*To enrol, change ‘Enrol Now’ to ‘I’m Going’. Check if you’ve enrolled correctly under ‘My Courses’
Date: Thursday, 3 December 2026
Time: 9:30AM – 1:00PM
Location: Online (a link will be sent to your email address prior to the workshop date)
Description:
This half-day workshop will build and strengthen core knowledge and skills in understanding and maintaining professional boundaries, specifically when working with clients with alcohol and other drug issues. This will include:
Understanding professional boundaries
Strategies to prevent and respond to boundary challenges
Consideration of specific boundary issues to different AOD treatment roles, including lived experience roles
The use of technology
Selfcare
This workshop will use case based discussion throughout to ensure knowledge and skills taught are relevant to the AOD workforce.
Key learning outcomes:
Understand professional boundaries and their maintenance
Recognise and respond to boundary challenges
Build your own toolkit of practitioner-specific boundary maintenance strategies, including managing technology
Recognise your own and your colleagues’ warning signs and challenging client presentations
Enhance your self-care skills and know when to debrief and access further support
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 and make your spot available to someone else on the waitlist.
*To enrol, change ‘Enrol Now’ to ‘I’m Going’. Check if you’ve enrolled correctly under ‘My Courses’
This is a 2-day training.
Day 1: Wednesday 21 October 2026, 1:00PM – 5:00PM
Day 2: Thursday 22 October 2026, 9:30AM – 12:30PM
Enrolling to Day 1 automatically enrols you into Day 2.
Location: Online
Description: An entry-level introduction to harm reduction principles and best practice, delivered by peer trainers from Harm Reduction Victoria. Across 7 modules (delivered over two half-days online), you’ll gain a basic understanding of key topics and learn directly from people with living experience about what people who use drugs really want and need from services. There is an activity that needs to be completed before attending the second day of training. Participants will receive details via email the week before the training.
Eligibility Criteria
This training has been funded for workers employed under the Victorian AOD Traineeship initiative, and AOD workers working in state funded services.
Terms & Conditions
If you cannot attend, cancel your registration and make your spot available to someone else on the waitlist.
An evidence-based introduction to writing effective, clinically relevant and legally compliant case notes for the AOD sector, presented by Greg Coman.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This online training is only available to staff who are working in a Victorian Department of Health (DH) funded AOD organisation in an AOD role.
This training aims to enable alcohol and other drug (AOD) workers to understand the benefits of writing effective case notes for them, their clients, and their workplace. It will provide the basis for the development of essential skills required for effective case note writing.
The online workshop is pitched at an introductory/ beginner level, but previous participants with some case note writing experience have reported it to be a helpful refresher. It provides: an understanding of what case notes are; an understanding of the importance and benefits of case notes; guidelines for the content and style of case notes; and opportunities to learn and practice effective case note writing. Videos are used throughout to illustrate points. Participants will be introduced to templates they can consider using in their clinical practice.
Greg Coman PhD is a Counselling Psychologist with over thirty years experience working in a wide range of mental health settings. His tertiary qualifications reflect his interests in stress, trauma and problem gambling. Greg undertook his Master of Science degree in psychology, examining stress and coping amongst Australian police personnel. His PhD thesis examined the efficacy of group telephone counselling for people with gambling difficulties. He has worked as a psychologist in community health, employee assistance programs and military settings. He has extensive experience in the adult mental health education and training environment and is passionate about providing training to assist clinicians in their work with clients.
NOTE: This online training is only available to staff who are working in a Victorian Department of Health (DH) funded AOD organisation in an AOD role, please register with your WORK email, your ticket will be cancelled if you do not use your work email, thank you.
Cancellation policy: This training is free, however if your circumstances change please log into your Eventbrite account and cancel your registration or alternatively email tp@turningpoint.org.au to advise of your inability to complete.
An evidence-based introduction to writing effective, clinically relevant and legally compliant case notes for the AOD sector, presented by Greg Coman.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This online training is only available to staff who are working in a Victorian Department of Health (DH) funded AOD organisation in an AOD role.
This training aims to enable alcohol and other drug (AOD) workers to understand the benefits of writing effective case notes for them, their clients, and their workplace. It will provide the basis for the development of essential skills required for effective case note writing.
The online workshop is pitched at an introductory/ beginner level, but previous participants with some case note writing experience have reported it to be a helpful refresher. It provides: an understanding of what case notes are; an understanding of the importance and benefits of case notes; guidelines for the content and style of case notes; and opportunities to learn and practice effective case note writing. Videos are used throughout to illustrate points. Participants will be introduced to templates they can consider using in their clinical practice.
Greg Coman PhD is a Counselling Psychologist with over thirty years experience working in a wide range of mental health settings. His tertiary qualifications reflect his interests in stress, trauma and problem gambling. Greg undertook his Master of Science degree in psychology, examining stress and coping amongst Australian police personnel. His PhD thesis examined the efficacy of group telephone counselling for people with gambling difficulties. He has worked as a psychologist in community health, employee assistance programs and military settings. He has extensive experience in the adult mental health education and training environment and is passionate about providing training to assist clinicians in their work with clients.
Date: Wednesday 16th September 2026 Time: 9:30am – 3:30pm Venue: Online Register:here, please register with your work email. Cost: Free Enquiries:tp@turningpoint.org.au
NOTE: This online training is only available to staff who are working in a Victorian Department of Health (DH) funded AOD organisation in an AOD role, please register with your WORK email, your ticket will be cancelled if you do not use your work email, thank you.
Cancellation policy: This training is free, however if your circumstances change please log into your Eventbrite account and cancel your registration or alternatively email tp@turningpoint.org.au to advise of your inability to complete.
This is a 45 minute Turning Point Connect & Learn webinar. To attend the webinar, click the link below to register.
Description: Dr. Daniel Pham is an addiction psychiatrist at Turning Point, currently working across its Statewide Services in Richmond and Turning Point Eastern Treatment Services in Box Hill. His area of interest includes the treatment of persons with co-occurring addictive and mental disorders, including pharmacological, psychological, and social intervention modalities. This webinar will explore a broad look at the different approaches to the prescribing, deprescribing and management of benzodiazepines in the addictions/AOD context.
Date: Tuesday, 14 July 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.
Since the legislative and societal shift from addressing public intoxication with a law-enforcement response to a health response, cohealth and other providers have been providing both outreach and temporary sobering-up services to people displaying intoxication in public places.
In this presentation, Dean and Andrea will reflect on the learnings from operating this service. Dean will also look at the current treatment approach to alcohol use disorder and review the evidence for adopting a more harm reduction-focused paradigm. Andrea will discuss how public intoxication services operate as an entry point for those requiring assistance to manage their use of alcohol.
Dr Dean Membrey is a general practitioner and addiction medicine specialist who has over a decade of experience providing health care to people experiencing substance use disorders. He is passionate about providing holistic, patient-centred care in community settings to understand the social, cultural and psychological influences on their presentation. He currently works at cohealth Innerspace and provides outreach services in the Melbourne CBD to people experiencing homelessness.
Andrea Fischer is the Director of Community-based Drug and Alcohol Responses at Cohealth. Andrea has a long career in Public Health, having worked for the Burnet and Doherty Institutes. She specialises in managing large-scale public health activities in Victoria and overseas. Her passion is working with people who use alcohol and other drugs, with an emphasis on infectious diseases prevention, testing and treatment.
Connect & Learn webinar series addresses a wide range of practice-relevant topics presented by local expert clinicians. The webinars aim to enhance the capabilities of Victorian AOD and MH workers in responding to substance use and addiction issues among their clients and consumers.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This webinar is funded by the Victorian Department of Health and is only available for Victorians to register
Date:Tuesday 21st April 2026 Time: 1pm to 1:45pm AEDT
Since the legislative and societal shift from addressing public intoxication with a law-enforcement response to a health response, cohealth and other providers have been providing both outreach and temporary sobering-up services to people displaying intoxication in public places.
In this presentation, Dean and Andrea will reflect on the learnings from operating this service. Dean will also look at the current treatment approach to alcohol use disorder and review the evidence for adopting a more harm reduction-focused paradigm. Andrea will discuss how public intoxication services operate as an entry point for those requiring assistance to manage their use of alcohol.
Dr Dean Membrey is a general practitioner and addiction medicine specialist who has over a decade of experience providing health care to people experiencing substance use disorders. He is passionate about providing holistic, patient-centred care in community settings to understand the social, cultural and psychological influences on their presentation. He currently works at cohealth Innerspace and provides outreach services in the Melbourne CBD to people experiencing homelessness.
Andrea Fischer is the Director of Community-based Drug and Alcohol Responses at Cohealth. Andrea has a long career in Public Health, having worked for the Burnet and Doherty Institutes. She specialises in managing large-scale public health activities in Victoria and overseas. Her passion is working with people who use alcohol and other drugs, with an emphasis on infectious diseases prevention, testing and treatment.
Connect & Learn webinar series addresses a wide range of practice-relevant topics presented by local expert clinicians. The webinars aim to enhance the capabilities of Victorian AOD and MH workers in responding to substance use and addiction issues among their clients and consumers.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This webinar is funded by the Victorian Department of Health and is only available for Victorians to register
Date:Tuesday 21st April 2026 Time: 1pm to 1:45pm AEDT
This presentation aims to improve knowledge about the prevalence of comorbid mental health and substance use disorders, their relationship and impact on recovery. Dr Lea Foo and Elvira Tsecoutanis will provide tools and strategies to support addressing comorbid mental health conditions in the AOD space.
Dr Lea Foo is an Addiction Psychiatrist at Western Health Drug Health Services. She works with people who use drugs (PWUD) and supports other clinicians working with PWUD through the Hamilton Centre Victoria Statewide service for people living with mental illness and substance use or addiction, and in general hospital settings through the Addiction Medicine consultation service. Dr Lea Foo also coordinates the training program for doctors specialising in Addiction Medicine and Addiction Psychiatry at Western Health.
Elvira Tsecoutanis has been in recovery from a long-term heroin addiction for eight years. Elvira has Bipolar II Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD). She spent three decades trying to navigate services for dual diagnosis to access treatment for her addiction and mental health issues. Eight years ago, she found a recovery support group and multidisciplinary team of professionals, all of which she credits with saving her life. Elvira is employed by Western Health in Drug Health Services as a Peer Lead for AOD Peer Workforce.
Cost: Free Date: Tuesday, 28 April 2026, time: 1:00 PM to 1:45 PM AEST
Dr Limor Theedar is a consultant psychiatrist and an addiction specialist. She has experience working across a broad range of psychiatry in the past 25 years. Dr Limor was the lead psychiatrist involved in setting up and running Westside Lodge, which is a statewide public dual diagnosis residential rehabilitation service that provides treatment for clients with severe substance use disorders and co-existing psychiatric conditions. It is now in its 8th year since opening.
Dr Limor will be talking about Adult ADHD. Discussion about the increasing public awareness of this diagnosis and, consequently, a rising demand for assessment, diagnosis and treatment.
Clients with a history of substance misuse face additional difficulties in accessing assessments, diagnosis, and treatment. What impact is increasing public awareness of Adult ADHD having on the demand for assessment, diagnosis and treatment? What additional difficulties are clients with a history of substance misuse facing in accessing assessments, diagnosis and treatment?
How do we sensibly approach ADHD assessment, and what are the specific considerations for clients with a positive substance use history?
Connect & Learn webinar series addresses a wide range of practice-relevant topics presented by local expert clinicians. The webinars aim to enhance the capabilities of Victorian AOD and MH workers in responding to substance use and addiction issues among their clients and consumers.
Eligibility Criteria
Open to workers in Victorian state-funded services.
The Healing the Past by Nurturing the Future culturally safe trauma-informed care training aims to improve service providers understanding of trauma and build confidence providing safe and supportive care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
In this webinar we will focus on one aspect of this training – the neurophysiology and neurological biology of trauma. We will:
describe different types of trauma (PTSD, Complex PTSD, intergenerational trauma), how the stress response can become dysregulated, trauma-related changes to brain structure and function, and how epigenetic changes may facilitate the inheritance of trauma-related responses across generations.
help providers understand how challenging behaviours and presentations may be explained by previous trauma and should be viewed as understandable, adaptive coping strategies, and provide strategies to prevent re-traumatisation in health care settings.
introduce Working Towards Safe and Sacred Care: A toolkit to support culturally responsive, trauma-aware, healing-informed continuity of care/r for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in the perinatal period.
Presenter: Dr Kim Jones is a Senior Research Fellow and deputy head of the Indigenous Health Equity Unit at Onemda, the University of Melbourne. She is a non-Indigenous researcher with a background in trauma research and training, neuroscience, and clinical guideline development. Kim’s research focuses on community-led and co-designed implementation and evaluation projects that aim to strengthen services to support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families with complex and intergenerational trauma.
We at VAADA acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung People as the traditional owners of the land on which we reside and pay respect to elders past, present and emerging. We also acknowledge that this land was never ceded.
