Always about the people

Active for over 20 years

I came into the addiction sector because I wanted to understand what was happening in my own family, in my own life, and more broadly in society. That curiosity led me to study addiction in the early 2000s, and more than 20 years later I still feel incredibly privileged to be part of this workforce. Every role I have held, whether as a clinician, university lecturer, general manager at Odyssey, or a funder, has shaped the way I see addiction practice today. Those experiences now come together in my role as Executive Director of Dapaanz, where I have the opportunity to support the people who support others every day.

The workforce perspective

When I think about the state of addiction in Aotearoa today, I naturally see it through the lens of the workforce. That is where my focus sits every day. From where I stand, we have an exceptionally skilled, committed and growing specialist workforce. These are people who do difficult work in increasingly difficult circumstances. They bring expertise, compassion and resilience to some of the most challenging situations imaginable, and they do it every single day.

Increasing complexity

What has changed is not the commitment of our workforce, but the complexity of the environment they are working in. Addiction has always involved complexity, but today's presentations are becoming more challenging because practitioners are also dealing with the wider determinants of health.

• Poverty
• People who are unhoused
• Unstable housing
• Disconnection from education, culture and identity

all these factors influence recovery. They are not new, but they are becoming more pronounced, making it harder for practitioners to help people achieve lasting change.

Evolving challenges

Alongside those wider social issues, addiction itself continues to evolve. New substances emerge, patterns of use change and society changes. That has always been true, and our workforce has consistently adapted.

What we are seeing now is a growing need to respond to behavioural addictions alongside substance use. Smartphones, gaming and online environments are creating different patterns of addictive behaviour that require new knowledge and different approaches.

I have every confidence that our practitioners will rise to that challenge, just as they have adapted to every other change over the years.

The changing workplace

One of the most significant changes I have seen over the past few years is where addiction practitioners now work. When I began my career, most practitioners were employed by NGOs, residential services or hospital-based addiction services. Today, our workforce is spread across a much broader range of settings.

Private practice has also grown rapidly. Around one in five of our practitioners now work in private practice, often supporting people through ACC or Ministry of Justice contracts.

While it creates opportunities, it also means practitioners can become professionally isolated.

One of our priorities at Dapaanz is making sure people remain connected to their professional community, wherever they work.

Focusing our efforts

If I could focus investment on just a few areas, the first would be growing and developing the workforce. We need employers to be supported so they can train people well and create opportunities for new practitioners to enter the profession. Models that allow people to earn while they learn are particularly valuable because they enable people to train without stepping away from frontline practice.

Secondly, we need continued investment in treatment options. Residential treatment remains an essential part of the system for many people and families. Alongside that, we need outreach services, kaupapa Māori approaches and other models that meet people where they are.

The third priority is supporting the workforce we already have. Employers carry much of the responsibility for developing practitioners, providing supervision and creating opportunities for learning, often with limited resources. If we expect our workforce to continue responding to increasingly complex needs, we must also make sure they are supported, professionally and personally.

Optimism abounds

Despite the challenges, I remain optimistic. I see a workforce that continues to grow, continues to develop and continues to show remarkable commitment to the people and communities they serve. Yes, many practitioners are tired. Yes, the work is demanding. But they continue to turn up because they believe in what they do.

Our greatest strength is not a programme or a policy. It is the people doing this work every day. If we continue investing in them, supporting them and helping them adapt to the changing landscape, I believe the sector will be well placed to meet whatever comes next. They are, and will remain, the foundation of this country's response to addiction.

For me, that is where the future of addiction treatment in Aotearoa begins.