Move the MSIR 

The Victorian Government got it wrong when it placed Melbourne’s only MSIR in North Richmond next to a primary school and within a dense public housing and residential precinct. 

Council supports the medically supervised injecting room (MSIR) as a proven, compassionate and evidence-based approach to saving lives. 

But public health interventions must align with local land-use contexts. 

The MSIR has created ongoing public safety challenges for residents, families and local traders. It’s affecting community wellbeing. 

There are problems with syringe litter, visible public injecting, antisocial behaviour and other crimes. Residents are scared, visitors have stopped coming, businesses are suffering. 

Responsibility for local amenity impacts has also fallen to Council, which continues to manage syringe collection and public-realm cleansing around the MSIR at a cost of $500,000 per year since 2018. Sustained advocacy to secure compensation from the Victorian Government has failed.

Yarra City Council does not oppose the MSIR model itself – it saves lives. But for too long, North Richmond has carried the burden of having the only MSIR in Melbourne. 

The Victorian Government’s own commissioned reports have acknowledged that there is a need for more facilities, but this hasn’t eventuated. 

North Richmond remains the only destination point to access the service – an intolerable burden on this local community. 

Council is calling on the Victorian Government to move the MSIR as a matter of priority. 

Having only one facility in Melbourne, embedded in the North Richmond community and a school zone, is not working – the North Richmond community does not deserve this. 

Relocation would enable the service to continue fulfilling its health objectives within a context better suited to its function and scale. 

Relocation must be accompanied by expanded rehabilitation, detox and recovery services to support pathways out of dependency.