Evaluation of Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council's AOD-Our-Way Project

In 2016–17, the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC) and the Queensland Indigenous Substance Misuse Council (QISMC) were contracted by Queensland Health to undertake the ‘Development and delivery of evidence-informed workforce training and education, clinical tools and resources to support the implementation of frontline ‘Ice’ initiatives in Queensland’. To this end, in conjunction with partner organisations, QAIHC/QISMC: (1) developed and modified a set of resources for frontline workers; (2) conducted 21 ‘Crystal Clear’ workshops in locations across Queensland for 430 AOD and other service providers; and (3) conducted a state-wide ‘Dual Diagnosis and Brief Intervention Workshop’ for 34 participants and regional workshop for seven participants.

Evaluation of the program was undertaken by NDRI. The aim of the Evaluation was to document the lessons learned from the 21 Crystal Clear workshops and state-wide Dual Diagnosis and Brief Intervention training workshops and to make suggestions to QAIHC/QISMC for improving the design and delivery of similar workshops in the future. The evaluation was based on interviews with program staff, group interviews with participants, documentary data and participant evaluations conducted by QAIHC. The evaluation found that QAIHC/QISMC had met all of the performance indicators set out in its service agreement and it made recommendations for strengthening future initiatives in this areas and their evaluation.