One Big Family, Driven by Hope: International Overdose Awareness Day 2025
Friday, 29 August 2025
This Sunday August 31st marks International Overdose Awareness Day. The theme for 2025 is "one big family, driven by hope", a sentiment that resonates deeply with our community here at NUAA. This powerful message reminds us that in our fight against overdose deaths, we are not alone. On this day we reflect on our shared hope, honour the loved ones we’ve lost to overdose, and come together as a community to further our overdose prevention efforts.
History
International Overdose Awareness Day began in 2001 as a small community event in Melbourne, initiated by Sally J. Finn at the Salvation Army needle exchange. What began as a BBQ and social gathering of local people impacted by overdose has grown into the world's largest annual campaign to end overdose, reduce stigma, and commemorate those we’ve lost.
The Penington Institute, leaders of International Overdose Awareness Day say, “IOAD is a global platform that provides tools, resources and a space for communities to connect. Through events – both in person and online – communities honour lives lost, educate their families, friends and peers and explore evidence-based overdose prevention solutions.”
This year's theme, "One big family, driven by hope," acknowledges that the overdose crisis affects entire communities – families, friends, health workers, first responders, and advocates working together. It emphasises that hope, not judgment, drives our collective efforts to create change and save lives.
Driven by Hope: Community Stories and Solidarity
On Saturday August 30th, ACON, in collaboration with KRC, SWOP and NUAA will host an afternoon of community story sharing, solidarity and connection at ‘Driven by Hope: stories of solidarity for International Overdose Awareness Day’ at the Surry Hills Neighbourhood Centre.
This event recognises the intersection of LGBTQ+ identity and experiences of drug use, acknowledging that some of our most vulnerable community members face multiple forms of discrimination and marginalisation. Graeme, a peer worker for ACON's M3THOD program who serves as storytelling mentor says the “LGBTQ+ community still experience social exclusion, discrimination, bullying and violence with detrimental impacts on our overall psychological wellbeing and mental health. The most tragic impacts of these minority stresses are made apparent in the alarmingly high rates of suicide, self-harm, and substance misuse in our community compared to the heterosexual and/or cis-gendered population.”
Held on Gadigal country, Saturday’s event will feature LGBTQ+ community members, sharing their lived and living experience of substance use and overdose, alongside local harm reduction legends on some of the amazing work being done in the sector to combat overdose.
On the importance of storytelling and vulnerability, Graeme says “sharing our stories builds community, exchanges knowledge, engenders empathy and ultimately breaks down the stigma associated with drug use. Storytelling offers both the narrator and audience an opportunity to process these complex emotions and heal collectively. Vulnerability ultimately fosters connection - and keeps all of us safer and healthier.”
Notable Speakers
‘Driven by Hope’ will feature compelling voices from across the sector, each bringing unique perspectives and experiences to this important conversation.
Georgina Bell (she/they), current manager of harm reduction at ACON, brings over a decade of experience working in harm reduction and community programs. With a background in social work, Georgina embodies the ethos of "nothing about us without us" across all areas of health, justice and social change – a principle that lies at the heart of effective harm reduction work.
Troy Burnes (he/him), a senior social justice advocate in Uniting NSW/ACT's advocacy team, has dedicated his career to frontline work in disability and mental health services. Having completed his Masters of Social Work at Western Sydney University in 2022, Troy coordinates the Fair Treatment campaign for drug law reform, advocating for less stigma and more treatment and harm reduction approaches.
Rodd Hinton (he/him), a proud Darumbal and Gangulu man from Central Queensland, currently leads NUAA's blood borne virus (BBV) outreach team and serves as senior Aboriginal research co-ordinator for the CBD-CUD study with the University of Sydney. Rodd has spent the last decade working as a peer to provide harm reduction and BBV support to communities across NSW, bringing a passionate commitment to challenging discrimination and stigma affecting vulnerable communities.
Madhuraq Prakash aka Mads (they/she) will serve as MC, bringing their experience as program coordinator: safety, inclusion and justice at ACON. A Tamil person born in Sri Lanka and raised on Gadigal land, Mads was the host of "All The Best" audio storytelling show on FBi Radio from 2023-2025, and is also known in the local Queer scene as drag king 'Manish Interest', performing their signature style mixing bharatanatyam and burlesque.
Storyteller Chantell Martin (she/her), originally from New Zealand, brings extensive community sector experience from her work at ACON, the Gender Centre, and SWOP. As one of the founding members of the only Transgender Housing Co-operative in NSW, Chantell offers valuable insights into the intersection of housing, identity, and harm reduction. She has shared her story across many platforms including the ABC, Queer Stories, and panels across the country.
The event will also feature storytellers Rod Smith, Felicity, Viv and Steph, supported by Graeme (he/him). Graeme supports people sharing their lived experiences, particularly men who have sex with men (cis & trans), nonbinary people, and trans women who engage in sexualised drug use.
“Celebration, commemoration, and taking an active role in harm reduction and community care are all valid responses to loss. This event aims to allow each storyteller to express their own personal intention and emotional experience. The hope is, with the diversity of stories being shared, the audience will hear something that resonates or inspires them and find solidarity in community”, he shares.
A Call to Unity and Action
"One big family, driven by hope" reminds us that our response to overdose must be collectively compassionate.
The hope that drives us is an active determination to create change. It's the hope that motivates peer workers to share their experiences, families to speak out about their losses, healthcare workers to implement harm reduction programs, and advocates to push for better policies.
This year, as we prepare to mark International Overdose Awareness Day, we invite everyone to get involved. Attend community events. Share stories. Challenge stigma. Support evidence-based policies and programs.
In a world that too often responds to drug use with judgement and punishment, we choose hope, community, and practical action.
Driven By Hope is a free ticketed event. Register to attend here.