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If you’ve been charged with a drug offence, you may want to consider the MERIT Program.
“MERIT” stands for “Magistrates’ Early Referral into Treatment” and is a program run by the courts to try and help people break the cycle of drug addiction and offending.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible?
To be eligible for MERIT, you must:
Be an adult who is eligible for bail
Voluntarily agree to participate in the Program
Not be charged with a sexual offence or a strictly indictable offence, which are serious offences that can only be dealt with by the District or Supreme courts.
What does MERIT involve?
If you are accepted into MERIT, a treatment plan will be made which is tailored to your needs. Based on your circumstances, you might have to undergo detoxification, rehabilitation, counselling and so on. You’ll also have to undergo regular urine tests to test for drug use.
If you’re accepted into MERIT, you will be granted bail to participate in the program. This means that you’ll have to abide by any bail conditions that are imposed on you by the court – for example, you will have to be of good behaviour, and you will have to go back to court as requested by the magistrate. If you fail to abide by your bail conditions, you may be removed from the MERIT program and proceed straight to sentencing.
How can it help me get a lesser penalty?
Once you complete the MERIT program, you will most likely go back to court to be sentenced. The magistrate hearing your case will usually receive a report from your MERIT case worker, which details how you have progressed through the program in overcoming your drug addiction. If you’ve made a positive effort to engage in the program, that will be taken into account by the magistrate, who may give you a more lenient penalty.
MERIT Program Locations
The following Local Courts participate in the MERIT Program: