SMART Recovery Australia
Reflections on the Rethink Addiction National Convention 2022
Some members of the SMART Recovery Australia team were privileged to have the opportunity to attend the 2-day inaugural Rethink Addiction Conference in Canberra, with around 300 other addiction specialists and survivors also participating.
Addiction is a health condition that can affect one in five Australians. It is a national crisis as it remains a neglected health issue that is both criminalised and stigmatised. This results in many people being unable or reluctant to access the support and care they need, with people often waiting an average of nearly twenty years to seek help.
The discussions over the two days surrounded issues such as the many barriers to getting help, how to provide effective harm reduction responses, prevention activities and quality care.
SMART Recovery Australia CEO, April Long describes the Convention as demonstrating, “True healing, collaboration and conviction.”
For SMART Recovery Australia’s National Program Manager and Trainer, Sally Boardman, the biggest impression on her was, “the whole representation of the issues. It was focused on people sharing their lived experience of addiction, which made it very powerful, instead of the usual top-down approach of conferences … It was wonderful to meet so many SMART Recovery Australia Facilitator’s with lived experiences who have shared their stories courageously.” As well as lived experienced speakers, there were also a number of frontline workers and researchers that could share differing points of view on the addiction sphere.
The conversation was flowing, expertly guided by the MC Jon Faine, which allowed great discussions about many topics to come to light. Sally admired just how different it was from the usual conference format in that it was “very heart-centred, which was extremely compelling … There wasn’t a dry eye in the house!”
The overarching thought that April left the Convention with is that “We urgently need a national plan and roadmap. Lives depend on it.”
