Deadline for drug injecting room report to be ignored

The Victorian government could rely on executive privilege to reject a two-week deadline to release a long-awaited report into a possible second supervised drug injecting room.

On Wednesday the upper house passed a motion ordering the state government to release former Victoria Police commissioner Ken Lay's report by March 6.

The report, which was commissioned in 2020, maps out drug-taking patterns in the Melbourne CBD and will provide advice on establishing a medically supervised injecting service trial in the city.

It was handed to the government at the end of May but remains unpublished almost nine months later.

Premier Jacinta Allan said the government is still considering the key report and would not be rushed into releasing its contents.

"(We) will release it in due course, once the government has made its decision," she told reporters on Thursday.

"That timeline will be determined by the government, not political motions that have been passed in the Legislative Council."

Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said the Department of Premier and Cabinet was assessing the order but confirmed the government can claim executive privilege over certain documents.

"I don't want to pre-empt the processes," she said.

"It's not a document that is in my portfolio."

Executive privilege allows governments to withhold information from the legislature on public interest grounds.

Opposition mental health spokeswoman Emma Kealy said Ms Symes, who is the government's leader in the upper house, could face punishment if the motion was ignored.

"If Labor choose to continue to keep this secret, there will be ramifications and it could result in the leader of the house being suspended from the chamber for an extended period of time," she said.

A medically supervised injecting room trial in the CBD has been mooted for years, with the government buying a building near Degraves Street and a Salvation Army hub on Bourke Street flagged as a potential site in July.

Victoria's first injecting room in North Richmond was opened in June 2018 under a trial and made permanent in May after a review found it safely managed almost 6000 overdoses and saved 63 lives.

Keep Our City Alive, a group of pro-injecting room CBD residents, business owners and community leaders, said the release of the Lay report was long overdue.

"While we wait, two people die of heroin overdose every month in the CBD according to the Victorian Coroner's Court data," said group spokeswoman and CBD resident Jill Melon-Robertson.

"The CBD community is crying out for a response to the tragic loss of life and the Lay report is a missing piece of the puzzle."

License this article

What is AAPNews?

For the first time, Australian Associated Press is delivering news straight to the consumer.

No ads. No spin. News straight-up.

Not only do you get to enjoy high-quality news delivered straight to your desktop or device, you do so in the knowledge you are supporting media diversity in Australia.

AAP Is Australia’s only independent newswire service, free from political and commercial influence, producing fact-based public interest journalism across a range of topics including politics, courts, sport, finance and entertainment.

What is AAPNews?
The Morning Wire

Wake up to AAPNews’ morning news bulletin delivered straight to your inbox or mobile device, bringing you up to speed with all that has happened overnight at home and abroad, as well as setting you up what the day has in store.

AAPNews Morning Wire
AAPNews Breaking News
Breaking News

Be the first to know when major breaking news happens.


Notifications will be sent to your device whenever a big story breaks, ensuring you are never in the dark when the talking points happen.

Focused Content

Enjoy the best of AAP’s specialised Topics in Focus. AAP has reporters dedicated to bringing you hard news and feature content across a range of specialised topics including Environment, Agriculture, Future Economies, Arts and Refugee Issues.

AAPNews Focussed Content
Subscription Plans

Choose the plan that best fits your needs. AAPNews offers two basic subscriptions, all billed monthly.

Once you sign up, you will have seven days to test out the service before being billed.

AAPNews Full Access Plan
Full Access
AU$10
  • Enjoy all that AAPNews has to offer
  • Access to breaking news notifications and bulletins
  • Includes access to all AAPNews’ specialised topics
Join Now
AAPNews Student Access Plan
Student Access
AU$5
  • Gain access via a verified student email account
  • Enjoy all the benefits of the ‘Full Access’ plan at a reduced rate
  • Subscription renews each month
Join Now
AAPNews Annual Access Plan
Annual Access
AU$99
  • All the benefits of the 'Full Access' subscription at a discounted rate
  • Subscription automatically renews after 12 months
Join Now

AAPNews also offers enterprise deals for businesses so you can provide an AAPNews account for your team, organisation or customers. Click here to contact AAP to sign-up your business today.

SEVEN DAYS FREE
Download the app
Download AAPNews on the App StoreDownload AAPNews on the Google Play Store