Our Vision
SANDAS works to lead and strengthen community responses to the harms caused by alcohol and other drugs.
Our Mission
SANDAS facilitates networking, collaboration, research, information sharing, advocacy, training and policy review to reduce the harmful impacts of alcohol and other drugs. We are the voice of our members and stakeholders at national and state levels.
Our Values
The work of SANDAS is underpinned by 5 core values:
Health and Wellbeing: We work to reduce individual and community harm associated with alcohol and other drug use. Our work is underpinned by a belief in the rights of people to health, social justice, equity, reconciliation, cultural safety and social inclusion.
Evidence: We support alcohol and other drug treatment using evidence based interventions, provided by workers who are qualified and supported to deliver high quality, culturally appropriate services to individuals, families and communities.
Lived experience: We value the lived experience of clients, families, peer workers and communities as integral to the provision of effective treatment services.
Collaboration: We enable the strengthening of connections between individuals, organisations, communities, the alcohol and drug and other related sectors, to facilitate collaboration and co-operation.
Representation: We represent the AOD NGO sector knowing our united voice is stronger than individuals or organisations acting alone. We actively engage our members in the development of our representation work with the community, government, media and other stakeholders.
SANDAS produces Annual Reports to provide members, funding bodies and the community with a comprehensive picture of our work over the previous financial year.
The reports are distributed at the AGM and subsequently by email to all members.
You can download a copy here.
Annual Report
Financial Report
AGM Minutes
Member Survey Reports
Michael White – Executive Officer
Michael White is Executive Director of the South Australian Network of Drug and Alcohol Services (SANDAS) a role he commenced in 2014. Michael represents the interests of members at both state and federal level. His role is focuses on member advocacy, AOD policy development, systems planning and the engagement of the non-government sector in research and its translation to practice. He sits on a number of committees representing the non-government AOD sector. Michael has worked in the nongovernment and education sectors for over 35 years. He holds qualifications in adult and vocational education, quality improvement and management. Michael has a keen interest in systemic improvement and the enhancement of inter-sectoral practice.
Sam Raven – Senior Policy & Project officer
Sam has a background in Social Work, Alcohol and Other Drugs and Mental Health, Training and Community Services Management.
Previous to her current role she worked in AOD treatment in both front line and management roles, providing client support, staff and volunteer training and supervision.
She is passionate about work in this sector and has taken on her role at SANDAS in order to further advocate for the needs of workers and clients in the Alcohol and Other Drug sector.
Nicole Spurr - Quality and Communications Project Officer
Nicole Spurr has been recently appointed as the Quality and Communications Project Officer at SANDAS.
Prior to starting with SANDAS, Nicole has worked primarily within the corporate sector in various sales and marketing roles.
For the last 5 years Nicole has been developing her skills within the ISO Framework and is passionate about the benefits quality improvement can bring to all organisations.
Jodi Tasker- Finance and Administration Officer
Jodi comes to SANDAS with a strong finance and administration background in the not-for-profit sector.
Currently, Jodi is completing a Masters Degree in Social Work and has a keen interest in the Alcohol and Other Drug sector.
Alex Ingleton - Chair
Alex has a diverse career across the Community Services sector, working at Mission Australia as the South Australian Regional Leader for Community Services. Alex manages a portfolio of services including AOD, homelessness, mental health, education, youth and family across metropolitan Adelaide and regional South Australia. Alex also has rich experience in AOD, child protection and disability services.
Alex has qualifications across the community services sector and in management, including a Master of Business Administration (MBA). Alex is a strong advocate for systemic change and is passionate about supporting, encouraging and assisting individuals.
Michelle Edmondson - Deputy Chair/Secretary
Michelle Edmondson is the Operations Manager for the Alcohol and Other Drug programs within Life Without Barriers. In this role, Michelle is responsible for the delivery of quality services and achieving positive outcomes. Responsibilities also include the strategic and fiscal oversight to ensure the operations run smoothly and effectively for the organisation and stakeholders.
Michelle has 15 years of experience working in the Alcohol and Other Drugs sector both within Australia and overseas. With a Social Work background and a specialisation in Addiction, Michelle is passionate about supporting people to achieve their recovery goals and to combat the shame and stigma often experienced by clients with Alcohol and other Drug concerns.
Josie Cajipe - Treasurer
Josie Cajipe joined the SANDAS Board in October 2023 as treasurer, bringing her extensive experience and expertise in financial management and contractual compliance.
Josie has a strong interest in the AOD sector, which began in 2019 when she worked at Sonder, a non-profit organisation that provides health and wellbeing services to the community. At Sonder, Josie was part of the Northern Connect, a collaboration of several non-profit organisations that delivered AOD services to the northern metropolitan area of Adelaide. Through this collaboration, Josie gained insights into the challenges and opportunities of providing high-quality and client-centred AOD services.
Josie believes that serving the community goes beyond the numbers behind every grant. She wants to use her financial skills to contribute to the sustainability and effectiveness of SANDAS and all AOD programs in South Australia.
Sophie Bourchier
Sophie is the leading collaborator with community groups, government, and non-government agencies, in planning, developing, promoting and delivering events and programs for Substance Misuse Program in the Limestone Coast, South Australia.
She is a highly motivated Project Manager with more than 20 years’ experience in community development and engagement together with youth and adult drug and alcohol counselling. She has a diverse background in both statutory and community-based organisations in government and non-government sectors, with experience in management, administration, adolescent and family counselling, crisis triage and health promotion. Sophie holds a Graduate Diploma in youth mental health from the University of Melbourne.
Damien Chalmers
Damien Chalmers’ career has spanned working across government departments and non-government organisations during his career in the health and social welfare sectors. With a key focus on access and opportunity for all, Damien has focused his career on working with children, adolescents and young adults in areas including youth justice, child protection and homelessness. Damien manages AOD programs for Centacare which includes outpatient counselling services and the youth residential rehabilitation program, Alban Place.
Damien’s experience working across various community service sectors has given him a strong understanding of the systemic barriers individuals can face and the need to work collaboratively across government departments and the non-government sector. Damien continues to be passionate about ensuring individuals who want to make change are given every opportunity to do so with as little frustration as possible.
My Phuong Sramek
My Phuong Sramek is an organisational representative of CASSA, a non-profit organisation that provides culturally appropriate services to the diverse communities in South Australia.
My Phuong has previously served as a SANDAS Board Member from July 2015 until 2019 and brings with her 15 years of experience in working in the AOD, mental health and gambling sectors, in various roles such as case manager, therapist and manager. She is currently the Practice Manager for the Drug Treatment and Support service for people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds, as well as other mental health and gambling help programs, at CASSA.
My Phuong is passionate about supporting and empowering people from CALD backgrounds to access quality and holistic AOD services. She brings her valuable knowledge and skills to the SANDAS Board, as well as her commitment to collaboration and advocacy.
Leisha Olliver
Leisha is the Senior Manager of Communities Services at Uniting Communities. She has over 20 years’ experience across Government and Non-Government organisations in both Australia and the UK, specialising in the areas of Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment, Child Protection and Family Services. Leisha’s portfolio includes the New Roads Programs (Clean Needle Programs, Outpatient Counselling and Residential Rehabilitation) and Streetlink Youth AOD service, and has a focus on supporting all individuals of any age facing challenges with addiction through innovative and client lead services.
Leisha is passionate about advocating for systemic change to address the barriers to seeking treatment, particularly in regional areas, as well as reducing the stigma attached to those accessing support and recognising addiction as a health issue, as we know addiction does not discriminate in our community.
Matthew Seals
Matthew is the coordinator of the AOD team at PsychMed and facilitates the Matrix program for people with methamphetamine dependence. He has previously delivered psychological services and facilitated the Matrix program in PsychMed’s rural Riverland clinic and has been involved in the Riverland Health Advisory Committee and collaboration with other local services. He has provided individualised drug, alcohol, and other areas of addiction treatment, as well as conducted primary health and liaison work.
He is passionate about the AOD field and is eager to help incorporate evidence-based treatment shaped by lived experience, to help reduce individual and community harm due to substance use. He is a strong advocate for collaboration with, and representation of, AOD service providers, to ensure accessibility and best outcomes for those in need.
Sally Underdown
Sally Underdown joined the Alcohol and Drug Foundation as State Manager for South Australia and the Northern Territory in July 2018 with demonstrated success in delivering national policy and programs within the health, aged care, Indigenous affairs and sports sectors.
In her early career Sally was an Exercise Physiologist, working with clients, practitioners and allied health professionals in an Adelaide based hospital before she moved to Canberra to commence a 15 year career within the Australian Public Sector.
Working across a range of Australian Government Departments Sally demonstrated effective partnering and delivering social policy and health programs with a diverse network of service providers, government agencies and Ministers. A key feature of her work is her commitment to facilitate the genuine participation of Australian communities, including remote Indigenous communities in policy and service design. In 2013 Sally lead the negotiations and drafting of the inaugural Regional Partnership Agreement with the Australian and State Governments and the APY Executive for the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia.
Debby Kadarusman
Debby brings with her 15 years of experiences in the non-government alcohol and other drugs sector in various frontline and management roles that span across prevention, harm reduction, early intervention, and treatment for AOD and Mental Health comorbidities. An advocate for person-centred and multi-disciplinary care, Debby is passionate about bridging the gap between research and practice through continuous improvement approaches to better care, and incorporating lived experiences and evidence-based treatments to improve client experiences and outcomes.
Debby is the AOD Services manager at Sonder, responsible for the coordination and delivery of Sonder’s AOD services in the metro region and providing leadership, support, and guidance to multidisciplinary teams delivering in-home withdrawal services and AOD & Mental Health treatment options.
Kim Herbert
SANDAS Members
To find out more about the benefits of becoming a member, please visit https://sandas.org.au/membership/
Membership of SANDAS should not be taken as implying an organisation meets quality or accreditation standards as SANDAS does not undertake quality assurance of member organisations. All member organisations are responsible for their own quality assurance and accreditation. Please check directly with an organisation as to its quality assurance processes.
Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Council www.adac.org.au
Aboriginal Sobriety Group www.asg.org.au
Alcohol and Drug Foundation www.adf.org.au
Baptist Care www.baptistcaresa.org.au
Catherine House www.catherinehouse.org.au
Centacare www.centacare.org.au
Community Access Support SA www.sa.vnca.org.au
Country & Outback Health www.cobh.com.au
Drug ARM Australasia www.drugarm.com.au
Encounter Youth www.encounteryouth.com.au
Family Drug Support www.fds.org.au
Focus One Health www.focusonehealth.com.au
Hepatitis SA www.hepatitissa.asn.au
Junction Australia www.junctionaustralia.org.au
Life Without Barriers www.lwb.org.au
Mission Australia www.missionaustralia.org
Moorundi Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service www.moorundi.org.au
iReach Rural Health www.ireach.org.au
Neami National www.neaminational.org.au
NOFASD Australia www.nofasd.org.au
Nunkuwarrin Yunti www.nunku.org.au
OARS Community Transitions www.communitytransitions.com.au
Pangula Mannamurna Aboriginal Corporation www.pangula.org.au
Port Lincoln Aboriginal Health Service Inc www.plahs.org.au
Psychmed www.psychmed.com.au
Relationships Australia www.rasa.org.au
Sammy D Foundation www.sammydfoundation.org.au
SIN www.sin.org.au
SMART Recovery smartrecoveryaustralia.com.au
Sonder www.sonder.net.au
Substance Misuse Service www.portaugusta.sa.gov.au
Substance Misuse Limestone Coast
Teen Challenge www.teenchallengesa.com
Thorne Harbour Health www.thorneharbour.org
Towards Independence www.salvationarmy.org.au
Umoona Tjutagku Health Service www.uths.com.au
Uniting Communities www.unitingcommunities.org
West Coast Youth and Community Support www.wcycs.com.au
As the peak body for non-government organisations working in the alcohol and other drug sector, SANDAS is governed by its constitution which sets out the objects and the governance structure of the association.
To download a copy of our constitution click the pdf icon.
As the peak body for non-government organisations working in the alcohol and other drug sector, SANDAS has outlined a Strategic Plan in line with our Vision and Mission.
QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
SANDAS is committed to continuous quality improvement in order to provide an effective service to the NGO AOD Treatment Sector.
Our Quality Policy and other Policies are available below for your information and use.
Management and Board Responsibility Policy
Workplace Safety Management Policy