NSW Users and AIDS Association (NUAA) is very excited to be holding its annual Peers and Consumers Forum as a Virtual Online Event this year.

NUAA is calling out to the community for volunteers to help make this a world-class, online event.

The theme for the online forum is "Peers as Leaders".

Ticket holders will have access to the same experiences that they would at an in-person event. After logging in, participants will gain entry to the forum lobby, where they can read the program, select the sessions they want to watch and can choose to participate by asking questions or interacting with peers, consumers and friends.

The PAC Forum for 2021 will highlight the way people who use drugs step up to support each other to improve the health, dignity and human rights of our community. The forum is a unique opportunity for peers and consumer to connect, network and learn and for service providers to gain a unique insight into the peer experience.

Ticket holders will enjoy 2 days of discussion, information and capacity building for our community of people who use drugs and people working in drug and alcohol services and related community and health sectors.

There will be main sessions on global drug using activism, patient-centred health care, systemic reform and learning from First Nations leadership.

Other sessions and workshops will cover topics including:

• Peer organising and leadership in communities of people who use drugs

• Diversity in our communities

• Movements for drug decriminalisation and legalisation

• Working in mainstream organisations

• Patient stories from Justice Health (video)

• Information on Reagent Pill Testing Kits and Fentanyl Test Strips

• The intersecting issues of gender, drugs and motherhood

• Issues affecting people in regional and remote areas who use drugs.

Some sessions and workshops will run concurrently.

The Forum is being held just ahead of the 2021 International Conference on Health and Hepatitis Care in Substance Users, a global event being hosted online by INSHU from Sydney October 13-15.

NUAA is proud to have partnered with INSHU on this important event, opening Day 2 of the PAC 2021 Forum to INSHU's conference guests online as a Community Day.