Does the Police Drug Diversion Initiative work?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-10-12 03:00

Australia; SA; ACT

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An Australian expert suggests South Australia's Police Drug Diversion Initiative may have dropped from the best in the country to the worst. He states that small amendments that were passed by the Liberal government changed it so diversions of minor drug offenders to a treatment path rather than the criminal justice system were 'capped' at two, and since then this diversion rate to the social justice system has plummeted "in ways that cannot be explained merely because of these amendments". He suggests that this small change has had dramatic and unforeseen consequences, and "Australia's gold standard for drug diversion has been turned into lead".