Renmark Paringa Council collaborated with Riverland Regional Health Service, South Australia Police, Drug and Alcohol Services South Australia and ABC Riverland to hold a forum in July called ‘Knowing the facts about ICE’.
The purpose of the forum was to educate the community on the drug ‘ice’.
Council chose to organise the forum due to the drug’s prevalence in the media, and its role in an increasing demand on services.
The goal of the forum was for the community to band together, put their questions to a panel of experts and for politicians in attendance to hear the needs and opinions of the community.
Present at the forum were Member for Barker Tony Pasin, Senator Anne Ruston, Member for Chaffey Tim Whetstone and Senator Anne McEwen.
Over 700 community members attended the forum, with over 500 people listening to a livestream of the event on the ABC Riverland website.
Over 150 text messages with questions for the panel were received.
South Australian Police Officer in charge of the Murray Mallee Local Service Area Superintendent James Blandford, stated that the issue cannot be solved by policing alone, but required a a whole of community approach.
Going forward Council hopes to detail the project into a comprehensive report which will include data taken from Service Providers and attendees of the forum to gain a better understanding of what impact ice is having on the Riverland community.
Council also hopes that the report and the recorded footage will be a valuable resource for others.
