Purpose

Statement of Purpose

Conduct and disseminate research that supports evidence-informed policy and practice to prevent and minimise alcohol and other drug-related health, social, cultural and economic harms.

Values

Our work is guided by the following values:

• Impactful, real-world solution focus
• Social equity and justice
• Commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
• Working with communities in research codesign, conduct and translation
• Rigour and evidence in policy and practice development and implementation
• Encouraging peer and stakeholder review
• Academic independence, excellence, productivity and ethical conduct
• Excellence in workplace culture and support for Early Career Researchers
• Respectful and collegiate team environment that values all members

Philosophy

Since its inception in 1986, NDRI has conducted novel, high quality, strategic research that aims to inform Australia's response to alcohol and other drug problems at local, state and national levels.

Our research follows the philosophy of harm minimisation that has underpinned Australia's National Drug Strategy since 1985. Harm minimisation recognises that drug use, both legal and illegal, is a fact of modern society, and while use may be prevented or reduced, there will always be a need to minimise the harmful consequences of drug use to individuals, families and communities.

Because harm minimisation focuses on the harms caused by drug use, it provides a framework in which a range of strategies can be legitimately used to achieve the overall goal. These strategies can be broadly classified into three areas:

• Demand reduction – encouraging people not to use, to delay use, or to use less of a drug
• Supply reduction – controlling the availability of a drug
• Harm reduction – helping those who continue to use drugs to do so in ways that are less harmful

All three of these areas are being addressed in our research.

Focus

NDRI’s research priority areas align with the National Drug Strategy 2017–2026 and are responsive to current and emerging Australian Government priorities regarding alcohol and other drugs.

Our current focus is on conducting research and building capacity in the following six areas:

• Alcohol and other drug policy and strategies;
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health;
• Innovation in prevention and early intervention;
• Social contexts of alcohol and other drug use;
• Reducing harm among people who use alcohol and other drugs;
• Innovation in the management of alcohol and other drug problems.

For more information download our Strategic Plan.

NDRI focuses on research and other outputs that have policy and practice relevance and impact. To achieve this, we work in partnership and collaboration with Australian, state and local governments; with health, social and law enforcement services; and with communities. To ensure broad and enduring impact, capacity building is central to our work.

We work closely with researchers from a number of universities and research centres around Australia, including our three sister organisations: the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at the University of New South Wales in Sydney; the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA) at Flinders University in Adelaide; and the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research (NCYSUR) at the University of Queensland.

We have formal Collaborating Centre links with several Australian centres that conduct alcohol and other drug research: the Australian Institute of Criminology (Canberra), the Drug and Alcohol Services Council of South Australia, Turning Point (Melbourne), and the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.

We are also collaborating partners in the Australian Indigenous Alcohol and Other Drugs Knowledge Centre and the Centre for Research Excellence into Injecting Drug Use.

Our researchers work in collaboration with others to provide alcohol and other drug resources such as Lives of Substance, Cracks in the Ice, Positive Choices and Breaking the Ice.

We also work collaboratively with a number of organisations internationally, such as the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research in Canada, Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University and Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil.

National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs (NCCRED)

The National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs (NCCRED) was formed as a consortium between St Vincent’s Health Australia (SVHA); the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA, Flinders University); the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI, Curtin University); and the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC, University of New South Wales).

NCCRED recognises the need for improved treatment of methamphetamine use and dependence, and prompt detection and response to trends in emerging drugs.

NCCRED aims to: support clinicians to detect and respond to new drug health problems by developing innovative and evidence-based new treatments for drug dependence; build clinical research networks and capacity in the Australian AOD workforce; and implement rapid translation of research findings into effective clinical practice.

The National Drug Research Institute's research is consistent with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Specifically, NDRI’s research aligns with Goal 3: 'Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages', and in particular Target 3.5: 'Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol.' Individual research projects may also align with other goals and targets, depending on their focus.