Our Story

The Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Residential Rehabilitation Network (ADARRN) is a network made up of representatives of Aboriginal residential rehabilitation services across Australia. The network meets quarterly to support each other and advocate for issues, to share and develop culturally sound best practice principles, knowledge and experience as well as aiming to be the key consultative group at both a state and national level in regards to Aboriginal residential rehabilitation services.

Our Logo

The centre of the logo represents the gathering of people at a meeting place (ADARRN) to discuss the topic of drug and alcohol rehabilitation in the Aboriginal residential rehabilitation setting. It is a yarning circle where Aboriginal people have done business for tens of thousands of years. Where no one is better than anyone else and everyone has the right to speak and be listened to. The colours represent the blue from the oceans and waterways on the coast and the red for the mother earth from inland Australia.

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The fish represent the philosophy that a school of fish can survive and flourish better than individual fish. Again the red represent the muddy water fish from inland Australia and the blue is for the coastal fish from the ocean and estuaries.

Lindon Dargin is a proud Yorta Yorta man, proud father and the proud artist of this painting, now the ADARRN logo. Lindon painted this in 2019 because he believes in the hope and strength of rehabilitation, and the work of the ADARRN organisations. In his words “Substance abuse has devastated my life, my family and my community for generations. I put heart and soul into this painting because of what it represents.”  

Our Objectives

ADARRN is registered under the Corporations Act 2001 and it's objects under its constitution are:

  • to enhance the long-term viability and operational performance of its members so that Aboriginal people who are affected by drug and alcohol issues can be efficiently and effectively rehabilitated and healed in residential facilities operated by the Company’s members;

  • to support and advise Aboriginal families and communities in dealing with issues faced by Aboriginal persons affected by drug and alcohol issues, including where housed in Aboriginal Community Controlled Residential Rehabilitation and Healing Centres;

  • to advocate for its members and Aboriginal Community Controlled Residential Rehabilitation and Healing Centres in general;

  • to provide for consultation and co-operation between members concerning the services they provide to Aboriginal people, families and communities;

  • to ameliorate and promote the amelioration of poverty of and within Aboriginal people, families and communities;

  • to encourage the establishment, quality and reach of Aboriginal Community Controlled Residential and Healing Centres;

  • to improve and promote improvements in the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal people, families and communities;

  • to act as a point-of-contact between members and other health care providers;

  • to act as a point-of-contact between members and Aboriginal community controlled organisations;

  • to represent the interests of members and to make common representations on their behalf to the Commonwealth and State governments and their agencies, and to Australian non-government organisations;

  • to foster research into drug and alcohol issues for Aboriginal people, families and communities and the treatment, rehabilitation and healing of Aboriginal people in Aboriginal Community Controlled Residential and Healing Centres;

  • to foster the development and validation of culturally appropriate and specific rehabilitation, healing and treatment tools for Aboriginal people, families and communities in and from Aboriginal Community Controlled Residential and Healing Centres;

  • to foster and promote training in drug and alcohol issues and culturally appropriate and specific practices in and for Aboriginal people, families and communities;

  • to promote the rights and interests of Aboriginal persons receiving treatment and other services in drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation and healing facilities;

  • to promote the rights and interests of operators of drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation and healing facilities treating Aboriginal persons for drug and alcohol addiction and consumption;

  • to provide information, advisory and consultancy services in relation to any of the above objects; and

  • generally, to do all other things that may appear to the Company to be incidental or conducive to the attainment of these objects or any one or more of them.

 
 

What we do

The network comprises independent services that have joined together to:

 

  • Provide a forum for Aboriginal residential rehabilitation services to share information, knowledge and cultural practice.

  • Provide support to managers, CEOs and staff of Aboriginal residential rehabilitation services.

  • Share resources, exchange information and develop best-practice approaches to meet the needs of Aboriginal clients.

  • Provide a forum for consultation where stakeholders, policy makers, and funding bodies can access the collective knowledge and advice from a Nation-wide AOD residential rehabilitation service network in Australia.

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ADARRN has established a community that meets regularly to enable members to support each other and advocate for issues, to share and develop culturally sound best practice principals, and to share knowledge and experience. ADARRN also aims to be the key consultative group at state, territory and national levels regarding Aboriginal residential Alcohol and Other Drug services.

 

Aboriginal governance and Aboriginal people’s involvement in program delivery is critical to ADARRN members. At the local level, ADARRN services consult with and are governed by the local Aboriginal community including Elders and local Aboriginal leaders, thereby ADARRN services are accountable to the community they serve.

 

ADARRN members are also members of the relevant AOD state peaks, for example the Network of Alcohol and Drug Agencies (NADA) in NSW or the Association of Alcohol and other Drugs Agencies (AADANT) in the NT. ADARRN members are also members of Aboriginal goverening bodies at state level, such as Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council in NSW and Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory.