Substance Misuse Limestone Coast - SMLC

16/10/2026

"One of our strengths is, we started with the community, we started from the bottom up and we're not the experts; you are the experts in your own lives."

SMLC's Dr Sue Mutton and Project Manager Sophie Bourchier feature on PLACE's latest video on place-based approaches.

Watch the video here -

Place-based approaches draw on community capacity and strengths to ...

30/09/2026

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Month (and the campaign) has officially ended for 2026, but that doesn’t mean the conversation needs to stop there.

Early diagnosis and intervention is paramount for people living with this life-long brain based disability. Individualised professional support when started early for the individual and their families, is key to providing positive outcomes for all.

When the individual benefits, the family benefits and the community as a whole benefits.

What can you do to help?

You can become FASD informed. NoFASD Australia offers FREE online education and has multiple resources for individuals, families, educators, and people working in the out-of-home-care sector, mental health, domestic violence, justice system and alcohol and other drugs services.

Visit the website here - https://fasdinformed.education/

FASD is a preventable disability, and as a community we have an obligation to support family, friends, and anyone to remain alcohol-free during pregnancy, or if they are considering pregnancy.

Not drinking alcohol is always the safest choice for baby during breastfeeding.

27/09/2026

September is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Month.

This year's theme, "Everyone plays a part: it takes a community", recognises that every conversation, every act of support and every effort to share accurate information helps create a more informed and inclusive community.

FASD is often an hidden disability. Most individuals have no facial characteristics, even when the brain is profoundly affected. No one chooses to have FASD.

On the NoFASD website - https://www.nofasd.org.au/ - there's lots of resources for individuals, for teachers, for parents, for allied health workers, and for anyone looking to educate themselves further about FASD.

Here at SMLC, we encourage you to be informed and educate yourself about FASD. You can do this so many ways, by completing a free online course, reading the available resources or even by sitting down with a parent or someone with lived experience of FASD and asking them some questions.

20/09/2026

"I'm a non-biological parent of a teenager who has just been recently diagnosed with FASD. I never really thought she was affected because she never had any symptoms, and I never really understood what FASD was until recently.

"Working in the local health sector and having another family member get diagnosed made me more aware of some of the struggles that individuals face in their everyday lives.

"For me, learning that FASD is a spectrum, meaning it affects everyone differently, was a lightbulb moment. Also learning there's no cure and you can't take a pill to fix it, was a big moment for me.

"Recently, I completed the free Foundations in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder course online - doing that training really connected the dots for me.
"I understood why she can't do more than one task at a time.
"I understood why after school, she can't do anything else, because her brain is spent.

"Now, I'm a lot more understanding and accommodating and my expectations aren't as high. Educating myself about FASD has been a big shift for us and it's probably improved our relationship also."

Thanks for hearing our story.
A parent of a young person with FASD.

13/09/2026

If you're wondering why Mount Gambier's major landmarks were lit up in red this week, that's because it's Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Month across September. The SMLC team are big on having important conversations about FASD, which we will be doing all this month via our LinkedIn and pages. Stay tuned...

Thank you to City of Mount Gambier for supporting this initiative.

09/09/2026

Today, September 9th is International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Day. It is a day where we speak up about the dangers of drinking alcohol during pregnancy, and the effects this has on the unborn baby.

FASD is a mostly hidden disability, statistically affecting as many as one child in each Australian classroom. By wearing red shoes or socks and starting conversations, you can help make FASD more visible, reduce stigma and support alcohol-free pregnancies.

Thank you to the City of Mount Gambier for their support in lighting up the Riddoch Arts & Cultural Centre and the Lady Nelson Brig in red, in support of our awareness campaign, from tonight through until Friday night.

More information on the Red Shoes Rock campaign can be found through this link https://redshoesrock.org.au/about/about-fasd/



The Riddoch Arts & Cultural Centre Mount Gambier Visitor Centre

01/09/2026

This is Australia's deadliest overdose year on record.

The numbers are shocking, and increasing rather than decreasing.

Seven Australians are dying a day of overdose and the majority are older people.

The latest Pennington Institute data shows 2596 Australians died of overdose - one death every 3.5 hours.

It's a national public health crisis, which demands urgent national action.

We support the call for increased investment and treatment services, particularly in regional areas.

We thank the City of Mount Gambier and Rotary Club Mount Gambier West for supporting the Limestone Coast Drug Action Team's International Overdose Awareness Day event in Mount Gambier on Monday night.

Also, all the awesome people who came to acknowledge those who have died, and those who are grieving someone who has died from overdose.

SMLC Project Manager Sophie Bourchier

31/08/2026

Today is International Overdose Awareness Day. Tonight, some of Mount Gambier's best-known landmarks will be lit up purple to remember the people who have died from overdose and to acknowledge the grief and loss that family members and friends carry in silence due to the stigma that is attached to overdose deaths.
One death every 3.5 hours: Australia's deadliest overdose year on record demands urgent national action. The 2024 deaths from drug-induced causes are the highest number ever recorded: 2,596. Australia is losing seven people every day to overdose; that's one son, daughter, partner or friend every 3.5 hours, and the nation's latest data shows the crisis is accelerating, not slowing down.
Join us this evening as we gather together on the verandah of the Mount Gambier Library at 5.30pm to support families and reduce stigma.

24/08/2026

Join us on Monday, August 31 for the Mount Gambier International Overdose Awareness Day event.

Bring a candle as we gather for the world's annual campaign to end overdose.

Thank you for your support.

Team SMLC

20/08/2026

Meet our newest Board member - Superintendent Trent Cox.

Superintendent Cox is Officer-in-Charge Limestone Coast region, bringing thirty-five years of experience with SAPOL.

Over his last thirteen years as a Senior Police Officer, Superintendent Cox led SAPOL’s response to two Royal Commissions – the national Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse from 2013-17, and the state Child Protection Systems Royal Commission from 2014-16.

Superintendent Cox also co-led the implementation of the Multi-Agency Protection Service (MAPS), an innovative information sharing model led by SAPOL, which aims to reduce the incidence or impact of domestic abuse in communities.

Growing up in regional South Australia, Superintendent Cox understands both the opportunities and challenges of city versus regional policing and the importance of working collaboratively with local service providers and stakeholders.

A strong interest in SMLC’s mission and purpose brought Superintendent Cox to join the SMLC Board, and an alignment with SMLC’s view that alcohol and other drug misuse should be treated as an overall health issue.

Welcome to the SMLC Board Trent.