Connect & Learn presented by Dr Dean Membrey & Andrea Fischer
NOTE: this webinar is funded by the Victorian Department of Health and only available for Victorians to register.
Moving the goalposts- a non-punitive, non-abstinence approach to alcohol use, presented by Dr Dean Membrey and Andrea Fischer
NOTE: this webinar is funded by the Victorian Department of Health and only available for Victorians to register.
Since the legislative and societal shift from addressing public intoxication with a law-enforcement response to a health response, Cohealth, and other providers, have been providing both outreach and temporary sobering up services to people displaying intoxication in public places.
In this presentation, Dean and Andrea will reflect on the learnings of operating this service. Dean will also look at the current treatment approach to alcohol use disorder and review the evidence for adopting a more harm reduction focussed paradigm. Andrea will discuss how public intoxication services operate as an entry point to those requiring assistance to manage their use of alcohol.
Dr Dean Membrey is a general practitioner and addiction medicine specialist who has over a decade of experience providing health care to people experiencing substance use disorders. He is passionate about providing holistic, patient-centred care in community settings to better understand the social, cultural and psychological influences on their presentation. He currently works at Cohealth Innerspace and provides outreach services in the Melbourne CBD to people experiencing homelessness.
Andrea Fischer is the Director of Community Bases Drug and Alcohol Responses at Cohealth. Andrea has a long career in Public Health, having worked for the Burnet and Doherty Institutes. She specialises in managing large-scale public health activities, in Victoria and overseas. Her passion is working with people who use alcohol and other drugs, with an emphasis on infectious diseases prevention, testing and treatment.
Connect & Learn webinar series address a wide range of practice-relevant topics presented by local expert clinicians. The webinars aim to enhance the capabilities of Victorian AOD and MH workers in responding to substance use and addiction issues among their clients and consumers.
IMPORTANT NOTE: this webinar is funded by the Victorian Department of Health and only available for Victorians to register.
Date: Tuesday 21st April 2026
Time: 1pm to 1:45pm AEDT
Previous webinars are on demand at the Turning Point website: https://www.turningpoint.org.au/education/webinars
NOTE: this webinar is funded by the Victorian Department of Health and only available for Victorians to register.
Moving the goalposts- a non-punitive, non-abstinence approach to alcohol use, presented by Dr Dean Membrey and Andrea Fischer
NOTE: this webinar is funded by the Victorian Department of Health and only available for Victorians to register.
Since the legislative and societal shift from addressing public intoxication with a law-enforcement response to a health response, Cohealth, and other providers, have been providing both outreach and temporary sobering up services to people displaying intoxication in public places.
In this presentation, Dean and Andrea will reflect on the learnings of operating this service. Dean will also look at the current treatment approach to alcohol use disorder and review the evidence for adopting a more harm reduction focussed paradigm. Andrea will discuss how public intoxication services operate as an entry point to those requiring assistance to manage their use of alcohol.
Dr Dean Membrey is a general practitioner and addiction medicine specialist who has over a decade of experience providing health care to people experiencing substance use disorders. He is passionate about providing holistic, patient-centred care in community settings to better understand the social, cultural and psychological influences on their presentation. He currently works at Cohealth Innerspace and provides outreach services in the Melbourne CBD to people experiencing homelessness.
Andrea Fischer is the Director of Community Bases Drug and Alcohol Responses at Cohealth. Andrea has a long career in Public Health, having worked for the Burnet and Doherty Institutes. She specialises in managing large-scale public health activities, in Victoria and overseas. Her passion is working with people who use alcohol and other drugs, with an emphasis on infectious diseases prevention, testing and treatment.
Connect & Learn webinar series address a wide range of practice-relevant topics presented by local expert clinicians. The webinars aim to enhance the capabilities of Victorian AOD and MH workers in responding to substance use and addiction issues among their clients and consumers.
IMPORTANT NOTE: this webinar is funded by the Victorian Department of Health and only available for Victorians to register.
Date: Tuesday 21st April 2026
Time: 1pm to 1:45pm AEDT
Previous webinars are on demand at the Turning Point website: https://www.turningpoint.org.au/education/webinars
Good to know
Highlights
- 45 minutes
- Online