Drugs Policy and the ‘New Recovery’ Movement in Australia: A Case of Failed Policy Transfer?

• In Event: Social Movements and the Criminal Justice System

Abstract

The ‘New Recovery’ movement is an international movement that aims to advance the rights of people in recovery from drug use. This movement has been particularly strong in the United Kingdom and the United States, where the philosophies behind new recovery have also been taken up by governments and translated into policy. While the recovery movement has focused on self-determination, self-help and empowerment for people in recovery, a recovery focus at the policy level has seen drug service systems restructured in favour of recovery-oriented systems of care. Drawing on document analysis and interviews, this paper presents a multi-level analysis of New Recovery both as a social movement, and as an example of policy transfer in the Australian context. Through a comparative analysis of ‘New Recovery’ in the US, the UK and Australia, the paper highlights the challenges of defining recovery, the tensions around the role of abstinence versus harm reduction measures in drug services, and broader struggles around drug policy goals, structures and funding. The findings have implications for understanding the relationships between social movements and the state, as well as the dynamics of policy transfer in drug policy.

Author

• Natalie Thomas, Griffith University