NEWS

31 May 2021
The Network of Alcohol and other Drugs Agencies (NADA) received both the 2021 service provider of the year award and the 2021 gold service provider award, as part of the Australian Health + Wellbeing Equality Index, presented at the Australian LGBTQ Awards in Sydney on 28 May 2021.

This is the third year that NADA has put in a submission for ACON’s Health + Wellbeing Equality Index (HWEI). The HWEI provides organisations within the health, human services and wellbeing sector with an opportunity to assess and benchmark LGBTQ-inclusive service provision across Australia. ACON’s Pride in Health + Wellbeing program supports organisations in their inclusive services, and also hosts this free annual benchmark and survey tools.

LGBTQ communities use alcohol and other drugs (AOD) at higher rates than the general population and are identified as a priority population in the National Drug Strategy. “We know that LGBTQ communities experience barriers to accessing health services, including AOD services, and we need to reflect on the way we deliver services to ensure that they are safe and inclusive,” said NADA CEO, Robert Stirling.

“While NADA doesn’t provide direct health services, we do support over 100 non government AOD services through our members, and want to demonstrate our commitment to inclusive practice to the sector,” said Mr Stirling.

“We still have some way to go as a sector to ensure that AOD treatment is safe and inclusive for LGBTQ communities, but the shift in attitudes and progress of AOD treatment services to improve inclusive practice is evident. We also need both levels of government to ensure they include gender and sexuality data items in all data collections, so we better understand health service utilisation and outcomes for LGBTQ communities,” he said.

NADA creates a range of resources to support its members to provide inclusive services—most of which have been developed in partnership with members, ACON Substance Support Service and The Gender Centre. The resources include eLearning modules, guidelines and webinar content that leverage off the lived experience of LGBTQ communities and providers, as well as NADA’s own members that are demonstrating best practice.

“NADA encourages the AOD sector to explore the potential to undertake the HWEI. Available from www.prideinhealth.com.au, it’s a free tool to assess how inclusive their services are for LGBTQ communities, and see how they rate against other services,” he said.

For more information please contact Robert Stirling, Chief Executive Officer, on 0421647099 or

Download media release [PDF]
Download photo

Photo credit: Mark Bond Photography, 2021 Australian LGBTQ Inclusion Awards
Pictured from left to right: Robert Stirling, NADA CEO and Michael Ebeid AM, Co Patron, Pride in Health + Wellbeing