Dubbo Drug Court opens, advocates celebrate a chance to 'break the cycle'

The Department of Communities and Justice invited lawyers, advocates, members of the police and the community to a ceremonial sitting. It was led by Her Honour Judge Jane Mottley AM, Senior Judge at the Drug Court of NSW who said it wasn't a justice issue but a "significant health issue".

"Without the drug court, people would continue to cycle in and out of custody," Judge Mottley said.

She said the partnership between justice and health needed to continue. She believed participants must be given a chance to break the cycle to become "prosocial" and live "productive lives".

Later that day, the first drug court participant would be come before the court with three others waiting to see if they were eligible.

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Robert Hoyles, director of the criminal law division at Legal Aid NSW was especially happy to see a collectives' dream come true. He lauded the decade-long struggle to bring the Drug Court to Dubbo and profusely thanked Legal Aid stalwart Bill Dickens for his contributions.

"From the early advocacy of local lawyers and judicial officers, to the half a million signed petition from Dubbo... all the way to parliament house to demonstrate the true postcode lottery that was occurring particularly in western NSW, this has been a long time coming," Mr Hoyles said

"Some defendants [still] need to travel more than 400 kilometres to access a residential rehabilitation centre and all the while the state of Aboriginal incarceration... the gap is widening.

"This Drug Court an essential part of the solution and represents true investment in treating the systemic causes of crime."

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Member for Dubbo Dugald Saunders said the Drug Court was not going soft on crime, but was a pathway for much better outcomes.

A cheaper alternative to imprisoning people, the Drug Court will combine health and legal processes to reduce drug-dependency and re-offending.

"What we know is with a different pathway, people are able to make different choices with the support around them. Particularly, around the community impact and being able to do this while at home, re-integrating into community, having housing, looking at training and job security, this can make a real difference to people's lives," Mr Saunders said.

When questioned about the delay in opening the Drug Court in June 2022 to February this year, Mr Saunders said "it was a process" as it was the "first one in regional NSW". Previously, he told Daily Liberal it was because the government was still trying to find the health workforce to back up the program.

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Accompanying Judge Mottley on the bench was His Honour Judge Roger Dive. He is now retired but used to be a children's court magistrate in Dubbo. He thanked legal and health professionals as well as the community that agitated for a Drug Court in Dubbo for many years.

"I just knew as a magistrate here all those years ago that there was a need and there was the opportunity," he said.

He shared one of his favourite Drug Court graduation stories from the Parramatta branch. The man graduating had told his fellow graduates "this is not the end, this is just the beginning."