Overdose continues to have a devastating impact on people, families and communities across Victoria. At SHARC, we know this all too well through the experiences shared by the people and families we work alongside every day.
We welcome the Victorian Government’s rollout of naloxone dispensing machines across the state. This is a practical harm reduction measure that will help make this life-saving medication more accessible to those who need it.
Naloxone is a free, easy-to-use medication that can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose. It is safe, legal, non-addictive, and can be administered by anyone in an emergency.
Opioid overdose remains the leading cause of drug-related death in Victoria. While many people associate overdose with non-prescription opioid use, it can also affect people taking prescribed opioid medications. The recent emergence of highly potent synthetic opioids, such as nitazenes, has also increased concerns about overdose risks, with these substances increasingly being detected in drugs including cocaine, ketamine and MDMA.
As part of the Victorian Government’s Statewide Action Plan to reduce drug harms and expand care, 20 naloxone dispensing machines will be installed across Victoria by June 2027. This includes 10 machines in metropolitan Melbourne and 10 in regional and rural communities. Each pack of machine-dispensed naloxone contains two easy-to-use nasal sprays and instructions for responding to an overdose emergency.
Machines have already been installed at:
- Alfred Emergency and Trauma Centre (Melbourne)
- Bayside Health (Melbourne)
- Sunshine Hospital, Western Health (Brimbank)
Additional locations will be rolled out in the coming months, including:
- Bendigo Community Health Services (Greater Bendigo)
- Gippsland Lakes Complete Health (Lakes Entrance, East Gippsland)
- Primary Care Connect (Greater Shepparton)
- Your Community Health (East Reservoir, Darebin)
- Latrobe Community Health Service (Morwell, Latrobe)
- Ballarat Community Health
- Sunraysia Community Health Service (Mildura)
- Gateway Health (Wangaratta)