These new tobacco products are becoming popular, and it is important to understand the health risks of nicotine pouches.

Stay ahead in your field with the Insight Training Calendar — your go-to schedule for high-quality, evidence-based professional development in alcohol and other drug (AOD), mental health and related practice areas. Insight is a Queensland Health initiative delivered by Metro North Mental Health – Alcohol and Drug Service, offering a comprehensive suite of free and accessible training for Queensland-based workers.

For more than 50 years, Colleen Blums has helped shape the landscape of advanced nursing practice in Australia. Known for her leadership, advocacy and commitment to the Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) sector, she has championed the role of nurse practitioners at every stage of her career. 

That legacy is now being recognised through the Colleen Blums Excellence in Nursing Award, an initiative created to celebrate AOD Nurse Practitioners who continue to push the profession forward.

This webinar introduces Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in Alcohol and Other Drug settings, helping practitioners recognise signs, strengthen screening approaches, and adapt practice to better support people with possible FASD.

The Department of Health is working to better understand Queensland Health's workforce challenges because we want to identify the system changes that will have the biggest impact. To help us focus our efforts to greatest advantage for our workforce and our patients, we have undertaken a detailed health workforce analysis, the Workforce Gap Analysis. This report outlines what we have learned from the analysis of our current workforce data and from projections about future workforce supply and demand. It identifies where we have current and emerging workforce challenges across Queensland Health.

The ACT is one step closer to implementing life-saving updates to its alcohol delivery laws, as advocates urge the territory government to implement its Liquor Amendment Bill as soon as possible, following a report from the parliamentary committee looking at the Bill.

Cannabinoids are substances that interact with the body’s endocannabinoid system by binding to cannabinoid receptors. They can occur naturally in the cannabis plant or be created synthetically in a laboratory, and may be derived from or chemically related to cannabis. The two most widely recognised cannabinoids are delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). This updated Drug Facts page outlines the various types of cannabinoids, their common uses, potential effects, risks when combined with other substances, and key harm-reduction considerations.

GHB-related deaths have increased 10-fold since 2013, while the number of hospitalisations more than tripled, according to an Australian-first study from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at UNSW Sydney.

While rates of GHB use are relatively low compared to other illicit drugs such as MDMA, cocaine and methamphetamine, the proportion of Australians reportedly using GHB is rising.

Generation Next are providing a free series of their recorded webinars available to watch online. The webinars are designed to support staff in education settings, but have broad application for those working with children and young people. Webinars are around 30 mins each and include a number of interesting topics such as autism, social media age restrictions, and building resilience through utilising learning strengths.

Penington Institute’s Annual Review 2025 demonstrating yet another year of impact in a challenging policy and funding environment in Australia and internationally. 

New data released this week shows alcohol and gambling companies and their lobby groups donated millions of dollars to Australian political parties around last year’s Federal election, prompting renewed calls from the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) and Alliance for Gambling Reform (AGR) to end political donations from these harmful industries.  

The Next Gen Nurse Practitioners Conference will return to Sydney in June 2026. This purpose-built, practice-focused event is designed for AOD Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Practitioner candidates and students, advanced practice nurses, and clinicians seeking to enter, establish or build on their practice within the AOD specialty.

Build and strengthen your practice with ASHM’s education library, offering a wide range of training on HIV, blood-borne viruses, and sexual and reproductive health.

This Pennington Institute webinar explores rising GHB harms, stimulant co-use risks, intoxication and withdrawal in clubbing and chemsex settings internationally.

The Next Gen Nurse Practitioners (NGNP) Conference returns in 2026 with a boutique, highly specialised two-day program designed exclusively for Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) Nurse Practitioners, Advanced Practice Nurses, and clinicians working within the increasingly complex world of substance use, dependence, and comorbid health concerns.

Receiving the 2025 Colleen Blums Award from Next Gen Nurse Practitioners was a deeply meaningful moment for Nomusa Napier, not only as recognition of her work in Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) nursing, but as affirmation of a career dedicated to leadership, advocacy and compassionate care.

Stay ahead in your field with the Insight Training Calendar — your go-to schedule for high-quality, evidence-based professional development in alcohol and other drug (AOD), mental health and related practice areas. Insight is a Queensland Health initiative delivered by Metro North Mental Health – Alcohol and Drug Service, offering a comprehensive suite of free and accessible training for Queensland-based workers.