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released: 29 Jan 2007

This report details a project undertaken by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing to develop a national Needle and Syringe Program data set and associated reporting instrument to facilitate consistent and comparable data collection and reporting. It provides a description of the methodology used and includes a copy of the data set and reporting instrument developed as part of the project. The report includes a number of recommendations regarding the future development and expansion of the data set. 'Developing a nationally consistent data set for needle and syringe programs' is the result of consultations with service providers, state and territory representatives and the Australian government.

ISBN 978 1 74024 610 1; Cat. no. HWI 90; 66pp.; $27.00

printed copy

  • Publication

Developing a nationally consistent data set for needle and syringe programs

Full publication (221K PDF)

  • Preliminary material
    • Title page and verso
    • Contents
    • Acknowledgements
    • Acronyms
    • Summary
  • Sections
    1. Introduction
      • Background
      • Development of a nationally consistent data set for NSPs
        • Scope and limitations
      • Deliverables
      • Timelines
      • Report structure
    2. Methodology
      • Data development principles
      • Project stages
        1. Establishing the Data Working Group
        2. Site visits
        3. Selection of candidate data items
        4. Development of data specifications in METeOR
        5. Development of the reporting instrument
        6. Pilot testing of the reporting instrument
    3. The needle and syringe program data dictionary
      • List of data elements in the NSP data dictionary
    4. The needle and syringe program reporting instrument
    5. Lessons learnt and recommendations
      • Lessons learnt
        • Clarity of performance information required
        • Relevance of performance information required
      • Recommendations
        1. That the NSP Working group undertake a review of the current COAG Illicit Drug Diversion Initiative NSP supporting measures for current relevance with a view to possible enhancements
        2. That sufficient time be given to states and territories to make the necessary process and system changes required to enable implementation of the NSP data set across all NSP outlets in their jurisdictions
        3. That the NSP Working Group investigate opportunities to incrementally expand the NSP data set to include other data considered relevant for current NSP service delivery
        4. That a study of national reporting of NSP client data be undertaken by the NSP Working Group to determine the feasibility of developing a nationally consistent NSP client data set
  • End matter
    • Appendix 1: Supporting measures as specified in the 2003-2004 Federal Budget document
    • Appendix 2: List of Needle and Syringe Program Working Group members
    • References
    • List of figures

Recommended citation

AIHW 2007. Developing a nationally consistent data set for needle and syringe programs. Cat. no. HWI 90. Canberra: AIHW.