Objective: This two-phase project aimed firstly to alleviate community fears surrounding the establishment of an NSP in a Community Centre in suburban Melbourne via a widespread consultation process, and secondly evaluate the actual impact of the first six months of NSP operation.

Methods: Consultation was undertaken using a conflict mapping model. Stakeholders were determined through discussion with local and state government and through stakeholder “snowballing”. Needs and concerns of stakeholders were mapped through individual and small group interviews, and two public consultation meetings.

Key concerns elicited through the mapping were subsequently used to inform the objectives of an independent evaluation. This consisted of a short survey conducted at three separate intervals with local community members, including clients of the Community Centre, and key stakeholder interviews. The survey canvassed perceptions, observations and general opinions.

Results: Concerns raised from the consultation included that establishment of NSP in the Community Centre would increase injecting litter, increase exposure to drug use, increase exposure to violent or antisocial behaviour, adversely impact pharmacotherapy clients of the Centre and adversely impact local traders.
The evaluation ascertained no significant differences in observations of drug-related activity nor injecting-related litter prior to and after NSP implementation. However, a significant difference in perceptions of an increase in injecting-related litter was detected, which was not corroborated by actual sightings.

Conclusions: Establishment of NSP can proceed even with considerable community opposition, provided such opposition is taken seriously and explicitly addressed. Despite the initial resistance to this NSP implementation, the researchers found it increasingly difficult to achieve ongoing participation in the evaluation by key stakeholders. This raised questions around whether their concerns were sustained after the NSP was operational.