Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia annual report

Alcohol: client demographics and treatment

In 2020–21, alcohol was reported as a drug of concern (either principal or additional) in almost half of all treatment episodes (45% or 101,800 episodes) (Table Drg.5).

Alcohol was the most common principal drug of concern in 2020–21, recorded in over 1 in 3 treatment episodes (37% or 83,600 episodes) (Table Drg.5). Alcohol has remained the most common PDOC since 2011–12 (Table Drg.1). Between 2011–12 and 2020–21, there was an overall increase in the number of alcohol-related treatment episodes (from 67,400 to 83,600 episodes) although the proportion of episodes for alcohol in relation to all other drugs decreased from 46% to 37% (Table Drg.1).

In 2020–21, at least 1 additional drug of concern was recorded in 1 in 4 alcohol-related treatment episodes (25% or 21,000 episodes) (Table Drg.2). The most common additional drugs of concern were cannabis (36% or 10,900 episodes), nicotine (28% or 8,500 episodes) and amphetamines (17% or 5,100 episodes) (Figure DRUGS1; Table Drg.3). These drugs may not have been the subject of any treatment in the episode.

Client demographics

In 2020–21, 45,900 clients received treatment for their own use of alcohol as a principal drug of concern. Of these clients:

• Just under 2 in 3 were male (64% of clients) (Table SC.9).
• Around 1 in 2 were aged either 30–39 (25% of clients) or 40–49 (26%) (Table SC.10). This was consistent for both males and females (Figure ALCOHOL1).
• One in 6 were Indigenous Australians (17% or 7,800 clients) (Table SC.11). This represents a crude rate of 1,260 Indigenous clients per 100,000 population (crude rate) (Table SCR.26).

Figure ALCOHOL1: Clients with alcohol as a principal drug of concern, by sex and age group, 2020–21(%)

Treatment

In 2020–21, 83,600 treatment episodes were provided to clients for alcohol as the principal drug of concern (Table Drg.5). The median duration of these treatment episodes was just under 4 weeks (26 days) (Table Drg.21). One in 3 (33%) treatment episodes lasted 2 days to 1 month, and 25% lasted 1–3 months (Table OV.12).

Among alcohol-related treatment episodes in 2020–21:

• The most common source of referral was health services (43% or 36,000 episodes), followed by self/family (42%) (Figure ALCOHOL2; Table Drg.13).
  • Across the 10 years to 2020–21, referral from a health service increased while referral from the criminal justice system (diversion) fell.
• The most common main treatment type was counselling (36% or 29,900 episodes), followed by assessment only (20%) and withdrawal management (14%) (Figure ALCOHOL2; Table Drg.18).
  • Counselling, withdrawal management and assessment only remained the most common treatment types across the 10 years to 2020–21, although the proportion of episodes for each treatment type varied over time.
• Almost 2 in 3 episodes were provided in non-residential treatment settings (64% of episodes). A further 17% were provided in residential treatment settings and 9.4% were provided in outreach settings (Table Drg.20).
• Almost 2 in 3 episodes ended with a planned completion (63% of episodes), while 20% ended unexpectedly (that is, the client ceased to participate against advice, without notice or due to non-compliance) (Figure ALCOHOL2; Table Drg.19).

Figure ALCOHOL2: Treatment episodes with alcohol as the principal drug of concern, by main treatment type, reason for cessation or source of referral, 2011–12 to 2020–21 (number or per cent)