State and Territory summaries

Summary

Publicly funded alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment agencies across Australia provide a range of services and support to people receiving treatment for their alcohol or drug use through a range of treatments. Assistance may also be provided to support the family and friends of people using drugs or alcohol.

The main findings about AOD treatment services in 2018–19—including information on clients, drugs of concern, and treatment provided—are available in the Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2018–19 detailed findings report.

This supplementary report presents key state and territory findings on specialist alcohol and other drug treatment service agencies, the people they treat, and the treatment provided in 2018–19. Client counts refer to those closed treatment episodes for which a valid statistical linkage key (SLK) has been supplied. No imputation has been applied to client counts in this section of the report.

The technical notes page provides details on the data, with further information available in the Alcohol and other drug treatment services NMDS 2018–19 Quality Statement. In addition, a series of state and territory supplementary tables accompanying the detailed findings report are also available.

Box 1.1: Key facts

In 2018–19:

  • a total of 1,283 publicly funded agencies provided data about services for clients seeking treatment and support in Australia, ranging from 16 in the Australian Capital Territory to 440 in New South Wales
  • nationally, alcohol was the most common principal drug of concern that led clients to seek treatment (36% of treatment episodes), and amphetamines was the second most common (28% of episodes)
  • alcohol was the most common drug of concern in the Northern Territory (62%), Australian Capital Territory (43%), Tasmania (41%) and amphetamines the most common in South Australia (37%) and Western Australia (34%)
  • nationally, counselling was the most common main treatment type (39%), and was the most common in 6 of the 8 states and territories.

Over the period 2014–15 to 2018–19:

  • the number of publicly funded agencies providing data about services for clients seeking treatment and support rose from 838 to 1,283 agencies, an increase that was largely driven by increases in the number of reporting agencies in New South Wales (from 296 to 440) and Victoria (from 140 to 404)
  • nationally, the 4 most common principal drugs of concern remained consistent, with amphetamines increasing as a proportion of closed treatment episodes, from 20% to 28%. However, the proportions vary by jurisdiction
  • nationally, counselling remained the most common main treatment type, with assessment only and support and case management only the second and third most common, respectively.