A former NSW District Court judge has thrown his support behind the push for a drug court and residential rehabilitation facility to be established at Dubbo.
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John Nicholson SC was a judge of the District Court of NSW between 2001 and 2012 and regularly presided over sittings of the court in Dubbo.
He said it was apparent there was a wide range of social problems in the community that lead to young offenders sentenced to imprisonment on drug related offences – often because sentences focusing on rehabilitation were out of the question.
“That was because of an absence of any supervised full-time residential facility in Dubbo or Wellington,” Mr Nicholson said.
“I was regularly confronted with cases where accused persons would be seeking bail to attend rehabilitation and where those efforts were frustrated by the lack of local services.
“A rehabilitation centre in Dubbo could service much of the western area and greatly assist particularly the local Aboriginal community.”
The absence of a centre in Dubbo meant young offenders – and the community – were at a disadvantage by comparison with other centres that did have such a facility, Mr Nicholson said.
“The offender lost because his/her drug addiction was not addressed, the community lost because the offender was invariably released still a using drug addict,” he said.
“One of the very positive things about Drug Court is the array of support services that come with it.
“A Drug Court is much needed in the Dubbo region as the services it would bring with it.”
Speaking immediately after his election as mayor of the Dubbo Regional Council (DRC) Ben Shields pledged his support for a drug court and rehabilitation centre in the region.
Cr Shields also vowed to support the formation of a new committee of council to oversee projects designed to help “break the links between inter-generational social disadvantage and substance abuse, criminal behaviour and other social problems”.
“Going forward we must as a community examine what is known as justice reinvestment.”
“This boils down to a simple idea: spending time and money to prevent crime in the first place, rather than dealing with the symptoms of social problems through the courts and jails,” Cr Shields said.
Mr Nicholson commended the new DRC for “taking up this challenge”.
“The community of Dubbo will in the long run greatly benefit from a forward looking council with the courage to tackle long neglected social issues,” he said.
“Justice Reinvestment needs to guide all approaches in a town like Dubbo.
“Unlike smaller towns such as Bourke and Walgett, Dubbo having an adequate population base, has the resources, population and industries to make justice reinvestment a success.”
Two weeks ago a social case worker said a centre and more resources for treatment in Dubbo are desperately needed to help combat the ice epidemic.
The Salvation Army’s Rural Alcohol and Other Drugs Support Service (RAODSS) case worker Leyna Howard said services in the area were struggling to cope with demand.
Ms Howard said 30 per cent of her client base was addicted to ice and there were more who were seeking assistance. There are currently two facilities that service the Central West, at Brewarrina and Orange, but demand for services is high.
