaker 5>when they're out and about at pubs and clubs doing their thing?

1006
00:55:38.720 --> 00:55:41.340
<v Speaker 5>While no one doubts that they, like all women,

1007
00:55:41.380 --> 00:55:42.780
<v Speaker 5>need to be as informed as possible

1008
00:55:42.780 --> 00:55:44.720
<v Speaker 5>so that they are able to make rational decisions

1009
00:55:44.720 --> 00:55:46.660
<v Speaker 5>about their own behaviour and safety,

1010
00:55:46.660 --> 00:55:50.220
<v Speaker 5>it's clearly the responsibility of the minority of violent men

1011
00:55:50.220 --> 00:55:51.980
<v Speaker 5>who make social environments so unsafe

1012
00:55:51.980 --> 00:55:54.140
<v Speaker 5>because of their sexual harassment,

1013
00:55:54.300 --> 00:55:56.540
<v Speaker 5>their violence and other offensive behaviours.

1014
00:55:57.320 --> 00:56:00.540
<v Speaker 5>It's also the responsibility of licensees,

1015
00:56:00.600 --> 00:56:03.900
<v Speaker 5>bar and security staff, police, transport and taxi service providers

1016
00:56:03.900 --> 00:56:05.580
<v Speaker 5>and other related services.

1017
00:56:06.820 --> 00:56:10.160
<v Speaker 5>Local and state governments, the media and community

1018
00:56:10.160 --> 00:56:15.120
<v Speaker 5>also need to be well informed in order to respond well and informedly

1019
00:56:15.120 --> 00:56:16.640
<v Speaker 5>and implement straightforward measures

1020
00:56:16.660 --> 00:56:19.340
<v Speaker 5>and strategies to prevent and reduce these risks to women

1021
00:56:19.340 --> 00:56:21.260
<v Speaker 5>and therefore all patrons' safety

1022
00:56:21.260 --> 00:56:24.760
<v Speaker 5>when drinking and attending places such as pubs.

1023
00:56:25.760 --> 00:56:28.160
<v Speaker 5>We need particular public media campaigns

1024
00:56:28.160 --> 00:56:31.840
<v Speaker 5>that can inform and educate young women around low-risk drinking

1025
00:56:31.840 --> 00:56:34.060
<v Speaker 5>and provide them with positive role models

1026
00:56:34.060 --> 00:56:35.680
<v Speaker 5>rather than negative stereotypes

1027
00:56:35.680 --> 00:56:39.280
<v Speaker 5>about how one can go about being a low-risk drinker,

1028
00:56:39.440 --> 00:56:43.020
<v Speaker 5>their right to safety and their right to challenge

1029
00:56:43.640 --> 00:56:46.240
<v Speaker 5>the inequities they face when they go out.

1030
00:56:47.200 --> 00:56:50.060
<v Speaker 5>There also needs to be a public and industry stand

1031
00:56:50.060 --> 00:56:52.680
<v Speaker 5>of zero tolerance to male violence in pubs and clubs

1032
00:56:52.680 --> 00:56:55.740
<v Speaker 5>and plentiful information to inform young women and other women

1033
00:56:55.740 --> 00:56:59.420
<v Speaker 5>of where the safe pubs and transport options are for them.

1034
00:57:02.020 --> 00:57:04.100
<v Speaker 5>In other words, not all of the responsibility

1035
00:57:04.660 --> 00:57:06.820
<v Speaker 5>can be placed on the shoulders of young women

1036
00:57:06.820 --> 00:57:10.400
<v Speaker 5>as the time has passed when they will accept being scapegoated

1037
00:57:10.400 --> 00:57:11.940
<v Speaker 5>for others' behaviours towards them.

1038
00:57:12.580 --> 00:57:14.860
<v Speaker 5>All key groups should be included and consulted

1039
00:57:14.860 --> 00:57:16.500
<v Speaker 5>including state and local government,

1040
00:57:16.500 --> 00:57:19.540
<v Speaker 5>Commonwealth in order to bring about the necessary changes.

1041
00:57:19.900 --> 00:57:22.680
<v Speaker 5>An integrated partnership approach to solving the risk

1042
00:57:22.680 --> 00:57:25.520
<v Speaker 5>and safety problems of young women is after all good governance

1043
00:57:25.520 --> 00:57:27.020
<v Speaker 5>and sound business practice.

1044
00:57:27.760 --> 00:57:28.540
<v Speaker 5>Thank you.

1045
00:57:34.600 --> 00:57:37.140
<v Chair>Thank you very much Professor Dicrepni.

1046
00:57:37.280 --> 00:57:40.660
<v Chair>We now have just over 15 minutes for questions

1047
00:57:40.660 --> 00:57:43.040
<v Chair>and you've been invited by each of the speakers

1048
00:57:43.040 --> 00:57:46.320
<v Chair>and indeed the festival's been organised with your participation.

1049
00:57:46.500 --> 00:57:49.280
<v Chair>We have a microphone just back here.

1050
00:57:49.940 --> 00:57:52.100
<v Chair>Do we have anyone who'd like to ask a question?

1051
00:57:52.280 --> 00:57:52.800
<v Chair>Thank you.

1052
00:57:53.740 --> 00:57:55.680
<v Speaker 6>I'd like to hear each of the speakers

1053
00:57:55.680 --> 00:57:57.520
<v Speaker 6>in a positive light listen direction.

1054
00:57:57.960 --> 00:58:02.560
<v Speaker 6>And I noted Fran's point that policy is the most effective way

1055
00:58:02.560 --> 00:58:04.540
<v Speaker 6>to think about improvement and change.

1056
00:58:04.800 --> 00:58:07.960
<v Speaker 6>And I was just wondering, it's all so big,

1057
00:58:08.060 --> 00:58:08.940
<v Speaker 6>there were things happening.

1058
00:58:09.140 --> 00:58:13.560
<v Speaker 6>If each of you were suddenly in a position

1059
00:58:13.560 --> 00:58:15.860
<v Speaker 6>of being able to make the real policy decisions,

1060
00:58:15.860 --> 00:58:19.440
<v Speaker 6>what would each of you have as the first one, two or three things

1061
00:58:19.440 --> 00:58:21.320
<v Speaker 6>that you would do to get this started?

1062
00:58:26.740 --> 00:58:28.220
<v Speaker 6>I'm kind of happy to go.

1063
00:58:29.540 --> 00:58:31.520
<v Speaker 6>I've thought about that question a lot.

1064
00:58:31.660 --> 00:58:33.780
<v Speaker 6>And the way I think it's going to be used is

1065
00:58:35.820 --> 00:58:37.800
<v Speaker 2>there's been this notion of social capital

1066
00:58:37.800 --> 00:58:40.900
<v Speaker 2>that people have come up with to challenge economic capital.

1067
00:58:41.240 --> 00:58:44.200
<v Speaker 2>So how do you increase social capital at a neighbourhood level?

1068
00:58:44.300 --> 00:58:45.840
<v Speaker 2>Well you do that by giving people

1069
00:58:45.860 --> 00:58:48.940
<v Speaker 2>places they can interact outside the home

1070
00:58:48.940 --> 00:58:49.880
<v Speaker 2>that aren't commercial.

1071
00:58:50.740 --> 00:58:53.900
<v Speaker 2>And so what I'd do is have a network of neighbourhood houses

1072
00:58:53.900 --> 00:58:56.360
<v Speaker 2>that were really well funded with a coordinator

1073
00:58:56.360 --> 00:59:00.680
<v Speaker 2>who had the responsibility to work at a local neighbourhood level.

1074
00:59:00.860 --> 00:59:03.120
<v Speaker 2>So I'd have a huge programme across Australia.

1075
00:59:03.320 --> 00:59:05.200
<v Speaker 2>So everyone was within walking distance

1076
00:59:05.200 --> 00:59:06.780
<v Speaker 2>of one of those neighbourhood houses.

1077
00:59:07.100 --> 00:59:10.140
<v Speaker 2>And they would be a focus for a whole range of activities.

1078
00:59:10.440 --> 00:59:14.140
<v Speaker 2>You know, women's health centres would come and deliver services there.

1079
00:59:14.300 --> 00:59:15.740
<v Speaker 2>You know, you'd offer other services.

1080
00:59:15.740 --> 00:59:15.840
<v Speaker 2>But you'd have a whole range of activities.

1081
00:59:15.860 --> 00:59:16.760
<v Speaker 2>But you'd also have activities.

1082
00:59:16.860 --> 00:59:19.200
<v Speaker 2>Just people chatting, talking to each other, supporting.

1083
00:59:19.520 --> 00:59:21.760
<v Speaker 2>So I'd have a neighbourhood house programme for Australia.

1084
00:59:26.960 --> 00:59:29.140
<v Speaker 3>One of the first things I would do would be...

1085
00:59:29.140 --> 00:59:30.060
<v Speaker 3>Can you hear me as I song?

1086
00:59:30.780 --> 00:59:32.840
<v Speaker 3>One of the first things that I would do would be

1087
00:59:32.840 --> 00:59:35.740
<v Speaker 3>to find alternatives for women rather than putting them in prison

1088
00:59:35.740 --> 00:59:37.440
<v Speaker 3>because it certainly isn't working.

1089
00:59:38.000 --> 00:59:39.540
<v Speaker 3>When I was doing work in prisons,

1090
00:59:39.580 --> 00:59:42.340
<v Speaker 3>when the people were there, they were in for non-payment of fines.

1091
00:59:42.500 --> 00:59:45.120
<v Speaker 3>And I find it appalling that in this day and age

1092
00:59:45.120 --> 00:59:47.740
<v Speaker 3>that people are being incarcerated for those kinds of issues.

1093
00:59:48.840 --> 00:59:50.700
<v Speaker 3>Their families are being pulled apart.

1094
00:59:50.960 --> 00:59:52.660
<v Speaker 3>We need to find an alternative way.

1095
00:59:53.400 --> 00:59:56.080
<v Speaker 3>And for myself, my inclination would be

1096
00:59:56.080 --> 00:59:59.600
<v Speaker 3>to find a way to put more resources in at a community level

1097
01:00:00.280 --> 01:00:02.840
<v Speaker 3>to help empower people at a community level

1098
01:00:02.840 --> 01:00:04.340
<v Speaker 3>to act in their own best interests.

1099
01:00:04.680 --> 01:00:06.340
<v Speaker 3>I think that's where the real strength comes.

1100
01:00:06.500 --> 01:00:08.000
<v Speaker 3>It comes not from bureaucrats.

1101
01:00:08.020 --> 01:00:09.660
<v Speaker 3>It comes from individual citizens

1102
01:00:09.660 --> 01:00:13.140
<v Speaker 3>working together to make their communities a better and safer place.

1103
01:00:15.940 --> 01:00:16.480
<v Speaker 5>APPLAUSE

1104
01:00:19.700 --> 01:00:23.180
<v Speaker 5>What I would do is support both of these wonderful women

1105
01:00:23.180 --> 01:00:25.820
<v Speaker 5>in their policies, especially having been a coordinator

1106
01:00:25.820 --> 01:00:27.280
<v Speaker 5>of the Neighbourhood Centre some years ago.

1107
01:00:28.340 --> 01:00:31.860
<v Speaker 5>But I would also try and engage all other women

1108
01:00:31.860 --> 01:00:36.140
<v Speaker 5>to walk across bridges, wherever those bridges are,

1109
01:00:36.320 --> 01:00:38.460
<v Speaker 5>and create bridges where they're at,

1110
01:00:38.620 --> 01:00:42.880
<v Speaker 5>to say, stop the war of drugs on women,

1111
01:00:43.060 --> 01:00:45.100
<v Speaker 5>stop the war of drugs on women,

1112
01:00:45.120 --> 01:00:45.300
<v Speaker 5>stop the war on children,

1113
01:00:45.680 --> 01:00:48.900
<v Speaker 5>and create the safe places and concentrate on the families,

1114
01:00:49.020 --> 01:00:50.900
<v Speaker 5>but also concentrate on other women

1115
01:00:50.900 --> 01:00:54.260
<v Speaker 5>who perhaps aren't yet families as we know them,

1116
01:00:54.360 --> 01:00:57.460
<v Speaker 5>and look to the future and engage them in the debate.

1117
01:00:57.720 --> 01:00:59.960
<v Speaker 5>And I would like to think that next time round

1118
01:00:59.960 --> 01:01:01.400
<v Speaker 5>we'd have some young women with us

1119
01:01:01.400 --> 01:01:05.900
<v Speaker 5>to help tell us as policymakers where they'd like to see us go.

1120
01:01:06.120 --> 01:01:08.120
<v Speaker 5>So I think as a community of women

1121
01:01:08.120 --> 01:01:10.500
<v Speaker 5>and a community of men supporting women,

1122
01:01:11.840 --> 01:01:14.580
<v Speaker 5>we need to take several strategies like that.

1123
01:01:14.580 --> 01:01:17.340
<v Speaker 5>But I'd like to be one of the first ones

1124
01:01:17.340 --> 01:01:18.580
<v Speaker 5>walking across the bridge with you.

1125
01:01:19.800 --> 01:01:20.360
<v Speaker 5>APPLAUSE

1126
01:01:25.220 --> 01:01:27.060
<v Speaker 7>It's the first time that I've heard

1127
01:01:27.060 --> 01:01:28.540
<v Speaker 7>the benzodiazepines mentioned.

1128
01:01:29.020 --> 01:01:32.320
<v Speaker 7>Now, this is from Martindale Pharmacopoeia,

1129
01:01:32.440 --> 01:01:35.040
<v Speaker 7>Martindale's second of MEMS, I suppose, for use.

1130
01:01:36.160 --> 01:01:40.080
<v Speaker 7>Martindale Pharmacopoeia reports addiction rates of 44%

1131
01:01:40.080 --> 01:01:43.580
<v Speaker 7>on the normal therapeutic dose after four weeks.

1132
01:01:44.580 --> 01:01:46.420
<v Speaker 7>With withdrawal lasting more than a year.

1133
01:01:46.620 --> 01:01:49.500
<v Speaker 7>Now, Beatrice Faust in her book Benzo Junkie

1134
01:01:49.500 --> 01:01:53.160
<v Speaker 7>took three to four years to withdraw from the benzodiazepines.

1135
01:01:54.540 --> 01:01:57.220
<v Speaker 7>CAT scans show brain damage like alcohol.

1136
01:01:57.940 --> 01:02:01.120
<v Speaker 7>Now, the implication of this is that the two legal drugs,

1137
01:02:01.320 --> 01:02:02.800
<v Speaker 7>the benzodiazepines and alcohol,

1138
01:02:03.120 --> 01:02:06.040
<v Speaker 7>are the ones which cause permanent irreversible brain damage.

1139
01:02:06.320 --> 01:02:09.580
<v Speaker 7>The illegal drugs, the opiates, pot and heroin and so on,

1140
01:02:09.640 --> 01:02:12.380
<v Speaker 7>they're the ones which do not cause brain damage.

1141
01:02:13.660 --> 01:02:14.560
<v Speaker 7>Now, I think that's a good question.

1142
01:02:14.560 --> 01:02:16.860
<v Speaker 7>But there's not a whimper from the Federal Department of Health

1143
01:02:16.860 --> 01:02:18.820
<v Speaker 7>warning the public about the benzodiazepines.

1144
01:02:18.840 --> 01:02:19.760
<v Speaker 7>Why the cover-up?

1145
01:02:20.120 --> 01:02:22.960
<v Speaker 7>Now, just imagine if authority could pin those figures,

1146
01:02:23.160 --> 01:02:26.380
<v Speaker 7>44% addiction rate after four weeks on the benzodiazepines,

1147
01:02:26.440 --> 01:02:27.980
<v Speaker 7>on marijuana or heroin.

1148
01:02:29.080 --> 01:02:32.100
<v Speaker 7>What authority tells the public about drugs

1149
01:02:32.100 --> 01:02:34.900
<v Speaker 7>is a matter of authority's political and religious convenience.

1150
01:02:36.800 --> 01:02:38.760
<v Speaker 4>But the weapon, as I said earlier,

1151
01:02:38.940 --> 01:02:41.840
<v Speaker 7>is to attack on the pharmacological harm of the drugs,

1152
01:02:42.420 --> 01:02:44.040
<v Speaker 7>the non-harm of the opiates

1153
01:02:44.040 --> 01:02:46.300
<v Speaker 7>and the harm of the benzodiazepines and alcohol.

1154
01:02:46.680 --> 01:02:47.580
<v Speaker 7>And that's the best way.

1155
01:02:49.140 --> 01:02:50.060
<v Speaker 5>Thank you for that.

1156
01:02:50.100 --> 01:02:51.320
<v Speaker 5>I'd like to actually extend that

1157
01:02:51.320 --> 01:02:53.800
<v Speaker 5>and say that warlike behaviour isn't useful

1158
01:02:53.800 --> 01:02:57.780
<v Speaker 5>and that by setting one group of drugs

1159
01:02:57.780 --> 01:03:00.020
<v Speaker 5>and therefore their users off against another

1160
01:03:00.020 --> 01:03:02.060
<v Speaker 5>is a dangerous path to take.

1161
01:03:02.820 --> 01:03:05.280
<v Speaker 5>As far as benzodiazepines are concerned,

1162
01:03:06.180 --> 01:03:09.340
<v Speaker 5>with the uprising literature

1163
01:03:10.040 --> 01:03:13.660
<v Speaker 5>and the greater awareness amongst the medical profession,

1164
01:03:14.040 --> 01:03:16.580
<v Speaker 5>policy makers, et cetera, in this country,

1165
01:03:16.720 --> 01:03:18.340
<v Speaker 5>there's actually been a reduction

1166
01:03:18.340 --> 01:03:20.640
<v Speaker 5>in the prescribing patterns of benzodiazepines

1167
01:03:20.640 --> 01:03:24.100
<v Speaker 5>and a tightening up of the way in which they can be prescribed

1168
01:03:24.100 --> 01:03:27.980
<v Speaker 5>so that there's better tracking of who's prescribing.

1169
01:03:28.300 --> 01:03:30.260
<v Speaker 5>But what there has been is a...

1170
01:03:30.260 --> 01:03:32.340
<v Speaker 5>And I don't have the statistics on this,

1171
01:03:32.460 --> 01:03:35.260
<v Speaker 5>but what seems to be a shift towards antidepressants

1172
01:03:35.260 --> 01:03:36.820
<v Speaker 5>and drugs such as Prozac.

1173
01:03:36.940 --> 01:03:38.160
<v Chair>And I was recently in America

1174
01:03:38.160 --> 01:03:40.300
<v Speaker 5>where there were full-page advertisements,

1175
01:03:40.960 --> 01:03:43.460
<v Speaker 5>three or four in one paper, on Prozac alone.

1176
01:03:43.460 --> 01:03:44.880
<v Speaker 5>Towards women.

1177
01:03:45.300 --> 01:03:48.140
<v Speaker 5>So I agree with you, however I caution you

1178
01:03:48.980 --> 01:03:50.680
<v Speaker 5>about the language of war.

1179
01:03:50.980 --> 01:03:52.560
<v Speaker 5>Women don't engage in war.

1180
01:03:53.140 --> 01:03:53.960
<v Speaker 5>We don't...

1181
01:03:53.960 --> 01:03:56.940
<v Speaker 5>Well, I'll say for myself, I don't want to engage in war.

1182
01:03:57.240 --> 01:04:01.400
<v Speaker 5>And I also caution you not to promote cannabis as a harmless drug.

1183
01:04:01.480 --> 01:04:03.800
<v Speaker 5>The research is now showing it is not a harmless drug,

1184
01:04:04.340 --> 01:04:07.860
<v Speaker 5>that while it could have benefits, there's no doubt,

1185
01:04:08.120 --> 01:04:10.260
<v Speaker 5>medicinal and social and emotional,

1186
01:04:10.520 --> 01:04:13.440
<v Speaker 5>but there is also a high rate of throat and mouth

1187
01:04:13.440 --> 01:04:15.400
<v Speaker 5>and lung cancer associated with it,

1188
01:04:15.460 --> 01:04:17.900
<v Speaker 5>and what seems to be some permanent brain damage.

1189
01:04:18.540 --> 01:04:22.460
<v Speaker 5>Now, one of the problems with illicit drugs in our society

1190
01:04:22.460 --> 01:04:24.920
<v Speaker 5>is that it's very difficult to conduct research

1191
01:04:26.300 --> 01:04:29.020
<v Speaker 5>in ways other than what government wants us to do.

1192
01:04:29.440 --> 01:04:32.120
<v Speaker 5>So if we are really to start having a debate

1193
01:04:32.120 --> 01:04:35.480
<v Speaker 5>about the effects of these drugs and their level of safety,

1194
01:04:35.620 --> 01:04:38.480
<v Speaker 5>which we can with alcohol and benzodiazepines and legal drugs,

1195
01:04:38.600 --> 01:04:41.640
<v Speaker 5>because that's a legitimated form of research,

1196
01:04:41.640 --> 01:04:46.000
<v Speaker 5>we need to really think carefully about the strategies we'll use

1197
01:04:46.000 --> 01:04:47.480
<v Speaker 5>in order to get good information,

1198
01:04:47.600 --> 01:04:50.380
<v Speaker 5>like truly good information to the public.

1199
01:04:57.280 --> 01:04:59.220
<v Speaker 2>I just want...

1200
01:04:59.220 --> 01:05:03.120
<v Speaker 2>On this issue of prescription drugs,

1201
01:05:03.380 --> 01:05:07.000
<v Speaker 2>I think the real issue is that prescription drugs,

1202
01:05:07.120 --> 01:05:09.920
<v Speaker 2>as Charlotte's just pointed out, are...

1203
01:05:09.920 --> 01:05:11.620
<v Speaker 2>I mean, the drug pushers are the pharmaceuticals,

1204
01:05:11.640 --> 01:05:12.260
<v Speaker 2>the pharmaceutical companies,

1205
01:05:12.740 --> 01:05:15.400
<v Speaker 2>and they've had a tough time this year, I think,

1206
01:05:15.480 --> 01:05:17.720
<v Speaker 2>over particularly the AIDS drugs in South Africa

1207
01:05:17.720 --> 01:05:19.840
<v Speaker 2>and lost a big battle there.

1208
01:05:20.140 --> 01:05:21.700
<v Speaker 2>But nonetheless, in Australia,

1209
01:05:21.940 --> 01:05:24.140
<v Speaker 2>and I'm sure people are aware of this debate,

1210
01:05:24.320 --> 01:05:27.040
<v Speaker 2>we've had a Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee

1211
01:05:27.640 --> 01:05:29.040
<v Speaker 2>that's been remarkably effective

1212
01:05:29.040 --> 01:05:31.340
<v Speaker 2>at keeping down the price of drugs

1213
01:05:31.340 --> 01:05:33.460
<v Speaker 2>and monitoring the effectiveness

1214
01:05:33.460 --> 01:05:35.840
<v Speaker 2>and possible side effects of drugs

1215
01:05:35.840 --> 01:05:37.460
<v Speaker 2>and the way that we use them in Australia.

1216
01:05:37.800 --> 01:05:39.880
<v Speaker 2>And, of course, I mean,

1217
01:05:39.920 --> 01:05:41.620
<v Speaker 2>my association that I'm in,

1218
01:05:41.640 --> 01:05:43.840
<v Speaker 2>I'm an immediate past president of the Public Health Association,

1219
01:05:44.220 --> 01:05:46.520
<v Speaker 2>and many other associations are very concerned

1220
01:05:46.520 --> 01:05:48.580
<v Speaker 2>by the fact that we now have an industry rep

1221
01:05:48.580 --> 01:05:51.260
<v Speaker 2>on that Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee

1222
01:05:51.260 --> 01:05:54.660
<v Speaker 2>that will reduce the surveillance of which drugs are available

1223
01:05:54.660 --> 01:05:56.140
<v Speaker 2>and what the side effects are

1224
01:05:56.140 --> 01:05:58.480
<v Speaker 2>and how long doctors can go on prescribing them for

1225
01:05:58.480 --> 01:06:00.180
<v Speaker 2>without questioning it.

1226
01:06:00.540 --> 01:06:03.440
<v Speaker 2>So I'd just say to people that this is...

1227
01:06:03.440 --> 01:06:04.980
<v Speaker 2>It sounds like a really boring issue,

1228
01:06:05.080 --> 01:06:06.760
<v Speaker 2>you know, a federal government committee

1229
01:06:06.760 --> 01:06:09.780
<v Speaker 2>that monitors the drugs that are available,

1230
01:06:09.980 --> 01:06:11.080
<v Speaker 2>but it's absolutely crucial

1231
01:06:11.640 --> 01:06:14.160
<v Speaker 2>And one of my colleagues at La Trobe University

1232
01:06:14.160 --> 01:06:16.840
<v Speaker 2>had a fantastic website on this,

1233
01:06:16.880 --> 01:06:18.120
<v Speaker 2>a guy called Ken Harvey,

1234
01:06:18.380 --> 01:06:21.380
<v Speaker 2>and a week ago the Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe

1235
01:06:21.380 --> 01:06:23.340
<v Speaker 2>ordered him to remove that website

1236
01:06:23.340 --> 01:06:26.280
<v Speaker 2>and is taking strong disciplinary action against him,

1237
01:06:26.400 --> 01:06:28.360
<v Speaker 2>which I would see as a contravention

1238
01:06:28.360 --> 01:06:29.740
<v Speaker 2>of his academic freedom.

1239
01:06:30.220 --> 01:06:32.640
<v Speaker 2>So it was in The Age last Wednesday

1240
01:06:32.640 --> 01:06:33.900
<v Speaker 2>and will be on The Age website,

1241
01:06:34.180 --> 01:06:37.100
<v Speaker 2>but if anybody wants to write to the Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe

1242
01:06:37.100 --> 01:06:37.960
<v Speaker 2>about this issue,

1243
01:06:37.960 --> 01:06:40.220
<v Speaker 2>I'd suggest it might be a good time to do it.

1244
01:06:40.260 --> 01:06:41.920
<v Speaker 5>Maybe we could ask our Vice-Chancellor

1245
01:06:41.920 --> 01:06:43.040
<v Speaker 5>and we'll put it over there, John.

1246
01:06:43.240 --> 01:06:46.260
<v Speaker 2>Well, the Public Health Association has offered the website too,

1247
01:06:46.340 --> 01:06:48.420
<v Speaker 2>but the point is that an academic who is talking

1248
01:06:48.420 --> 01:06:51.020
<v Speaker 2>and would raise lots of the issues that you've raised

1249
01:06:51.020 --> 01:06:52.960
<v Speaker 2>about prescription drugs and minor tranquilizers

1250
01:06:53.520 --> 01:06:55.300
<v Speaker 2>and the effects of a whole range of drugs

1251
01:06:55.300 --> 01:06:57.460
<v Speaker 2>has been told by an Australian university

1252
01:06:57.460 --> 01:06:59.000
<v Speaker 2>to take that website away

1253
01:06:59.000 --> 01:07:01.920
<v Speaker 2>because it's critical of Waldridge, the Minister of Health,

1254
01:07:01.980 --> 01:07:04.160
<v Speaker 2>and critical of big pharma companies.

1255
01:07:04.500 --> 01:07:06.580
<v Speaker 2>And if you want to read about their practices,

1256
01:07:06.660 --> 01:07:07.940
<v Speaker 2>read John Le Carre's...

1257
01:07:07.960 --> 01:07:09.120
<v Speaker 2>The Constant Gardener.

1258
01:07:09.180 --> 01:07:10.940
<v Speaker 2>You'll get a very good picture from that novel

1259
01:07:10.940 --> 01:07:11.920
<v Speaker 2>as well as a good read.

1260
01:07:12.180 --> 01:07:12.960
<v Speaker 2>So there we go.

1261
01:07:13.720 --> 01:07:14.540
<v Speaker 3>Dr McGowan.

1262
01:07:14.680 --> 01:07:16.100
<v Speaker 3>I think we have to be very careful

1263
01:07:16.100 --> 01:07:17.380
<v Speaker 3>and not become complacent

1264
01:07:17.380 --> 01:07:20.380
<v Speaker 3>in what's happening with the issues around pharmaceuticals.

1265
01:07:21.000 --> 01:07:24.060
<v Speaker 3>We have to question the practices of pharmaceutical companies

1266
01:07:24.060 --> 01:07:26.760
<v Speaker 3>and things like the detailing that they do with physicians,

1267
01:07:27.060 --> 01:07:27.880
<v Speaker 3>with your family physicians,

1268
01:07:28.600 --> 01:07:31.960
<v Speaker 3>and how these drugs are pushed in physicians' offices.

1269
01:07:32.720 --> 01:07:35.060
<v Speaker 3>So it's not something we should be complacent about.

1270
01:07:36.760 --> 01:07:37.920
<v Speaker 3>Charlotte has spoken about

1271
01:07:37.920 --> 01:07:40.160
<v Speaker 3>being a North American and seeing the full-page ads.

1272
01:07:40.360 --> 01:07:41.660
<v Speaker 3>Yes, they're real. They're there.

1273
01:07:41.840 --> 01:07:44.840
<v Speaker 3>And if you go onto the internet, this information is also there.

1274
01:07:45.100 --> 01:07:47.040
<v Speaker 3>And the physician's response is often,

1275
01:07:47.160 --> 01:07:50.280
<v Speaker 3>well, my patients are demanding that I give them something.

1276
01:07:50.460 --> 01:07:51.960
<v Speaker 3>And that's just not good enough.

1277
01:07:55.080 --> 01:07:55.740
<v Speaker 3>Thank you.

1278
01:07:56.260 --> 01:08:00.760
<v Speaker 8>I work with substance abusers and males and females.

1279
01:08:01.040 --> 01:08:07.020
<v Speaker 8>And one of the things that is starting to really get me up

1280
01:08:07.020 --> 01:08:12.360
<v Speaker 8>and thinking a lot lately is that a lot of sex abuse with our children

1281
01:08:12.360 --> 01:08:15.260
<v Speaker 8>is going on and a lot of the males I'm working with,

1282
01:08:15.380 --> 01:08:18.080
<v Speaker 8>my figures are up to about 45% now,

1283
01:08:18.140 --> 01:08:20.940
<v Speaker 8>the females has just blown off the scale.

1284
01:08:21.880 --> 01:08:24.320
<v Speaker 8>Maybe that could be a bridge that we could all walk down together

1285
01:08:24.320 --> 01:08:27.380
<v Speaker 8>and I think and feel and would like to know

1286
01:08:27.380 --> 01:08:30.140
<v Speaker 8>what other people would like to do with that

1287
01:08:30.140 --> 01:08:32.280
<v Speaker 8>because it's an area that we have to move into

1288
01:08:32.280 --> 01:08:36.720
<v Speaker 8>to stop and curb any of the serious substance abuse.

1289
01:08:38.700 --> 01:08:41.920
<v Speaker 5>Well, certainly we know with, for instance,

1290
01:08:42.140 --> 01:08:45.020
<v Speaker 5>women and men who are addicted to heroin

1291
01:08:45.020 --> 01:08:46.440
<v Speaker 5>who are on our methadone programs

1292
01:08:48.220 --> 01:08:51.200
<v Speaker 5>have large proportions, you know, somewhere around 80%

1293
01:08:51.200 --> 01:08:52.980
<v Speaker 5>women and slightly less for men,

1294
01:08:53.100 --> 01:08:55.380
<v Speaker 5>have experienced child sexual abuse.

1295
01:08:55.620 --> 01:09:00.280
<v Speaker 5>And I don't think we can forget that other abuses accrue along their lives,

1296
01:09:01.140 --> 01:09:04.360
<v Speaker 5>particularly once it comes into a chaotic life with addiction.

1297
01:09:04.740 --> 01:09:06.700
<v Speaker 5>And so that sexual abuse may not be

1298
01:09:06.720 --> 01:09:09.100
<v Speaker 5>a once-off or a child experience.

1299
01:09:10.200 --> 01:09:14.020
<v Speaker 5>And I think it reiterates what Jenny was saying

1300
01:09:14.020 --> 01:09:16.880
<v Speaker 5>about we need to have sensitive services

1301
01:09:16.880 --> 01:09:19.340
<v Speaker 5>and different ways of addressing problems.

1302
01:09:19.600 --> 01:09:20.820
<v Speaker 5>I actually thought yesterday,

1303
01:09:20.960 --> 01:09:22.880
<v Speaker 5>do we really need drug treatment services?

1304
01:09:23.060 --> 01:09:24.640
<v Speaker 5>And I thought, my God, I'd be out of a job.

1305
01:09:26.760 --> 01:09:29.600
<v Speaker 5>But always the question, do we need the ones we have?

1306
01:09:30.060 --> 01:09:34.380
<v Speaker 5>And I've been part of a women in drug and alcohol movement

1307
01:09:34.380 --> 01:09:36.380
<v Speaker 5>for about 10 years trying to,

1308
01:09:36.720 --> 01:09:39.920
<v Speaker 5>you know, scream out for better services for women

1309
01:09:39.920 --> 01:09:41.620
<v Speaker 5>in South Australia and Australia.

1310
01:09:41.920 --> 01:09:43.620
<v Speaker 5>And it just falls on deaf ears.

1311
01:09:43.740 --> 01:09:45.020
<v Speaker 5>And I think the same thing happens

1312
01:09:45.020 --> 01:09:49.840
<v Speaker 5>when we start talking about that even more taboo subject

1313
01:09:49.840 --> 01:09:52.220
<v Speaker 5>of sexual abuse of boys and males.

1314
01:09:54.120 --> 01:09:55.780
<v Speaker 5>And really, you know,

1315
01:09:56.800 --> 01:10:00.700
<v Speaker 5>Jan Copeland did a study for her PhD in New South Wales

1316
01:10:00.700 --> 01:10:02.760
<v Speaker 5>some years ago where she looked at treatment outcomes

1317
01:10:02.760 --> 01:10:05.300
<v Speaker 5>of women who were in women only,

1318
01:10:05.420 --> 01:10:06.700
<v Speaker 5>the one women's drug treatment,

1319
01:10:06.700 --> 01:10:09.660
<v Speaker 5>the women's only service that was available to them

1320
01:10:09.660 --> 01:10:10.980
<v Speaker 5>and women from mixed services.

1321
01:10:11.340 --> 01:10:13.520
<v Speaker 5>And certainly the women who had experiences

1322
01:10:13.520 --> 01:10:16.780
<v Speaker 5>of child sexual abuse or sexual abuse as adults,

1323
01:10:17.000 --> 01:10:19.260
<v Speaker 5>who were parents or were lesbian,

1324
01:10:19.380 --> 01:10:22.220
<v Speaker 5>and let's face it, that's probably the majority of women,

1325
01:10:22.380 --> 01:10:25.020
<v Speaker 5>had far better and long-lasting outcomes

1326
01:10:25.020 --> 01:10:26.260
<v Speaker 5>than those that went in,

1327
01:10:26.360 --> 01:10:28.400
<v Speaker 5>the few that went into the mixed treatment services.

1328
01:10:28.640 --> 01:10:31.320
<v Speaker 5>So again, I think it reiterates what Virginia's saying.

1329
01:10:31.780 --> 01:10:35.380
<v Speaker 5>And as a community, maybe we need very different ways

1330
01:10:35.380 --> 01:10:36.680
<v Speaker 5>of addressing this problem.

1331
01:10:38.280 --> 01:10:40.340
<v Speaker 3>One of the things we have to remember too

1332
01:10:40.340 --> 01:10:43.100
<v Speaker 3>is that we fail to address these issues in a meaningful way,

1333
01:10:43.220 --> 01:10:45.140
<v Speaker 3>that the consequences are horrendous.

1334
01:10:45.220 --> 01:10:47.960
<v Speaker 3>The rates of suicide amongst women

1335
01:10:47.960 --> 01:10:50.740
<v Speaker 3>who have experience of substance abuse

1336
01:10:50.740 --> 01:10:54.660
<v Speaker 3>and sexual violence in their lives is horrific.

1337
01:10:55.840 --> 01:10:58.760
<v Speaker 3>And a lot of the abuses that they have experienced

1338
01:10:58.760 --> 01:11:00.020
<v Speaker 3>started as children.

1339
01:11:00.960 --> 01:11:03.200
<v Speaker 3>There's a tremendous abuse of trust,

1340
01:11:03.360 --> 01:11:06.160
<v Speaker 3>and we need to start dealing with it.

1341
01:11:06.160 --> 01:11:07.560
<v Speaker 3>And I think having a forum like this

1342
01:11:07.560 --> 01:11:09.520
<v Speaker 3>in which we can begin to talk about these things

1343
01:11:09.520 --> 01:11:13.200
<v Speaker 3>in an open way is a really good place to start

1344
01:11:13.200 --> 01:11:16.920
<v Speaker 3>because it's so difficult to get people to talk about issues

1345
01:11:16.920 --> 01:11:20.480
<v Speaker 3>of particularly of incest and childhood

1346
01:11:20.480 --> 01:11:21.980
<v Speaker 3>and continuing sexual abuse.

1347
01:11:24.400 --> 01:11:26.260
<v Chair>I think we have time for one more question.

1348
01:11:26.320 --> 01:11:26.680
<v Chair>Thank you.

1349
01:11:28.140 --> 01:11:28.820
<v Speaker 4>Thank you.

1350
01:11:28.900 --> 01:11:29.800
<v Speaker 6>Can you hear me?

1351
01:11:30.900 --> 01:11:34.100
<v Speaker 4>I was pleased to hear from our first speaker

1352
01:11:34.100 --> 01:11:36.140
<v Speaker 4>that you actually mentioned caregiving.

1353
01:11:36.160 --> 01:11:39.440
<v Speaker 4>I'm one of the caretakers of people who have drug addictions.

1354
01:11:39.820 --> 01:11:42.600
<v Speaker 4>And I guess I wonder if there's ever going to be

1355
01:11:42.600 --> 01:11:45.100
<v Speaker 4>a broader discussion about a whole generation of women

1356
01:11:45.100 --> 01:11:47.000
<v Speaker 4>who have taken care of addicted children

1357
01:11:47.000 --> 01:11:50.360
<v Speaker 4>and who are now taking care of their addicted children's children

1358
01:11:50.940 --> 01:11:52.700
<v Speaker 4>and helping them in some way.

1359
01:11:52.760 --> 01:11:57.100
<v Speaker 4>I hear policy and resources being given to the drug addicted,

1360
01:11:57.360 --> 01:12:01.100
<v Speaker 4>but those families that have been sort of torn apart by addiction

1361
01:12:01.100 --> 01:12:02.200
<v Speaker 4>really need help.

1362
01:12:02.280 --> 01:12:04.940
<v Speaker 4>And the place where those addicted people often end up

1363
01:12:04.940 --> 01:12:07.120
<v Speaker 4>is back in the homes of their mothers.

1364
01:12:07.880 --> 01:12:10.660
<v Speaker 4>And those mothers are growing older.

1365
01:12:12.040 --> 01:12:17.140
<v Speaker 4>And often we talk about empowering the drug addicted person

1366
01:12:17.140 --> 01:12:22.000
<v Speaker 4>but at the cost of the disempowerment of the caretaker.

1367
01:12:22.280 --> 01:12:25.060
<v Speaker 4>And so I would like to know if there's room in this discussion

1368
01:12:25.060 --> 01:12:29.320
<v Speaker 4>for the people who are down in the trenches doing the hard work

1369
01:12:29.320 --> 01:12:32.120
<v Speaker 4>of trying to keep their families' lives together.

1370
01:12:36.160 --> 01:12:36.760
<v Speaker 3>Thank you.

1371
01:12:39.300 --> 01:12:42.300
<v Speaker 3>Granny burnout is a real and very evident problem.

1372
01:12:43.260 --> 01:12:44.460
<v Speaker 3>It's huge.

1373
01:12:44.600 --> 01:12:48.840
<v Speaker 3>I've been in homes across Canada and New Zealand

1374
01:12:48.840 --> 01:12:53.440
<v Speaker 3>and some places in Australia where you have women who are older,

1375
01:12:53.600 --> 01:12:56.140
<v Speaker 3>diabetic, a number of other health problems,

1376
01:12:56.940 --> 01:13:01.560
<v Speaker 3>and they're looking after five or six kids under the age of ten

1377
01:13:01.560 --> 01:13:03.140
<v Speaker 3>and a bunch of teenagers.

1378
01:13:03.140 --> 01:13:05.460
<v Speaker 3>And they're just worn out.

1379
01:13:06.480 --> 01:13:09.660
<v Speaker 3>Absolutely and completely frazzled.

1380
01:13:10.460 --> 01:13:12.720
<v Speaker 3>Now again, this is what I've seen happening.

1381
01:13:12.740 --> 01:13:14.240
<v Speaker 3>It's happening at a community level.

1382
01:13:14.340 --> 01:13:16.100
<v Speaker 3>I don't see a lot of governmental response.

1383
01:13:16.380 --> 01:13:17.300
<v Speaker 3>And quite frankly with you,

1384
01:13:17.380 --> 01:13:20.200
<v Speaker 3>you probably gathered from the themes of my comments

1385
01:13:20.200 --> 01:13:24.240
<v Speaker 3>that I don't have a whole lot of truck with governmental responses.

1386
01:13:24.460 --> 01:13:28.520
<v Speaker 3>I really do believe in communities taking back their own right to operate

1387
01:13:28.520 --> 01:13:29.180
<v Speaker 3>on their own behalf.

1388
01:13:29.520 --> 01:13:32.900
<v Speaker 3>What I've seen happening is other women,

1389
01:13:32.900 --> 01:13:34.000
<v Speaker 3>women coming in and helping.

1390
01:13:34.260 --> 01:13:37.760
<v Speaker 3>And having them setting up informal systems of respite care

1391
01:13:37.760 --> 01:13:38.980
<v Speaker 3>and that's working really well.

1392
01:13:39.960 --> 01:13:44.940
<v Speaker 3>At another level, one of the groups of a transition home society

1393
01:13:44.940 --> 01:13:47.020
<v Speaker 3>that I have some work with in Back Home

1394
01:13:47.020 --> 01:13:50.740
<v Speaker 3>is setting up an opportunity, well it was quite interesting,

1395
01:13:50.960 --> 01:13:55.640
<v Speaker 3>they set up this weekly meeting where they invited these grandmothers

1396
01:13:55.640 --> 01:13:58.540
<v Speaker 3>to come in and to have some time together.

1397
01:13:58.760 --> 01:14:01.640
<v Speaker 3>Now they thought that they were going to provide a forum

1398
01:14:01.640 --> 01:14:04.160
<v Speaker 3>where they could start supporting these grandmothers.

1399
01:14:04.600 --> 01:14:07.060
<v Speaker 3>Give them some respite, make them some lunch,

1400
01:14:07.700 --> 01:14:11.480
<v Speaker 3>be able to maybe identify if they need some help with foot problems

1401
01:14:11.480 --> 01:14:13.940
<v Speaker 3>or other health problems that they might have.

1402
01:14:14.420 --> 01:14:16.660
<v Speaker 3>And the interesting part of it was that the,

1403
01:14:16.760 --> 01:14:18.760
<v Speaker 3>and I thought it was just absolutely brilliant,

1404
01:14:18.940 --> 01:14:21.080
<v Speaker 3>the grandmothers took great offense at this,

1405
01:14:21.100 --> 01:14:23.180
<v Speaker 3>that anybody thought that they could be giving them some help.

1406
01:14:23.380 --> 01:14:26.860
<v Speaker 3>And what they did was they took that opportunity to again to reach out

1407
01:14:26.860 --> 01:14:27.860
<v Speaker 3>and to help other people.

1408
01:14:27.940 --> 01:14:29.480
<v Speaker 3>And during these weekly sessions together,

1409
01:14:29.660 --> 01:14:31.380
<v Speaker 3>they make small quilts.

1410
01:14:31.640 --> 01:14:33.100
<v Speaker 3>And I think that's what's so important for the newborn babies

1411
01:14:33.100 --> 01:14:35.300
<v Speaker 3>of single moms being discharged from the hospital.

1412
01:14:35.620 --> 01:14:38.720
<v Speaker 3>I think it just speaks to this notion that if we provide an opportunity

1413
01:14:38.720 --> 01:14:41.000
<v Speaker 3>that people can work wonderful things.

1414
01:14:41.080 --> 01:14:42.560
<v Speaker 3>They don't see themselves as victims.

1415
01:14:43.800 --> 01:14:45.560
<v Speaker 3>And we need to support them in that,

1416
01:14:45.620 --> 01:14:47.120
<v Speaker 3>in whatever way they see is appropriate.

1417
01:14:48.500 --> 01:14:51.560
<v Speaker 2>I have a very strong belief in government

1418
01:14:51.560 --> 01:14:54.880
<v Speaker 2>and its ability to make societies better, I have to say.

1419
01:14:55.080 --> 01:14:58.140
<v Speaker 2>And, you know, I quoted on our hero, Don Dunstan,

1420
01:14:58.260 --> 01:15:00.000
<v Speaker 2>who says, we intervene or we sink.

1421
01:15:01.640 --> 01:15:03.520
<v Speaker 2>And what we're saying, you know, let's leave it to communities,

1422
01:15:03.660 --> 01:15:06.860
<v Speaker 2>is that it's poor communities, resource poor communities,

1423
01:15:06.980 --> 01:15:08.540
<v Speaker 2>who then have to support each other.

1424
01:15:08.720 --> 01:15:12.140
<v Speaker 2>I think there's a role for us to say we live in a market society

1425
01:15:12.140 --> 01:15:14.960
<v Speaker 2>that's incredibly unequal, one statistic.

1426
01:15:15.360 --> 01:15:16.740
<v Speaker 2>Three, you know, I love quoting this,

1427
01:15:17.740 --> 01:15:20.240
<v Speaker 2>358 billionaires in this world control the wealth

1428
01:15:20.240 --> 01:15:23.220
<v Speaker 2>of 45% of the world's population, same equivalent.

1429
01:15:23.420 --> 01:15:25.320
<v Speaker 2>We can go on with statistics like that.

1430
01:15:25.400 --> 01:15:28.420
<v Speaker 2>If we say, well, it's not about government, it's about community,

1431
01:15:28.640 --> 01:15:31.440
<v Speaker 2>we're saying to poor communities, you have to do it yourself.

1432
01:15:31.640 --> 01:15:33.240
<v Speaker 2>And you can't. This is about resources.

1433
01:15:33.440 --> 01:15:34.740
<v Speaker 2>Who's got money, who hasn't?

1434
01:15:34.920 --> 01:15:37.760
<v Speaker 2>For me, the big public health issue in Australia

1435
01:15:37.760 --> 01:15:39.440
<v Speaker 2>is not poverty, it's wealth.

1436
01:15:39.920 --> 01:15:42.420
<v Speaker 2>It's the people who hold the wealth who are the problem,

1437
01:15:42.500 --> 01:15:43.340
<v Speaker 2>not the poor people.

1438
01:15:44.160 --> 01:15:46.540
<v Speaker 2>Governments are about redistribution.

1439
01:15:46.880 --> 01:15:49.080
<v Speaker 2>If we want things like neighbourhood houses,

1440
01:15:49.080 --> 01:15:51.500
<v Speaker 2>people can interact, good social policies,

1441
01:15:51.780 --> 01:15:54.600
<v Speaker 2>if we want women to be able to have good childcare, governments.

1442
01:15:54.960 --> 01:15:56.700
<v Speaker 2>Governments are about our community.

1443
01:15:57.020 --> 01:15:58.320
<v Speaker 2>Governments are our community.

1444
01:15:58.580 --> 01:16:00.240
<v Speaker 2>They're a sign of a civilised society.

1445
01:16:01.100 --> 01:16:03.200
<v Speaker 2>Taxation is a sign of a civilised society

1446
01:16:03.200 --> 01:16:05.240
<v Speaker 2>because that's the way we redistribute.

1447
01:16:05.440 --> 01:16:07.240
<v Speaker 2>That's the way we say, these people are wealthy,

1448
01:16:07.320 --> 01:16:09.740
<v Speaker 2>these people are poor, let's give them some of the benefits

1449
01:16:09.740 --> 01:16:11.940
<v Speaker 2>of this increasing wealth in this society.

1450
01:16:12.340 --> 01:16:15.380
<v Speaker 2>And if we don't do that, then I don't know how we can solve

1451
01:16:15.380 --> 01:16:16.700
<v Speaker 2>many of our social problems.

1452
01:16:16.900 --> 01:16:20.080
<v Speaker 2>And what we've lost in the last 20 years is a belief

1453
01:16:20.080 --> 01:16:22.260
<v Speaker 2>that governments will intervene for the good.

1454
01:16:22.340 --> 01:16:25.720
<v Speaker 2>And I think we've got to win that back, otherwise it's a very dangerous path

1455
01:16:25.720 --> 01:16:26.420
<v Speaker 2>we're going down.

1456
01:16:30.560 --> 01:16:31.040
<v Speaker 3>APPLAUSE

1457
01:16:38.840 --> 01:16:42.480
<v Speaker 3>I guess you can just call me cynical because what I've seen in the communities

1458
01:16:42.480 --> 01:16:44.420
<v Speaker 3>that I've worked in is when government gives out money,

1459
01:16:44.560 --> 01:16:48.360
<v Speaker 3>they also give out a set of criteria that oftentimes the communities

1460
01:16:48.360 --> 01:16:51.120
<v Speaker 3>can't respond to in a meaningful way.

1461
01:16:52.160 --> 01:16:54.340
<v Speaker 3>It's very nice to have resources available,

1462
01:16:54.460 --> 01:16:56.720
<v Speaker 3>but the resources are made available in such a way

1463
01:16:57.240 --> 01:17:00.220
<v Speaker 3>that it's restricting people from reaching potential goals.

1464
01:17:00.240 --> 01:17:02.780
<v Speaker 3>If we're restricting people in what they can do, then it's not helpful.

1465
01:17:03.040 --> 01:17:05.780
<v Speaker 3>And I hope that we can take back the governmental responses.

1466
01:17:06.220 --> 01:17:09.720
<v Speaker 3>At this point in time, particularly in the native communities

1467
01:17:09.720 --> 01:17:13.000
<v Speaker 3>that I've worked with in Canada, they are given money,

1468
01:17:13.060 --> 01:17:16.520
<v Speaker 3>but they're so constrained about how they can spend that money.

1469
01:17:16.680 --> 01:17:19.560
<v Speaker 3>And they spend so much of their time scrambling for the next part

1470
01:17:19.560 --> 01:17:22.060
<v Speaker 3>that many of the women in those communities have just said,

1471
01:17:22.080 --> 01:17:25.360
<v Speaker 3>forget it, we're spending more time and energy responding

1472
01:17:25.360 --> 01:17:29.560
<v Speaker 3>to government requests for proposals and for audits

1473
01:17:29.560 --> 01:17:30.200
<v Speaker 3>and for...

1474
01:17:30.880 --> 01:17:32.240
<v Speaker 3>various kinds of paperwork.

1475
01:17:32.420 --> 01:17:34.960
<v Speaker 3>We don't have time to get to the work that we're trying to do.

1476
01:17:35.400 --> 01:17:37.660
<v Speaker 3>And that's the point that I'm trying to make here,

1477
01:17:37.760 --> 01:17:38.700
<v Speaker 3>is that people...

1478
01:17:38.700 --> 01:17:40.540
<v Speaker 3>What I'm seeing happen at the community level

1479
01:17:40.540 --> 01:17:42.000
<v Speaker 3>is that people are taking that back.

1480
01:17:42.540 --> 01:17:45.940
<v Speaker 3>And they're saying, we're going to rely on each other to a large extent.

1481
01:17:46.180 --> 01:17:48.700
<v Speaker 3>And I hope the day comes when government will wake up

1482
01:17:48.700 --> 01:17:51.000
<v Speaker 3>and will respond in a more meaningful way.

1483
01:17:51.200 --> 01:17:53.460
<v Speaker 3>But at least in Canada right now, at a community level,

1484
01:17:53.620 --> 01:17:57.100
<v Speaker 3>the kind of things that are happening, community-funded programs,

1485
01:17:57.300 --> 01:17:58.620
<v Speaker 3>is not helping.

1486
01:17:59.540 --> 01:18:01.620
<v Speaker 3>It's being more of a hindrance than it is a help.

1487
01:18:04.800 --> 01:18:07.360
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, but I think, you know, what we've got to do...

1488
01:18:07.360 --> 01:18:10.340
<v Speaker 2>And I know there's people from Dale Street Women's Health Centre, for instance.

1489
01:18:10.520 --> 01:18:12.180
<v Speaker 2>And I'll just give that as an example.

1490
01:18:12.320 --> 01:18:14.040
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I work a lot with community organisations.

1491
01:18:14.400 --> 01:18:16.940
<v Speaker 2>And, yes, they get funding from the government,

1492
01:18:16.980 --> 01:18:18.280
<v Speaker 2>but they operate independently,

1493
01:18:18.560 --> 01:18:20.840
<v Speaker 2>they have a management committee of local women,

1494
01:18:21.020 --> 01:18:23.260
<v Speaker 2>you know, and it's fantastic.

1495
01:18:23.460 --> 01:18:26.620
<v Speaker 2>And it's very easy to be cynical about government,

1496
01:18:26.660 --> 01:18:27.760
<v Speaker 2>but I don't think we should.

1497
01:18:27.820 --> 01:18:28.600
<v Speaker 2>You know, we shouldn't...

1498
01:18:28.600 --> 01:18:29.980
<v Speaker 2>We shouldn't deny bureaucrats.

1499
01:18:30.140 --> 01:18:34.200
<v Speaker 2>The real, you know, baddies in this is corporate capitalism,

1500
01:18:34.460 --> 01:18:35.240
<v Speaker 2>not governments.

1501
01:18:35.600 --> 01:18:36.960
<v Speaker 2>We've got to claim back government.

1502
01:18:37.200 --> 01:18:39.180
<v Speaker 2>Governments are our public servants.

1503
01:18:39.560 --> 01:18:40.700
<v Speaker 2>You know, they're our servants.

1504
01:18:40.780 --> 01:18:42.360
<v Speaker 2>And we've got to start believing in that,

1505
01:18:42.440 --> 01:18:45.520
<v Speaker 2>because if we don't, if we don't organise through governments...

1506
01:18:45.520 --> 01:18:48.100
<v Speaker 2>And I can tell you that the pressures of corporate capitalism

1507
01:18:48.100 --> 01:18:50.600
<v Speaker 2>will just ride roughshod over us.

1508
01:18:50.720 --> 01:18:53.040
<v Speaker 2>And I don't see any other way than a collective action,

1509
01:18:53.240 --> 01:18:55.560
<v Speaker 2>and I don't see a better way of doing that than governments.

1510
01:18:56.540 --> 01:18:56.980
<v Speaker 2>So...

1511
01:18:58.880 --> 01:18:59.320
<v Speaker 3>APPLAUSE

1512
01:19:02.440 --> 01:19:05.720
<v Speaker 3>The first place to go in claiming back to governments is to vote.

1513
01:19:05.900 --> 01:19:06.340
<v Speaker 3>Yes.

1514
01:19:06.340 --> 01:19:08.160
<v Speaker 2>We have to vote here. It's compulsory.

1515
01:19:08.400 --> 01:19:08.700
<v Speaker 2>Yes.

1516
01:19:09.280 --> 01:19:11.640
<v Speaker 3>And to vote carefully and to vote thoughtfully.

1517
01:19:11.720 --> 01:19:11.900
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

1518
01:19:12.120 --> 01:19:13.020
<v Speaker 3>And to vote...

1519
01:19:13.020 --> 01:19:13.760
<v Speaker 3>And to hold your...

1520
01:19:13.760 --> 01:19:16.160
<v Speaker 3>Hold those people who are standing at the public office...

1521
01:19:16.160 --> 01:19:16.180
<v Speaker 3>Exactly.

1522
01:19:16.900 --> 01:19:18.420
<v Speaker 3>..accountable for what they do.

1523
01:19:18.620 --> 01:19:18.840
<v Speaker 3>Yep. Yep.

1524
01:19:20.320 --> 01:19:22.120
<v Chair>I did say the last question,

1525
01:19:22.160 --> 01:19:23.840
<v Chair>but I've allowed a lot more debate,

1526
01:19:23.960 --> 01:19:24.920
<v Chair>so I won't deny you your chance.

1527
01:19:24.920 --> 01:19:26.320
<v Speaker 9>Is it OK if I just add something?

1528
01:19:26.560 --> 01:19:27.000
<v Speaker 9>Um...

1529
01:19:27.540 --> 01:19:30.500
<v Speaker 9>This is just coming from a very personal point of view,

1530
01:19:30.560 --> 01:19:32.100
<v Speaker 9>from my own family,

1531
01:19:32.260 --> 01:19:37.380
<v Speaker 9>and we have to deal with someone who is severely addicted and is dying.

1532
01:19:38.120 --> 01:19:40.560
<v Speaker 9>And my mother bears the brunt for it all.

1533
01:19:41.000 --> 01:19:43.340
<v Speaker 9>And the thing is, I was just thinking, you know,

1534
01:19:43.380 --> 01:19:45.000
<v Speaker 9>80% of Australians live in suburbia.

1535
01:19:45.640 --> 01:19:49.060
<v Speaker 9>We're not out in those back-border communities, you know,

1536
01:19:49.080 --> 01:19:51.120
<v Speaker 9>where we can have a chance to bond together and whatnot.

1537
01:19:51.360 --> 01:19:54.240
<v Speaker 9>We're all living in isolation right next to each other.

1538
01:19:54.700 --> 01:19:56.460
<v Speaker 9>My mother doesn't have anyone.

1539
01:19:56.460 --> 01:19:56.940
<v Speaker 9>Mm.

1540
01:19:57.140 --> 01:20:00.040
<v Speaker 9>To help her, even to tell her that she's OK,

1541
01:20:00.360 --> 01:20:03.540
<v Speaker 9>that she's not to blame for what this person is doing to himself.

1542
01:20:04.680 --> 01:20:07.040
<v Speaker 9>And she really needs help right now.

1543
01:20:07.560 --> 01:20:09.380
<v Speaker 9>Yeah? This has destroyed her.

1544
01:20:09.520 --> 01:20:13.400
<v Speaker 9>And I know that there's other women like her out there, you know?

1545
01:20:13.400 --> 01:20:18.000
<v Speaker 9>And I try to do what I can too, but who am I?

1546
01:20:18.100 --> 01:20:20.640
<v Speaker 9>I'm only a small person, so I agree with the community.

1547
01:20:20.940 --> 01:20:22.440
<v Speaker 9>We need neighbourhood centres.

1548
01:20:22.700 --> 01:20:25.980
<v Speaker 9>But, number one, we need to have consequence.

1549
01:20:25.980 --> 01:20:29.420
<v Speaker 9>A feeling that women's lives have consequence.

1550
01:20:29.620 --> 01:20:32.640
<v Speaker 9>What's happening and hurting women has consequence,

1551
01:20:32.920 --> 01:20:34.080
<v Speaker 9>and especially in this arena.

1552
01:20:34.580 --> 01:20:37.560
<v Speaker 9>You know, it's maybe a really positive marketing campaign or something.

1553
01:20:37.760 --> 01:20:38.580
<v Speaker 9>I don't know.

1554
01:20:38.800 --> 01:20:40.180
<v Speaker 9>But that's just...

1555
01:20:40.180 --> 01:20:44.840
<v Speaker 9>Even in this talk here, I feel a sense of insignificance.

1556
01:20:45.480 --> 01:20:47.880
<v Speaker 9>You know, that we're hidden away.

1557
01:20:48.060 --> 01:20:51.040
<v Speaker 9>It's still like that all the time when I come to the women,

1558
01:20:51.160 --> 01:20:52.960
<v Speaker 9>you know, who are who we are.

1559
01:20:53.040 --> 01:20:53.880
<v Speaker 9>I feel that.

1560
01:20:54.120 --> 01:20:55.180
<v Speaker 9>You know, it's still...

1561
01:20:55.180 --> 01:20:56.300
<v Speaker 9>It's weird that we're calling,

1562
01:20:56.560 --> 01:20:59.380
<v Speaker 9>but it's always somehow a minority group, kind of.

1563
01:20:59.460 --> 01:21:00.920
<v Speaker 9>You know, even amongst women ourselves.

1564
01:21:01.720 --> 01:21:04.540
<v Speaker 9>So, yeah, I just wanted to add that. Thanks.

1565
01:21:04.700 --> 01:21:05.360
<v Chair>I think we're...

1566
01:21:06.620 --> 01:21:07.500
<v Chair>Well, I...

1567
01:21:07.500 --> 01:21:09.120
<v Chair>I think we're going to have to wrap up now,

1568
01:21:09.180 --> 01:21:11.800
<v Chair>but I'd like the panel to have the opportunity for the last comment.

1569
01:21:11.800 --> 01:21:13.380
<v Speaker 2>I'd just thank you for your comments.

1570
01:21:13.560 --> 01:21:16.580
<v Speaker 2>I mean, they're obviously drawing directly on your personal experience,

1571
01:21:16.740 --> 01:21:19.160
<v Speaker 2>but I think they also really highlight

1572
01:21:19.760 --> 01:21:23.340
<v Speaker 2>this individual nature of so many social problems,

1573
01:21:23.420 --> 01:21:25.160
<v Speaker 2>that people live them as their individual problems.

1574
01:21:25.180 --> 01:21:28.340
<v Speaker 2>And you can think about just about any social problem.

1575
01:21:28.480 --> 01:21:33.000
<v Speaker 2>And our challenge is to somehow make those problems less individual,

1576
01:21:33.180 --> 01:21:36.420
<v Speaker 2>make them more social and provide people with more support,

1577
01:21:36.520 --> 01:21:37.880
<v Speaker 2>more supportive communities.

1578
01:21:38.460 --> 01:21:40.740
<v Speaker 2>And, yes, governments aren't perfect.

1579
01:21:40.860 --> 01:21:44.740
<v Speaker 2>They have horrible accountability demands for evaluation

1580
01:21:44.740 --> 01:21:48.360
<v Speaker 2>that are quite...you know, that aren't very comfortable with communities.

1581
01:21:48.620 --> 01:21:49.980
<v Speaker 2>But there are ways of changing that.

1582
01:21:50.060 --> 01:21:51.380
<v Speaker 2>It is possible to change that.

1583
01:21:51.520 --> 01:21:55.080
<v Speaker 2>And the end result should be to enable people to live in a community

1584
01:21:55.080 --> 01:22:00.020
<v Speaker 2>where if they have a private problem that always reflects a social structure,

1585
01:22:00.480 --> 01:22:02.420
<v Speaker 2>then they can get support for that.

1586
01:22:02.500 --> 01:22:06.200
<v Speaker 2>They've got people to talk to, people to help them, resources to draw on.

1587
01:22:06.320 --> 01:22:07.720
<v Speaker 2>And that's what we should be aiming for.

1588
01:22:07.820 --> 01:22:09.540
<v Speaker 2>You know, when we look at what do we want...

1589
01:22:09.540 --> 01:22:10.900
<v Speaker 2>And that's what most of us want.

1590
01:22:11.060 --> 01:22:14.160
<v Speaker 2>You know, we don't really want more and more consumer goods.

1591
01:22:14.280 --> 01:22:15.860
<v Speaker 2>We actually want that kind of support.

1592
01:22:16.280 --> 01:22:16.680
<v Speaker 2>Beyond...

1593
01:22:16.680 --> 01:22:19.040
<v Speaker 2>Obviously, there's a material level at which we want to be,

1594
01:22:19.120 --> 01:22:21.980
<v Speaker 2>but beyond that is what we're probably all hungry for.

1595
01:22:22.100 --> 01:22:24.580
<v Speaker 2>And the question is how are we going to get there?

1596
01:22:25.080 --> 01:22:27.320
<v Speaker 2>And it's not the responsibility of them, the government.

1597
01:22:27.460 --> 01:22:28.540
<v Speaker 2>The government is ours.

1598
01:22:28.660 --> 01:22:30.340
<v Speaker 2>We've got to start claiming back that responsibility

1599
01:22:30.340 --> 01:22:32.980
<v Speaker 2>and shaping what our politicians do,

1600
01:22:33.120 --> 01:22:36.820
<v Speaker 2>working with bureaucrats so they become more responsive to communities.

1601
01:22:37.140 --> 01:22:38.300
<v Speaker 2>And models do work.

1602
01:22:38.380 --> 01:22:41.420
<v Speaker 2>And again, I point to places like the community health centres in Adelaide,

1603
01:22:41.480 --> 01:22:42.840
<v Speaker 2>the women's health centres in Adelaide.

1604
01:22:42.860 --> 01:22:44.180
<v Speaker 2>They do an amazing job.

1605
01:22:44.320 --> 01:22:46.480
<v Speaker 2>And they do it as government public servants.

1606
01:22:46.580 --> 01:22:48.680
<v Speaker 2>But they even manage to be critical of the government

1607
01:22:48.680 --> 01:22:50.120
<v Speaker 2>and advocate for their communities.

1608
01:22:50.380 --> 01:22:52.560
<v Speaker 2>And I think that's the kind of models that we want.

1609
01:22:53.580 --> 01:22:54.040
<v Speaker 2>Charlotte.

1610
01:22:54.040 --> 01:22:59.500
<v Speaker 5>On a sort of down-to-earth local level, I think you're right.

1611
01:22:59.920 --> 01:23:05.240
<v Speaker 5>I'm often asked by students or other members of the public,

1612
01:23:05.440 --> 01:23:07.500
<v Speaker 5>where are the services for carers?

1613
01:23:07.520 --> 01:23:08.960
<v Speaker 5>Where are the services for women?

1614
01:23:09.060 --> 01:23:12.700
<v Speaker 5>Where are the services for families who have someone in their family

1615
01:23:12.700 --> 01:23:15.320
<v Speaker 5>who's troubled by their drug or alcohol addiction

1616
01:23:15.320 --> 01:23:17.640
<v Speaker 5>and is impacting on the family?

1617
01:23:17.860 --> 01:23:20.440
<v Speaker 5>What do I do when he's back yet again or whatever?

1618
01:23:20.900 --> 01:23:22.720
<v Speaker 5>And I really have to scratch around,

1619
01:23:22.720 --> 01:23:24.640
<v Speaker 5>and I can't find an answer for you.

1620
01:23:24.740 --> 01:23:28.320
<v Speaker 5>And all I can say is ring up the Drug and Alcohol Services Council,

1621
01:23:28.880 --> 01:23:31.460
<v Speaker 5>which is our public service in this area.

1622
01:23:31.780 --> 01:23:34.680
<v Speaker 5>Ring up their 24-hour telephone line.

1623
01:23:35.240 --> 01:23:37.200
<v Speaker 5>Ring up the crisis care phone lines.

1624
01:23:37.260 --> 01:23:38.600
<v Speaker 5>Ring up the women's health centres.

1625
01:23:38.780 --> 01:23:39.980
<v Speaker 5>Keep the pressure on.

1626
01:23:40.440 --> 01:23:42.280
<v Speaker 5>Because so easily this slips away.

1627
01:23:42.460 --> 01:23:44.380
<v Speaker 5>Because there are so many carers out there.

1628
01:23:44.420 --> 01:23:46.060
<v Speaker 5>We used to call them volunteers, mind you.

1629
01:23:47.160 --> 01:23:49.120
<v Speaker 5>And they've had a system to support it.

1630
01:23:49.180 --> 01:23:52.440
<v Speaker 5>But now we've got all these carers who are taking up the healthcare system's role.

1631
01:23:52.720 --> 01:23:58.300
<v Speaker 5>In providing for sick, troubled, ill, unwell people in their families.

1632
01:23:58.540 --> 01:23:59.340
<v Speaker 5>And you're right.

1633
01:23:59.460 --> 01:24:02.840
<v Speaker 5>Our society is structured in a way that isolates us

1634
01:24:02.840 --> 01:24:05.260
<v Speaker 5>from the very people we live next door to.

1635
01:24:05.600 --> 01:24:08.280
<v Speaker 5>And maybe our communities, such as Fran's talking about,

1636
01:24:08.300 --> 01:24:11.980
<v Speaker 5>and the Mayport centres should be in different forms in different places.

1637
01:24:12.820 --> 01:24:14.920
<v Speaker 5>But please use your voices.

1638
01:24:14.940 --> 01:24:19.160
<v Speaker 5>And I'm sorry I can't give you a phone number to give you the support you need.

1639
01:24:21.460 --> 01:24:25.860
<v Chair>It's really past time and there are people queuing up outside to come into the hall.

1640
01:24:26.020 --> 01:24:28.920
<v Chair>So we do need to, if you would just wait while we thank the speakers.

1641
01:24:35.100 --> 01:24:45.240
<v Chair>Fran, Virginia and Charlotte, Professor Ducrepny, Dr McGowan and Professor Baum

1642
01:24:45.240 --> 01:24:48.800
<v Chair>have indeed lifted the veil on many of the issues to do with gender

1643
01:24:48.800 --> 01:24:50.700
<v Chair>and substance misuse.

1644
01:24:50.980 --> 01:24:55.860
<v Chair>The helpful program notes I was given suggested we were going to throw a net of gender

1645
01:24:55.860 --> 01:24:57.200
<v Chair>over these issues.

1646
01:24:57.340 --> 01:24:58.980
<v Chair>I think indeed you've lifted the veil.

1647
01:24:59.320 --> 01:25:03.080
<v Chair>Amongst the many things that you've given us to think about and to think about doing,

1648
01:25:03.360 --> 01:25:08.080
<v Chair>you've reminded us, I think, each of you, that most of the changes for the positive

1649
01:25:08.080 --> 01:25:12.560
<v Chair>for women's lives in our generation have come about through women working together,

1650
01:25:12.740 --> 01:25:18.540
<v Chair>through various collective action, through learning together to know about themselves,

1651
01:25:18.680 --> 01:25:18.780
<v Chair>and to be able to do that.

1652
01:25:18.800 --> 01:25:22.660
<v Chair>And what they can do together from finding collective strength by working together

1653
01:25:22.660 --> 01:25:26.940
<v Chair>and indeed by working through various structures at the community and the government level.

1654
01:25:27.060 --> 01:25:29.980
<v Chair>You've also reminded us that women are not a homogenous group

1655
01:25:29.980 --> 01:25:34.940
<v Chair>and it's delightful that we've had a panel that has respectfully disagreed with itself.

1656
01:25:35.380 --> 01:25:39.080
<v Chair>And also that we have different experiences on different continents.

1657
01:25:39.300 --> 01:25:44.500
<v Chair>Here in Australia we have a long history and successful history in our times

1658
01:25:44.500 --> 01:25:48.780
<v Chair>of feminist intervention through the state apparatus and I think that lay behind us.

1659
01:25:48.780 --> 01:25:50.580
<v Chair>And I think that's what we need to do to find some of the apparent disagreements.

1660
01:25:50.580 --> 01:25:52.300
<v Chair>Thank you indeed very much.

1661
01:25:52.320 --> 01:25:54.600
<v Chair>We've been delighted and privileged by your contribution.

1662
01:25:55.120 --> 01:25:59.760
<v Chair>Thank you.

1663
01:26:00.240 --> 01:26:00.740
<v Speaker 3>Thank you.

1664
01:26:01.600 --> 01:26:02.500
<v Speaker 3>Thank you.

1665
01:26:03.680 --> 01:26:03.820
<v Speaker 3>Thank you.

1666
01:26:03.820 --> 01:26:03.860
<v Speaker 3>Thank you.