New research from Monash University and Turning Point has found that the introduction of the Medically Supervised Injecting Room (MSIR) in North Richmond was associated with a significant and sustained reduction in heroin-related ambulance attendances in the surrounding area.
The MSIR, which opened on 30 June 2018 on Lennox Street in North Richmond, provides a supervised health setting for drug users, with immediate medical care available in the event of an overdose. It also connects people with health and social support services including mental health care, drug treatment, wound care and housing support.
The peer-reviewed study, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, found that heroin-related ambulance attendances in the MSIR vicinity fell by approximately 71 per cent in the five years after the facility opened, a reduction far greater than anywhere else in the city or state.
Researchers used data from the National Ambulance Surveillance System to analyse heroin-related ambulance attendances across Victoria over a nine-year period (January 2015 to December 2023), during which 24,701 heroin-related attendances were recorded statewide. Attendances within the MSIR catchment (Richmond and Abbotsford) were compared with trends in central Melbourne and the rest of Victoria.
Key findings from the research include:
Prior to the MSIR opening, heroin-related ambulance attendances in the Richmond and Abbotsford catchment were rising. After the MSIR opened, this trend reversed to a significant and sustained decline.
At the time the MSIR opened in July 2018, there were an estimated 48 heroin-related ambulance attendances per month within the MSIR vicinity, corresponding to an attendance rate of 123 per 100,000 population – more than six times the rate in central Melbourne and nearly 40 times the rate across the rest of Victoria.
By December 2023, monthly attendances in the MSIR vicinity had fallen to around 14 (a rate of 36 per 100,000 population) – a reduction of approximately 71 per cent. While attendances also declined across central Melbourne and the rest of Victoria, the reduction in the MSIR catchment was far greater in both scale and pace.
The reductions persisted throughout the COVID-19 lockdown period and were maintained after restrictions were lifted.
Turning Point’s Senior Statistician and Senior Research Fellow at Turning Point and Monash University, Associate Professor Bosco Rowland, said the findings provide the strongest Australian evidence to date that supervised injecting facilities reduce acute heroin-related harms at a population level.
“Before the MSIR opened, heroin-related ambulance attendances in the Richmond and Abbotsford area were the highest in Victoria and increasing. After it opened, we saw a significant shift to a sustained declining trend,” Associate Professor Rowland said.
“Importantly, we didn’t see the same scale of reduction in central Melbourne or across the rest of Victoria, which strengthens the case that the MSIR itself is driving the change.”
Professor Dan Lubman, Executive Clinical Director of Turning Point and Director of the Monash Addiction Research Centre, said the findings reinforced the critical role of harm reduction services in reducing pressure on emergency services.
“This research shows that the MSIR is not only saving lives inside the facility – it is reducing the burden of heroin-related emergencies on ambulance services in the surrounding community,” Professor Lubman said.
“These are real-world outcomes captured over nine years of ambulance data. The evidence is clear that the MSIR is delivering measurable public health benefits for the local community.”
Read the research paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2026.105405
