Age Group: All

Consumer Consensus on the Optimal Deliver of the Opioid Dependence Treatment Program – Webinar 3

Consumer Consensus on the Optimal Deliver of the Opioid Dependence Treatment Program

Description:

In this webinar, you will hear what people with lived-living experience of the Opioid Dependence Treatment Program (ODTP) have identified as priorities for optimal delivery of the program in Australia. The consumer consensus statement presented in this webinar was developed through consultation with AIVL member organisations and people across Australia who have direct experience of the ODTP.

Date: Wednesday 2 September

Time: 12:00pm – 1:30PM AEST

Cost: Online – A link will be sent to you before the webinar

Who should attend: This webinar is only available to staff who are working in a Victorian Department of Health (DH) funded AOD organisation.

Registration: Click here for more information and to register

Pharmacotherapy Systems, Mapping Challenges and Best Practice – Webinar 2

Pharmacotherapy systems, mapping challenges and best practice: What We’ve Learned and What It Means for Opioid Treatment

Description:

This webinar provides an overview of emerging findings from recent research that has aimed to build a shared understanding of challenges and priorities in opioid dependence treatment. It brings together insights from clinicians, consumers, and service leaders to highlight barriers to access, workforce and service issues, and areas where further evidence and alignment are needed.

The session is designed to inform and prepare stakeholders for the National Consensus for Action Forum: A Roundtable on Australian Opioid Dependence Treatment in Canberra focused on consensus-building, advocacy, and practical action.

Target Audience

  • Clinicians delivering opioid agonist treatment (OAT)
  • Clinical directors, service managers, and governance leads
  • Researchers and guideline developers engaged in opioid treatment
  • Consumers (though specific webinars are planed that are targeted primarily for this audience)

Key Outputs/Outcomes

By the end of the webinar participants will:

  • Shared understanding of challenges and priorities from a treatment system perspective
  • Greater alignment across clinical and system stakeholders
  • Documented points of convergence and uncertainty.

Relationship to the National Consensus for Action Roundtable

This webinar provides evidence informed context, ensuring that by September:

  • Major challenges and priorities are already mapped
  • Forum participants can focus on consensus statements, advocacy priorities, and action planning
  • The research process actively strengthens sector advocacy rather than running parallel to it

Date: Tuesday, 25 August

Time: 1:00pm – 2:30PM AEST

Cost: Online – A link will be sent to you before the webinar

Who should attend: This webinar is only available to staff who are working in a Victorian Department of Health (DH) funded AOD organisation.

Registration: Click here for more information and to register

Setting the Scene: Reforming Australia’s ODTP – Webinar 1

Setting the Scene: Reforming Australia’s ODTP – Key Evidence, Priorities and Unfinished Business

Description:

The ODTP National Consensus for Action Roundtable will be held on 7 September 2026 at Parliament House Canberra, where expert representatives including lived and living experience advocates, policy makers, clinicians, researchers and other key stakeholders will be joined by Australian Government Parliamentarians, bureaucrats and ministerial representatives to build and endorse a National Opioid Dependency Treatment (ODT) Program consensus statement. Our aim is that this document will outline critical, cross-jurisdictional ODT program principles that centre efficacy, equity and sustainability, and the associated actions required to implement meaningful healthcare and systems reform. This process is a crucial unified step towards an internationally accepted gold-standard for ODT in this country and a commitment to future healthcare innovation, that Australian communities should rightfully expect, and that clinical and policy experts agree is an imperative priority to deliver.

This webinar, the first in a series of three pre-roundtable events, will guide participants through a detailed overview of two key documents: the recently launched Harm Reduction Australia (HRA) Opioid Treatment Program Policy Brief and the PBS Post-Market Review of PBS ODTP Medicines Report to PBAC (March 2023). An overview of available ODTP medications, additional formulations and alternative approaches to ODT that have succeeded in other jurisdictions internationally, will also be explored. Informing the consensus building discussions that will take place at Parliament House in September, this webinar is intentionally informative and sets the groundwork for building meaningful consensus in the lead-up to the face‑to‑face Roundtable event. Providing a backdrop for policy and research perspectives in the Australian setting,  we warmly invite webinar participants to take up the opportunity to participate by contributing questions, as well as to become familiar with what is possible in building our own successful future model for ODT.

Date: Tuesday, 11 August

Time: 1:00pm – 3:00PM AEST

Cost: Online – A link will be sent to you before the webinar

Who should attend: This webinar is only available to staff who are working in a Victorian Department of Health (DH) funded AOD organisation.

Registration: Click here for more information and to register

Group Facilitation Skills Training for AOD Workers (online)

1-day workshop:

Date: 23rd September 2026

Time: 10am – 4:30pm

Online: a link will be sent to you prior to the workshop date

Learning outcomes

By the end of the workshop participants will be able to:

  • Establish the culture of the group and safety within the group space.
  • Define content and process and apply both with balance between the two.
  • Identify common challenges that present in the delivery of group programs and apply strategies for managing these.
  • Understand how to work in a variety of group formats.
  • Apply skills and strategies for attending to responsivity in groupwork.
  • Apply skills for providing the group with a sense of closure at the end of a group program.

Eligibility Criteria

This training is open to people working in AOD-specific roles in publicly funded services (i.e. AOD, mental health locals).

Who is not eligible?

Students on placement or internships, workers outside of Victoria, workers not in an AOD-specific role.

Register

Registrations open 12th August

Terms & Conditions

If you cannot attend, cancel your registration and make your spot available to someone else on the waitlist.

When the Prescription Becomes the Problem

Registration:  Click here to register

When the Prescription Becomes the Problem: Assessing and Managing Dependence on Benzodiazepines, Opioid Analgesics and other medications

This is a 45 minute Turning Point Connect & Learn webinar. To attend the webinar, click the link below to register.

Description: This presentation will look at how concurrent alcohol use changes risk, presentation and overdose potential, and what clinicians need to watch for in day-to-day assessment and management.

Dr Basanth Kenchaiah is a general adult and addiction psychiatrist with a particular interest in prescription medication dependence and managing inappropriate polypharmacy. He works part time at GV Health and St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, in addition to private practice at Delmont Private Hospital. He sits on the executive committee of the Australian Deprescribing Network and was until recently Chair of the Subcommittee for Advanced Training in Addiction Psychiatry, RANZCP.

Date: Tuesday,29 September

Time: 1:00pm – 1:45PM

Cost: Online – A link will be sent to you before the webinar

Who should attend: This webinar is only available to staff who are working in a Victorian Department of Health (DH) funded AOD organisation.

Registration:  Click here to register

Professional Development Training – Suicide Prevention in the AOD Sector 

Register Now 

Through an exploration of the unique intersection between suicide risk and substance use, this workshop will equip participants with practical, evidence-informed approaches to identify risk, engage in meaningful conversations, and strengthen suicide prevention practice within AOD settings.

workshop objectives: 

Dom Pezzutto has worked across suicide prevention, mental health and AOD services in frontline, leadership and education roles. She has contributed to suicide prevention service reform, led workforce development initiatives supporting suicide prevention services across Australia, and has experience spanning crisis intervention, suicide bereavement support, service design, policy development and sector education. Drawing on experience across multiple service settings, Dom brings a unique perspective on the intersection of suicide prevention and AOD practice, helping workers recognise how culture, context, connection and everyday interactions can act as powerful suicide prevention strategies, even when suicide prevention is not the primary focus of the work.

Who should attend? Victorian Department Health funded AOD workers new to their role and/or those looking to refresh and update existing knowledge.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This workshop is only available to staff who are working in a Victorian Department of Health (DH) funded AOD organisation in an AOD role.

Date: Monday November 9, 2026
Time: 9:30am – 4:30pm
Venue: Turning Point, Level 1, Training Rooms – 110 Church St, Richmond 3121

Cost: Free (This workshop is only available to staff who are working in a Victorian Department of Health (DH) funded AOD organisation.)
NB: If you register and do not attend, your organisation/manager will receive a fee
Register Now 
Enquiries: tp@turningpoint.org.au

Methamphetamine use and psychosis: evidence, guidelines & what’s cooking

*This workshop is now full!*

This is a 45 minute Turning Point Connect & Learn webinar. To attend the webinar, click the link below to register.

Description: What’s really cooking in methamphetamine treatment? This talk explores current evidence for effective medication and psychosocial interventions, demystifies meth psychosis (what we know and what remains unclear), and bridges the gap between research and practice. We’ll unpack emerging guidelines and trials, including psychedelic-assisted approaches, to give clinicians an understanding of what you can offer right now, and what the next few years will bring.

Associate Professor Shalini Arunogiri is a clinical addiction psychiatrist and researcher at Monash University and Turning Point, Eastern Health. She is the Clinical Director of the Hamilton Centre, Victoria’s statewide centre for co-occurring addiction and mental health, and an NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellow. Shalini has been an investigator on six Australian national multisite randomised controlled trials of methamphetamine use disorder treatments: N-ICE, LiMA, Ready2Change, the Tina Trial, OLAM, and PsiMA.

Shalini completed her PhD on methamphetamine psychosis in 2019 and has published extensively on this topic, with over 37 research outputs and more than $11 million in grant funding focused on methamphetamine. Shalini is immediate past Chair of the RANZCP Faculty of Addiction Psychiatry, past Board Director of the International Society of Addiction Medicine, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Dual Diagnosis. She works alongside clinician-researchers across addiction and mental health, committed to building the evidence base for integrated care and treatments for people who use methamphetamine.

Date: Tuesday, 27 October 2026

Time: 1:00pm – 1:45PM

Cost: Online – A link will be sent to you before the webinar

Who should attend: This webinar is only available to staff who are working in a Victorian Department of Health (DH) funded AOD organisation.

Registration:  Click here to register

Family Works Champions Program

Family-Inclusive Practice training for the Victorian Alcohol and Other Drugs Workforce

Program Description: Working with people impacted by alcohol and other drugs and often means navigating complex and changing circumstances. Research and practice experience demonstrate that outcomes for individuals can be enhanced when families and supporters are included in the therapeutic journey.

Purpose: This program is designed to support the AOD workforce alignment with the Department of Health’s AOD strategy and broader Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Capability Framework.

The program will give you the opportunity to:

  • Strengthen your family-inclusive practice skills
  • Build confidence in engaging families
  • Enhance your ability to motivate and support practice change
  • Develop practical strategies that can be applied immediately in your service
  • Learn alongside experienced practitioners from across the Victorian AOD sector
  • Become a champion for family-inclusive practice within your organisation

Cost: This training is no-cost to practitioners, as places are funded by the Department of Health, Victoria

Workshop Dates

Metro Workshop Dates Location
Workshop 1 19th Aug Metro
20th Aug Metro
Workshop 2 2nd Sep Metro
8th Sep Metro
Workshop 3 13th Oct Metro
14th Oct Metro
Workshop 4 21st Oct Metro
28th Oct Metro
Workshop 5 25th Nov Metro
26th Nov Metro

Regional Workshop Dates Location
Workshop 1 26th Aug Regional
27th Aug Regional
Workshop 2 23rd Sep Regional
24th Sep Regional
Workshop 3 6th Oct Regional
7th Oct Regional
Workshop 4 10th Nov Regional
11th Nov Regional
Workshop 5 1st Dec and 2nd Dec Regional

Online Workshop Dates Location
Workshop 1 1st Dec Online
2nd Dec Online

Training Locations: See the website for dates, locations and expression of interest for regional workshops

Learn more and register here

Understanding Trauma and Addiction

Date: Wednesday, November 11 April 2026 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Location: Online

Description:

This half day workshop provides AOD workers with information and strategies to work with clients who have histories of trauma and substance use. The workshop covers frameworks of trauma, its impact on the brain, the link between trauma and addiction, and recommended treatment approaches when working with this cohort.

Eligibility Criteria

This training has been funded for workers employed in a Victorian State-funded Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) service including those under the AOD Traineeship Program.

Who is not eligible?

Workers from other community sectors such as Family Violence, Homelessness and Mental Health and AOD workers outside of Victoria.

Terms & Conditions

Please ensure you have clearance from your line manager to attend. If you cannot attend, cancel your registration and make your spot available to someone else on the waitlist.

Motivational Interviewing: Foundation Skills (online)

*To enrol, change ‘Enrol Now’ to ‘I’m Going’. Check if you’ve enrolled correctly under ‘My Courses’

Date: Wednesday, 10 February 2027, 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Location: Online

Description

Motivational Interviewing is a skills-based approach to conversations about change that focuses on the client’s needs and wants. MI offers a framework for navigating the common experiences of resistance and ambivalence that so often accompanies the change process.

This two-day workshop introduces the framework and rationale of MI, core skills and application of these skills across the change process. Combining theory with practice, the workshop provides a comprehensive overview into what MI is, what it isn’t and how it works in practice. The training is highly interactive, with a focus on practical skill development.

The workshop is suitable for both workers with no knowledge of MI and for those who want to refresh and deepen their understanding and practice of the core skills of MI. 

Eligibility Criteria

This training is open to people working in AOD-specific roles in publicly funded services (i.e. AOD, mental health locals).

Who is not eligible?

Students on placement or internships, workers outside of Victoria, workers not in an AOD-specific role.

Terms & Conditions

If you cannot attend, cancel your registration at least 24 hours before the cancel your registration and make your spot available to someone else on the waitlist.

No shows will be charged a $50 cancellation fee.

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