A new health model to provide help in cases of public drunkenness is set to be trialled in the Mount Alexander Shire.

Castlemaine's Dhelkaya Health will work alongside specialist Indigenous corporations and emergency services to increase access to health and social services as the primary response to public intoxication as part of the Public Intoxication Reform trial.

The trial comes ahead of public drunkenness being decriminalised in Victoria in November 2023

The programme includes outreach services, training for first responders and helping to transport people to a safe place where they can receive support if needed.

As part of the Mount Alexander trial there will be two service streams on public drunkenness.

A stand-alone Indigenous-led response will be delivered by Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative and the Aboriginal Community Justice Panels.

This is set to run alongside a general service to the Mount Alexander community, delivered by Dhelkaya Health from its Castlemaine campus. The "Place of Safety" services provide a supervised area for intoxicated people to stay while they sober up if their home or another private residence is not safe or suitable.

MORE NEWS: Salary cap warning for AFLCV clubs after major league team stripped of premiership

"We are really proud to be part of this important trial and to be ready to offer potentially life-saving support to anyone who needs it," Dhelkaya Health chief executive Sue Race said.

"This trial is about minimising harm and treating intoxication as a health issue."

The shift towards the decriminalisation of public drunkenness and establishing an alternative public health model has been informed by recommendations detailed in Seeing the Clear Light of Day, a 2020 report to the Victorian Attorney-General.

The report was named as a tribute to Yorta Yorta grandmother Tanya Day, who was arrested in 2017 for being drunk on a train passing through Castlemaine.

A bill to decriminalise public drunkenness passed Victoria's Parliament in February 2021, after a years' long fight by the children of Ms Day, who died after a fall in a Castlemaine police cell.

OTHER STORIES:

Anybody who has contact with a public intoxication service will be offered follow-up or ongoing support to address additional health and welfare needs.

The health service will have a team of BDAC alcohol and other drugs specialist support workers co-located within Dhelkaya Community Health services at Spencely House on its Castlemaine campus.

People will be referred to the services by Victoria Police or Ambulance Victoria and BDAC and Aboriginal Community Justice Panels offer support and care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

"If a member of the public has concerns about someone distressed or drunk in public - it could be someone they know or a stranger - they should call triple zero (000)," Victoria Police Senior Sergeant Darren McQueen said.

"This will ensure we can get that person to the right place to help them sober up safely."

The other trial locations include the City of Yarra, Dandenong and Shepparton.

Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with the Bendigo Advertiser app. Click here to download.