This presentation emphasises the crucial importance of prevention and rehabilitation interventions in reducing Australia's drug-related deaths during a nine-year period when they were given financial priority by the Federal Government. This overview seeks to encourage practitioners in the drug prevention and rehabilitation sectors, alerting them to the importance of both pursuits.

We will examine the centrality of the drug prevention and rehabilitation programming in Federal Government budgeting priorities which led to the 67% reductions in opiate-related mortality immediately after these deaths peaked Australia-wide in 1999. These interventions through to 2007 were able to save 750+ families per year the grief of losing a family member to opiate use alone and around 280 more the grief of losing a family member to other illicit drugs - such was the success of the overall drug policy.
Additionally, time will be given to what is working best in the drug prevention arena worldwide where there have been some spectacular successes, and what is being done to bolster prevention programming within Australia under Rotary International's auspice.