About Us

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Background

The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) is a premier research institution in Australia and is recognised internationally as a Research Centre of Excellence. The Centre is multidisciplinary and collaborates with medicine, psychology, social science and other schools of the University of NSW, as well as with a range of other institutions and individuals in Australia and overseas.

The overall mission of NDARC is to conduct high quality research and related activities that increases the effectiveness of Australian and International treatment and other intervention responses to alcohol and other drug related harm.

In addition to the research conducted at the Centre, other NDARC activities include an Annual Symposium and a range of special conferences and educational workshops. As well as contributing to scientific journals and other publications, NDARC produces its own Research Monographs and Technical Report Series. In conjunction with the National Drug Research Institute in Perth, NDARC also produces a free quarterly newsletter, CentreLines, to increase communication between the national research centres, other researchers and workers in the alcohol and other drug field within Australia.

Mission Statement

The overall mission of NDARC is: to conduct high quality research and related activities that increases the effectiveness of the Australian and International treatment and other intervention responses to alcohol and other drug related harm.

In order to increase the effectiveness of the Australian treatment response to drug problems four goals need to be met:

1. the harms to which treatment should be directed need to be known;
2. effective treatments should be available for responding to these harms;
3. those providing treatment should be aware of which treatments are effective; and
4. those who suffer the harms for which the treatments are intended should be made aware of ways in which to minimise harm, and of the availability of effective forms of treatment.

Key Goals

1. to improve our understanding of the nature and extent of alcohol and other drug-related harms to which treatment and other interventions should be directed;
2. to increase knowledge on the range and effectiveness of treatment and other interventions that is aimed at reducing forms of alcohol and other drug related harm;
3. to increase knowledge among treatment and intervention providers about which programs are effective and which individuals are most suited to them;
4. to increase the community's knowledge of appropriate and effective treatment and other intervention programs for alcohol and drug-related problems.