Roles and responsibilities
The Chief Addiction Medicine Adviser is responsible for:
- leading the development of Victoria’s long-term strategy for alcohol and other drug (AOD) issues
- advising on emerging drug threats, including synthetic opioids
- supporting innovative harm reduction initiatives
- strengthening the role of general practitioners in addiction care
- expanding access to pharmacotherapy and integrated, person-centred models of care
- reducing stigma and building workforce capability in addiction services
- ensuring addiction services are inclusive, respectful, and responsive to community needs.
Key activities
The Chief Addiction Medicine Adviser is involved in:
- shaping and implementing Victoria’s first long-term AOD strategy
- advising on and supporting programs such as drug testing and Take Home Naloxone
- promoting access to treatment and harm reduction services
- developing and promoting innovative, person-centred approaches to addiction care
- chairing the Alcohol and Other Drugs Ministerial Advisory Committee
- supporting the Victorian Pill Testing Service.
Victorian Pill Testing Service
The Victorian Pill Testing Service is a health-led program that aims to reduce drug-related harm by providing information about the substances people are taking. The service is free, confidential, and anonymous, offering drug checking and harm reduction advice at festivals and, from August 2025, at a fixed site in Fitzroy.
This program is closely connected to the work of the Chief Addiction Medicine Adviser, who plays a key role in shaping evidence-based responses to drug use across Victoria.
About the Chief Addiction Medicine Adviser
Paul MacCartney is the Chief Addiction Medicine Adviser. He is a:
- General Practitioner and addiction medicine specialist with 25 years of experience in community health
- public advocate for the care and treatment of people who use drugs
- member of the expert advisory committee on opioids
- developer of a multidisciplinary AOD treatment model in regional Victoria
- contributor to public health responses to high-potency synthetic opioids
- trainer and supervisor for colleagues and registrars in opioid and alcohol dependence treatment.