CHURCH OFFER TO TAKE OVER HEROIN ROOM

THE Uniting Church may run Australia's first legal heroin shooting gallery
after the Vatican ordered the Sisters of Charity to abandon the project.

Uniting Church leaders will meet NSW Special Minister of State John Della
Bosca next week to discuss their possible involvement in the safe injecting
room.

Amid the controversy over the Catholic Church's intervention, the State
Government's drug reform bill passed the Upper House late on Thursday night
paving the way for an 18-month trial in Kings Cross.

Due to start in February, the trial could be postponed for up to six months
after the Sisters of Charity withdrew.

But it is understood this is the "worst-case scenario" for the Government.

Uniting Church spokesman, the Reverend Harry Herbert, said the church was
willing to pursue the initiative with the Government.

"I don't want to see the good things that have already been done by the
Sisters of Charity fade away," Mr Herbert said. "We will be having a good
look at it.

"I've already had a call from John Della Bosca's office to arrange a
meeting next week."

Mr Herbert said the Sisters of Charity had established an "infrastructure"
– including hiring qualified staff – and the Uniting Church could step in
and take over those services if approved.

He said an attempt by the church's Wayside Chapel at Kings Cross to
establish its own injecting room earlier this year showed there was a
"large measure of support" for the project.

The Wayside Chapel's minister, the Reverend Ray Richmond – who was behind
the shooting gallery or Tolerance Room – said he would do "everything
possible" to get the legal room open.

Under the terms of operation of the safe injecting room agreed to at the
May NSW Drug Summit, licensees must be a non-government organisation and
meet strict rules.

This includes ensuring that under-18s are not admitted to the centre and
appointing at least one staff member with child protection and youth skills.

Premier Bob Carr said the Government was committed to forging ahead with
the trial despite the Vatican setback.

"It's going to go ahead," Mr Carr said.

The Darlinghurst-based Sisters of Charity Health Service in Sydney withdrew
its plans to run the safe injecting room after a directive from the
Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

While Sydney's Catholic Archbishop, Cardinal Edward Clancy, has said the
"project is not morally acceptable" the Sisters are considering taking
their case back to the Vatican.