These FAQs summarise the Take Home Naloxone program and may be useful when seeking senior management support to participate in the program.
The Take Home Naloxone Program trains, credentials and legally authorises a broad range of health and welfare workers, other than prescribers and pharmacists, to supply naloxone to clients for free and without a prescription.
The program was developed, piloted and evaluated by clinical and subject matter experts, in consultation with consumers. It has been implemented across NSW in public health alcohol and other drugs services and Needle and Syringe Programs.
The program has been extended so that non-government organisations (NGOs), private services and sole traders that provide health and welfare services can become 'participating services' that supply naloxone to people at risk of witnessing or experiencing an opioid overdose. New agencies are regularly joining the program.
Opioid overdose is a major cause of harm and death in Australia. In 2020, 1,814 people died from drug-induced deaths, with opioids present in 1091 of those deaths (60%)[1]. In NSW, opioids were the drug class with the highest rate of drug-induced deaths, with more than 300 opioid drug deaths among NSW residents in 2020[2].
Naloxone is a Schedule 3 short-acting opioid antagonist medicine registered in Australia for the reversal of opioid overdose. Two formulations of naloxone are provided in the NSW Program – a pre-filled syringe for injection and an intranasal spray.
The National Drug Strategy 2017-2026[3] and the World Health Organisation[4] have identified increasing access to naloxone as an evidence-based strategy for preventing and responding to opioid overdoses.
Eligible health and welfare workers must be trained and credentialed before they can supply naloxone to clients. A NSW Health-approved training provider trains employees across NSW. Training, assessment and credentialing is delivered either in face-to-face workshops or remotely via online training workshops that run for half a day.
Free PBS subsidised naloxone will be available for NGOs and private service providers to supply to eligible community members at no cost to the provider or the consumer.
No additional funding is provided for costs associated with delivering brief interventions to clients when providing naloxone, undertaking reporting, or for time to complete the training workshop.
Agencies will need to enter naloxone supply and brief intervention data using a data reporting system.
To be eligible to participate in the Take Home Naloxone program, the agency must be either a ‘Non-Government Organisation’ (NGO) or ‘private service provider’. The agency must also:
The NSW Ministry of Health is seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) from NGO and private service providers to become participating services through this process. The EOI process is non-competitive. Many service providers can become participating services through this process.
Download the expression of interest form and submit it by email to: moh-naloxone@health.nsw.gov.au as soon as possible to secure training places.