Criminalisation remains the dominant response to use, despite evidence that punitive approaches fail to reduce use and instead generate significant social harms. These harms are often intensified in rural settings, where people are more visible within their communities and have limited access to health and social services. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 23 people who smoke methamphetamine in rural and regional Victoria, the first part of this webinar will examine how criminalisation shapes daily life through stigma, intensified police surveillance, and repeated involvement with the criminal legal system.
The second part of the webinar will examine the relationship between methamphetamine use, imprisonment, and employment outcomes. Methamphetamine is one of the most used illicit drugs among people entering Australian prisons. However, the rate and drivers of imprisonment among Australians who use methamphetamine are poorly understood. Involvement with law enforcement is also associated with social outcome disadvantages, including barriers to employment stability. Using data from Australia’s largest longitudinal cohort study of people who use methamphetamine, this presentation will examine:
- The incidence of, and associations with, imprisonment among people who use methamphetamine.
- The risk of moving into and maintaining a state of unemployment following arrest.
Following the presentation, there will be a live Q&A session with questions from webinar attendees.
1-hour free webinar at 12pm Sydney time on Tuesday 18th of August 2026.
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This webinar will be presented by Dr Shelley Walker, Dr Michael Curtis, and Emmanuel Mammoliti from the National Drug Research Institute.
Dr Shelley Walker is a social science researcher and Research Fellow. With a background in nursing, youth work and community development, and her research is focused on understanding the lived experiences of criminalised and marginalised populations, including people who use drugs, people with experiences of incarceration and young people. Shelley is particularly interested in research that centres lived experience and contributes to evidence-informed policy and practice change.
Dr Michael Curtis is a Research Fellow and public health researcher whose work focuses on the intersections of drug use, incarceration, and health equity. With almost a decade of frontline experience in social work, Michael brings a practice-informed lens to his research.
Emmanuel Mammoliti is a PhD candidate whose work primarily focuses on the impact of law enforcement on the health and social outcomes of people who use drugs.