Room with a View: The Story of Victoria's MSIR

Yarra Drug and Health Forum
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The Medically Supervised Injecting Room (MSIR) is a health facility in Victoria, Australia, where people can inject pre-obtained drugs under the supervision of nurses and medical staff. The North Richmond MSIR is the only service of its kind in Victoria, and has pioneered innovative ways of offering public health care. Since opening in 2018, a lot has been achieved. The MSIR has become one of the busiest supervised injecting facilities in the world, saving lives and connecting clients to essential health services. More than 13,000 overdose incidents have been safely managed and no one has died inside the facility. Yet the room continues to come under sustained criticism, particularly over its location. Across six episodes, Room with a View tells the story of how the MSIR came to be and examines its impact on lives, public health, North Richmond’s streets and the wider community. It asks: What value does the room add to those who use it? What do locals really think and what will happen if the service were relocated?

  1. Episode 1

    Ep 1: Out Now

    What happens when a lifesaving health service becomes the focus of a divided community? Episode one of Room with a View explores the human stories behind Victoria’s Medically Supervised Injecting Room in North Richmond. Hear from residents, former staff and people who use the service as they share experiences of overdose, addiction, public drug use and change. Since opening in 2018, the room has managed more than 12,000 overdose incidents without a death inside. But concerns about safety, drug dealing and its location persist. This first instalment introduces the evidence, tensions and voices often missing from the debate, asking how a community can respond together. A six-part series produced for the Yarra Drug and Health Forum. Episode one out now.

    Ep 1: Out Now

  2. Episode 3

    Ep 3: One death too many

    What does it take to turn decades of advocacy into action? In episode three of Room with a View, One Death Too Many, we trace the campaign to establish Victoria’s Medically Supervised Injecting Room. The death of Ms A, a mother of two, became the focus of a coronial investigation and a pivotal recommendation for change. Former health leaders, advocates and residents recall political resistance, community rallies and the urgent work of opening an entirely new service. Hear how the room welcomed its first clients in June 2018, and what neighbours noticed afterwards. From persistent campaigning to fewer ambulance callouts, this episode explores the human cost of delay and the decisions that brought supervised injecting from proposal to permanent care.

    Ep 3: One death too many

  3. Episode 4

    Ep 4: A Calming Raft

    What can a safe space offer beyond overdose prevention? In episode four of Room with a View, A Calming Raft, we step inside Victoria’s Medically Supervised Injecting Room to explore care, connection and dignity. Clients describe what it means to be greeted by name, supported without judgement and offered help on their own terms. Former medical director Dr Nico Clark explains how the service expanded beyond supervised injecting to provide hepatitis C treatment, opioid agonist treatment and other essential healthcare. We also examine common misconceptions and hear concerns about prevention and rehabilitation. From wound care to housing referrals, this episode asks how meeting people where they are can open doors to treatment, rebuild trust and create new possibilities for change.

    Ep 4: A Calming Raft

  4. Episode 5

    Ep 5: Framing the room

    How is a neighbourhood’s story shaped by the images and narratives shared about it? In episode five of Room with a View, Framing the Room, we explore the contested location of Victoria’s Medically Supervised Injecting Room beside Richmond West Primary School. Residents, clients and former health leaders discuss safety, stigma and the gap between everyday experience and media portrayals. We hear concerns about children and street conditions alongside arguments for keeping care close to where people use drugs. What can one health service reasonably address? Would moving it solve the problems? And could more facilities help share the load? This episode asks how a polarised debate might make room for evidence, respectful conversation and the people whose lives it affects.

    Ep 5: Framing the room

  5. Episode 6

    Ep 6: Who belongs here?

    Who gets to belong, and what happens when stigma pushes people to the margins? In the final episode of Room with a View, Who Belongs Here?, we explore how shame, poverty, homelessness and trauma shape lives and access to care. MSIR clients, residents, historian Janet McCalman and health professionals challenge stereotypes about people who use drugs. We examine debates over criminalisation and hear why housing, meaningful work and community connection matter alongside overdose prevention. What would support look like if it addressed the whole person? And can a community make space for everyone? This closing chapter asks what we owe one another, and how dignity, belonging and compassionate healthcare can open doors to lasting change rather than leave people behind.

    Ep 6: Who belongs here?

  6. Oct 26

    Ep 2: Struggle Town

    Before the injecting room, there was Struggletown. Episode two of Room with a View traces North Richmond’s journey from industrial suburb to a neighbourhood shaped by migration, public housing and gentrification. Historian Janet McCalman joins longtime residents, health advocates and an MSIR client to share stories of hardship, generosity and belonging. From Greek Easter celebrations to factory closures and a street heroin market, we discover how decades of change laid the ground for Victoria’s Medically Supervised Injecting Room. Why did the drug market take hold here? How have services responded? And as property values rise, whose needs and experiences count? Struggletown looks beyond the debate to ask what it means to share a neighbourhood, and who gets to call it home.

    Ep 2: Struggle Town
See All Season 1 (6)

About

The Medically Supervised Injecting Room (MSIR) is a health facility in Victoria, Australia, where people can inject pre-obtained drugs under the supervision of nurses and medical staff. The North Richmond MSIR is the only service of its kind in Victoria, and has pioneered innovative ways of offering public health care. Since opening in 2018, a lot has been achieved. The MSIR has become one of the busiest supervised injecting facilities in the world, saving lives and connecting clients to essential health services. More than 13,000 overdose incidents have been safely managed and no one has died inside the facility. Yet the room continues to come under sustained criticism, particularly over its location. Across six episodes, Room with a View tells the story of how the MSIR came to be and examines its impact on lives, public health, North Richmond’s streets and the wider community. It asks: What value does the room add to those who use it? What do locals really think and what will happen if the service were relocated?

Information