A VCAT ruling found in favour of The Lookout being built at the Atkinsons Lane site in 2020 despite a number of objections.

However, WRAD Health chief executive officer Mark Powell revealed on Tuesday night the centre would not be built at that site.

He said the state government had a specific design it used for residential rehabilitation centres.

"They are looking for a different site," Mr Powell said.

"We did have a site, as the community would be very aware of - in Atkinsons Lane - but that's not on the table at this stage.

"We're looking for a greenfields site."

Mr Powell said WRAD Health was now exploring other possible partnerships for the centre.

"It has created opportunities for us to be thinking about other connections," he said.

Mr Powell, who was speaking at the first of a series of talks at the Warrnambool library titled Sticky Subjects, said The Lookout was reliant on state government funding.

"There is a template the government has come up with - so it's very much reliant on government funding to build it," he said.

"We've had tremendous community support in terms of the fundraising we've had to date and that will still continue to be used in additional aspects of the program."

Mr Powell said WRAD Health had regular discussions with the state government and was hopeful there would be a funding announcement in May.

"We are in a state of limbo until we get some commitment from the government," he said.

Mr Powell said the The Lookout would use a therapeutic community model.

"The idea is that it's the community that kind of provides the treatment," he said.

"It's a safe place for people to be amongst people who understand what they're going through."

Mr Powell said there would be people at the centre at different stages of their journey towards recovery.

"One person likened it to me a bit like a family - where your older siblings help guide the younger siblings and obviously the parents are the therapists and the managers," he said.

Mr Powell said WRAD Health was dedicated to helping remove the stigma that can be associated with addiction.

He said he believed there were a lot of misconceptions about people who were battling addiction issues.

"It goes back to people's understanding - to appreciate what leads people into a path of addiction," Mr Powell said.

He said often people thought about the fact that drugs were illegal.

However, Mr Powell said the greatest risk the person battling the issue and the community was when they were not in treatment.

"When we create an issue of someone being bad and someone we need to push away from society, we kind of create bigger problems because they're not connected to help and services," he said.

"One of the consequences is that people delay accessing treatment and that's a big issue too because the problems associated with dependence become greater."

Brophy Family and Youth Services alcohol and other drugs youth specialist Jessica Moloney spoke about the need for offering evidence-based information to young people.

She said young people often didn't know where to turn when it came to asking questions about the possible impacts of drugs and alcohol.

"We spend a lot of time building a rapport with young people," Ms Moloney said.

"It's about finding the reason behind the substance use of behind what's causing the trouble and what's causing the pain."

Ms Moloney said it was important young people were given the chance to speak about issues in a non-judgemental environment.

"Young people respond to facts," she said.

"The more open and honest you can be, the better response you will get."

Judy Ryan, who helped campaign for a safe injecting facility in Richmond, spoke about the need for the community to get behind The Lookout.

She said she was spurred into action after finding numerous people who had overdosed in the streets near her home.

On one particular day in July 2016, she came home to find an unconscious man at her gate.

She checked his pulse, called Triple-0 - as she had many times before - and waited for paramedics to arrive.

"I went inside and said to my husband John 'they should do something about this' and he said 'well who's they?'"

Mrs Ryan was shocked to discover there were so many community members who were desperate for a solution.

In the following months, Mrs Ryan and Richmond residents campaigned for a safe injecting centre.

There was initial opposition from the state government, but in the end people power won.

Mrs Ryan was asked on Tuesday night what she believed helped get the push for the facility over the line.

"I really believe it was the coming together of the community," she said.

"The evidence was there that it was needed but politicians are very risk averse.

"They think anything to do with sticky subjects, you just don't go there because the community will buck up.

"But I think they underestimate the lived experience of people and their families and the people who care for them."

Mrs Ryan said she was shocked to learn how many people thought there was a desperate need for a solution to the problem.

"The voice of the people is just key," she said.