Heroin-related Ambulance attendances

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) — My question is to Minister Mikakos, representing the Minister for Ambulance Services. Reducing pressure on ambulance services and improving ambulance response times are stated priorities of the Andrews government. In October 2016 Turning Point released its report Ambo Project: Alcohol and Drug-Related Ambulance Attendances. The report shows that for the financial year 2013–14 there were 2155 heroin-related ambulance attendances in metropolitan Melbourne. That was a 13.8 per cent increase from the previous year, and it equates to nearly six heroin-related attendances every single day. The Ambulance Victoria website says:

… the average cost of an emergency transport is more than $1100 …

suggesting that the ambulance response costs for heroin overdoses in metropolitan Melbourne alone exceed $2.3 million per year. Minister, what is the actual cost of heroin-related ambulance attendances in Melbourne in the calendar years of 2015 and 2016?

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) — More than three Victorians died per week from heroin overdoses last year, and critical ambulance resources were responding to nearly six heroin overdoses a day in Melbourne. In today’s front-page article in the Herald Sun ambulance call-outs to Kings Cross are quoted to have fallen by 80 per cent in the time the Sydney safe injecting centre has been in operation. The ambulance employees union has today said injecting rooms would reduce assaults on ambos and free up crews. Does the government agree that in addition to saving lives a supervised injecting centre in North Richmond would reduce pressure on ambulance services?

The PRESIDENT — Order! I am a little bit concerned about anticipation in this one because we are, as I understand, to have a bill read into Parliament and there has been media commentary and so forth on this matter. Because it has not come in yet, I will accept the question, but Minister, you might be guided by the fact that this matter is likely to have at least some exposure this week.