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For the past year, Patricia Harman has routinely taken some tongs and an empty water bottle on her morning walks. She uses the kitchen utensil to pick up discarded syringes. On an hour-long walk, the long-time Boulder resident and school traffic warden said it was not uncommon to find a dozen needles. "My neighbour comes with me and she finds more than I do," she said. "It has become normal. They are everywhere. I can't just leave them there." Her frustration is growing, saying it was not uncommon to witness illicit drug deals or use in public. "I want to drop them [the water bottles containing needles] on the council's front desk," she said. 'Frightening statistic', mayor says Kalgoorlie-Boulder, 580 kilometres east of Perth, ranks as Australia's biggest outback city. Its population of 29,306 people at the 2021 Census was larger than Alice Springs (25,912), Mt Isa (18,727) and Broken Hill (17,588). A community safety forum this week heard Mayor Glenn Wilson describe the spike in the number of discarded syringes being collected on the streets as "frightening". According to the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, its staff collected 1,138 needles throughout 2024. But this year, in the nine months from January to September, that number has surged to more than 5,323 needles. That is equivalent to 19 needles collected every day, or 135 a week. The job of safely disposing of needles falls to the City's Safer Streets Patrol, which was set up in 2018 as a quasi-security force to conduct foot patrols of the CBD to reduce anti-social behaviour. The patrol has expanded to 11 staff and three vehicles for officers, who have ranger-like powers under the Local Government Act. "Our Safer Streets Patrol picked up between January and April this year, the same amount of needles as what they did for all of 2024," Cr Wilson said. "That is a frightening statistic for our community to understand." A concerned mother named Mandy told the forum it was only a matter of time before someone gets stuck by a needle. "The streets are littered with glass, they're littered with needles, they're littered with rubbish," she said. "Where is the accountability for the people who are offending? "This is disgusting that the vulnerable people of our community are going to come undone when they land on a needle." Needle dispensing and exchange According to the Department of Health, Kalgoorlie Health Campus operates a needle and syringe dispensing machine, known as NSDMs, to provide free, sterile needles and syringes. The WA Country Health Service operates a needle exchange at its Goldfields Population Health site on Ware Street. Kalgoorlie Pharmacy on Hannan Street also allows patients to return used needles, syringes and lancets for safe disposal. Cr Wilson said the city's powers to crack down on the problem were limited. "We can issue infringements, and we have, but the problem we face is they never get paid," he said. "The large number of needles in the streets tells us there's an epidemic when it comes to the drug problem, so where's the support services?" Meth use on rise The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) conducts wastewater testing to determine rates of drug consumption in capital cities and various regional sites. Its latest data suggests methylamphetamine use in regional WA is at an all-time high. It would not comment specifically on Kalgoorlie-Boulder, but previous wastewater testing identified the city as a meth hotspot. "We note that the consumption of methylamphetamine in regional Western Australia has been increasing since August 2021 and is at record levels," a spokesperson for ACIC said. Kalgoorlie MLA Ali Kent said she had raised the issue with WA Health Minister Meredith Hammat, saying the use of methamphetamine had "increased dramatically" and is a "very complex problem". "Even if you have a mandatory needle exchange it wouldn't stop what is happening," she said. "I believe 90 per cent of people using drugs do use the needle exchange. "I've talked to the heath minister and she's really keen for the health department and the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder to work collaboratively, because needles in the streets is not acceptable." Goldfields-Esperance Police Superintendent Kate Collins said officers work closely with the Safer Streets Patrol to reduce anti-social behaviour and gather intelligence. "We will search people when we have grounds, we do a lot of work behind the scenes that is not always publicised because it might be part of the bigger picture," she said. "We are seizing drugs daily off people, mostly small amounts that we see here in Kalgoorlie. "While we can talk about needle programs, let's not shy away from what it is, illegal substance use and abuse."
