A drug court in Dubbo is expected to help treat drug-dependent offenders, rather than lock them away, says principal solicitor Patrick O'Callaghan.
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On Thursday the NSW government announced a $27.9 million drug court would be established in Dubbo within the next year.
The specialist court puts drug-related offenders into treatment rather than sending them to prison, a move that has led to a 17 per cent lower rate of re-offending.
Western NSW Community Legal Centre's principal solicitor Patrick O'Callaghan said the announcement would help address addiction as a heath issue, rather than a criminal one.
"I think that people need to understand, first and foremost we're dealing with a health issue, not a criminal issue," he said.
He said addiction was a health issue, which stemmed from a number of underlying factors, and criminal offending was a by-product of that.
"In the criminal justice system, you go in, you get your outcome and you get whatever the sentence is, it's a very short term outcome that doesn't help," Mr O'Callahan said.
"A drug court is much more of a time-invested, and interested in helping people with their problems, and ultimately for the community can have very positive benefits."
The Dubbo drug court will be the fourth in NSW, joining those in Sydney, Parramatta and Toronto.
Expanding the NSW Drug Court program to Dubbo was one of 39 recommendations made by the Select Committee on the High Level of First Nations People in Custody and Oversight and Review of Deaths in Custody.
People need to understand, first and foremost we're dealing with a health issue, not a criminal issue
- Patrick O'Callaghan
The same recommendation was been made in a 2018 inquiry into drug rehabilitation services in regional, remote and rural areas, as well as in the 2020 inquiry into the drug ice.
The western region in NSW has one of the highest rates of domestic violence, which Mr O'Callahan said would be strongly interconnected with drug use. He said a drug court would also keep rehabilitation and justice close to home.
"For people now to be able to access something such as a drug court locally and be diverted away from the mainstream criminal justice system to deal with their problems, means that they can stay local and get local help, they can access a local drug and alcohol rehab facility as well," he said.
"It means people can stay vested in actually dealing with their issues whilst they're at home, and that can be a real positive and have their family support and friends support to help through that process."