2016 Harm Minimisation Summit

11/08/2016

Today, in State Parliament, the NSW Cross-Party Harm Minimisation Roundtable convened the 2016 Harm Minimisation Summit. The New South Wales Bar Association was represented by the chair of the Criminal Law Committee, Stephen Odgers SC and Senior Vice-President Arthur Moses SC. Among those to address the summit was the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG. The summit has a Facebook page with video files of most speeches, which can be viewed here.

Arthur Moses SC co-signed a communique, in the form of a letter to the premeier and leader of the opposition, which called upon both major parties to convene a drugs summit with "the power to present recommendations and legislation to parliament to further address the challenge of illicit drug dependence, mental health and the impacts on our legal system".

In November 2014 the Bar Association's Criminal Law Committee published its discussion paper, Drug Law Reform, which can be viewed here. The Parliamentary Research Service has also published Briefing Paper No.4/2016 Illegal Drug Use and Possession: Current Policy and Debates, which can be viewed here.