Stories from the Underworld
What is International Overdose Awareness Day?
International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD), held annually on the 31st of August, is the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember without stigma those who have died or been permanently injured as a result of overdose, and acknowledge the grief of loved ones impacted by overdose. Originating in Melbourne in 2001 in response to an alarming rate of fatal overdoses, IOAD (now convened by Penington Institute) inspires over 1,000 events annually across the world, to support ending overdose.
What is the campaign aiming to do?
- To bring together people from all walks of life to publicly mourn the death of loved ones lost to overdose.
- To provide information about fatal and non-fatal overdose and inform people around the world about the risks of overdose.
- To send a message to those with lived and living experience of drug use, that they are valued and loved.
- To encourage discussion about overdose prevention, harm reduction and drug policy and support reform towards evidence-based policy and practice.
- To provide info on the range of services that are available to the community.
You can find more information about International Overdose Awareness Day here.
IOAD 2024 context
The theme of IOAD this year was “Together we can”, highlighting our collective strength when we come together as a community. There have been over 42,000 overdose deaths in Australia since 2000, with the rate increasing annually, which is heart breaking and unacceptable. As we know, synthetic opioids are currently showing up alarmingly often in Australia’s drug supply, and the sentiment of together we can feels more important than ever as we work towards averting an increased national overdose crisis.
Stories from the Underworld
On Friday the 30th of August, ACON’s harm reduction team held an event called ‘Stories from the Underworld- A journey through queer and trans histories for International Overdose Awareness Day’. This event featured 6 diverse community members who shared their lived and living experience of drug use, addiction, harm reduction and overdose through stories, poetry and performances. This powerful evening of storytelling highlighted the bravery, resilience and community care that has been ever present within our communities.
This event provoked thoughts, challenged stereotypes and deepened understanding around what drug use and overdose looks like within our community. More importantly, it brought us together to grieve loved ones, witness the realities of people who use drugs, and facilitate healing through community care.
In partnership with the Rovers, SWOP, NUAA and KRC, this event was able to provide valuable outreach, making resources available across many important areas including drugs and alcohol, sexual health, and other services. There was also a memorial space which housed a beautiful memorial tree where community could remember lost loved ones and dedicate heartfelt messages. This space also had dedicated staff offering peer support to community members throughout the night.
This beautiful event embodied the guiding principles of International Overdose Awareness Day and united our community, demonstrating again that together, we really can end overdose.
Here’s what community had to say about the event:
“I commend the storytellers. You are the magic that made this a very special evening for me. I felt liberated. I reconnected with my inner rebel that I’d forgotten”.
“Absolutely extraordinary event. Dynamic speakers, powerful words.”
“The curation of the stories and people that shared them, it felt cohesive and well held. Laughs, cries, amazing conversation with friends old and new”
“I love the titrating of trauma with laughs. I wish there were more of these narratives in the world, if people can have a more realists perspective of drug use then we will be in a very different place with harm reduction.”
“There was a beautiful diversity of pieces that pulled me in and opened my eyes in different way”.
An archive of the stories from this event will be shared to this website soon.
To view photos from this event, visit ACON’s Instagram posts here and here.
For further insight into the event from some of the storytellers, check out this article in NUAA’s Users News
