Amid national ice crisis, Aboriginal community rehabilitation centres are fighting back
Kane Wandin's withdrawn demeanour shifts when asked if he has a favourite tattoo.
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he → fight → tattoo
The 26-year-old pulls back the sleeve of his hoodie, straightens his posture and holds his arm stiffly in front of his chest, as if providing a shield for his own body.
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old → pull → body
Etched across his forearm, in permanent black ink, is the word Wurundjeri.
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word → etch → ink
"I spent basically my whole life on drugs and on the streets," he says.
"Connecting to culture was what [gave] the most strength in helping me sort myself out and get off drugs.
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me → spend → drugs
"
Hidden from view, amid the rustling gums and gentle breeze from a distant coastline, the lives of young First Nations people like Mr Wandin are quietly being changed forever.
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lives → hide → Wandin
Set in an undisclosed nook of Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, Bunjilwarra is an Aboriginal community-controlled residential rehabilitation centre and healing site for people recovering from addiction.
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Bunjilwarra → Set → addiction
At the heart of the grounds, a fire crackles gently throughout the day, stoked by residents on log stools.
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fire → crackle → stools
A nearby basketball court abuts a veggie garden.
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court → abut → garden
The art room windows look out to a set of footy goals.
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windows → look → goals
"To feel the energy here being solely run by mob, for mob … you've got Uncle over there, you've got Auntie calling out, 'Lunch is ready, come and eat,'" says Carla Lauch, a Gunditjmara Kirrae Whurrong—Bundjalung Yaegl woman and youth mentor at Bunjilwarra.
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Lauch → feel → Bunjilwarra
"Honestly, it feels like home."
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it → feel → home
As Australia's drug consumption reaches record levels, experts say the culturally centred model offers valuable lessons for a broader community problem.
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model → reach → problem
"This place gave me stability," Mr Wandin says.
"
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Wandin → give → stability
It saved my life.
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It → save → life
"
Ice 'twice the problem' of cocaine
If there is hope to be found inside the walls of Bunjilwarra, there is ringing alarm to be heard outside of them.
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Ice → be → them
For those working at the intersection of drugs, crime and homelessness, the unabated rise of methamphetamine in particular — or ice — in the broader community is of profound concern.
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rise → work → concern
Australia has among the world's highest per capita use of ice (also referred to by authorities as methylamphetamine), with recent national drug detection data finding record levels turning up in our wastewater.
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levels → have → wastewater
It poses the highest threat.
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It → pose → threat
It also causes the most harm of the illicit drugs," says Shane Neilsen, principal drug specialist at the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).
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Neilsen → cause → Commission
"Cocaine seems to get a lot of the coverage.
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Cocaine → seem → coverage
The point I would make is that twice as much methamphetamine is consumed in Australia as cocaine.
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methamphetamine → make → cocaine
Mr Wandin was just 13 and living on the streets of Frankston in Melbourne's south-east when he started using ice.
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he → live → ice
"As bad as it all sounds in the news, it's worse," he says.
"Ice is everywhere at the moment."
The ACIC estimates the street value of the drug at $11 billion over the most recent 12-month reporting period.
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ACIC → sound → period
"If anything, per capita it's more prevalent in regional and remote areas of Australia than it is in capital cities," Mr Neilsen says.
"Serious and organised crime groups have established networks that can supply local communities.
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that → say → communities
"There's a whole series of cases in which … crime groups are cynical enough to provide methylamphetamine to users and say that they can consume a portion themselves and sell the rest to pay for it.
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they → be → it
"That way they're outsourcing the most risky part of the supply chain — the local level distribution — to people who are also using."
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who → outsource → people
Carla Lauch says Bunjilwarra, which is run by the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service, is seeing a "huge increase" in young people who have used methamphetamine.
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who → say → methamphetamine
"Meth is very scary," she says.
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she → say → ?
"Alcohol was bad enough for our mob and then you've got something as potent as methamphetamine …
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you → get → methamphetamine
to see how it changes them and the effects that it has on their lives and their family and the community is devastating."
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it → see → lives
New analysis from the Penington Institute found Indigenous Australians were more than four times more likely to die from an unintentional drug overdose, with methamphetamine a significant contributing factor.
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methamphetamine → find → overdose
On the Central Coast of New South Wales at the Aboriginal community-controlled rehabilitation treatment centre The Glen, demand for services far outstrips capacity.
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demand → control → capacity
"You literally couldn't even apply for a bed at The Glen a lot of the time.
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You → apply → time
I'm not saying that with pride," The Glen's executive director, Joe Coyte, says.
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director → say → pride
"We don't shut applications because beds are full.
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beds → shut → applications
We shut because beds are full and we've already got 100 people who've been assessed and another 60 or 70 in the system being assessed.
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60 → shut → system
"So there's no point us taking more applications."
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us → be → applications
'We are keeping kids out of jail'
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We → keep → jail
In his time as deputy director of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, Anthony Shakeshaft investigated the benefits of Indigenous-led programs in aiding rehabilitation and combating drug harm.
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Shakeshaft → investigate → harm
He believes more centres are "absolutely" needed around the country.
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centres → believe → country
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia