State and territory summaries

This section presents key state and territory findings on specialist alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment services, the people they treat, and the treatment they provided in 2021–22.

The technical notes page provides details on the data, with further information available in the Alcohol and other drug treatment services NMDS 2021–22 Quality Statement. In addition, a series of state and territory supplementary tables accompanying the annual report are also available.

Key findings

In 2021–22:

  • around 1,300 publicly funded agencies provided services for clients seeking AOD treatment in Australia, ranging from 17 in the Australian Capital Territory to 475 in New South Wales
  • alcohol was the most common principal drug of concern for all states and territories; Northern Territory (65%), Tasmania (49%), Western Australia (46%), New South Wales (43%), Australian Capital Territory (43%), South Australia (41%), Queensland (39%) and Victoria (39%) (nationally 42% of treatment episodes)
  • amphetamines were the second most common principal drug of concern in most states except for Queensland and Northern Territory. Treatment episodes for amphetamines ranged from 20% in the Australian Capital Territory to 31% in South Australia (nationally the second most common drug of concern; 24%)  
  • counselling was the most common main treatment type nationally (36%), and the most common in all states except the Northern Territory.

Over the period 2012–13 to 2021–22:

  • the number of publicly funded agencies rose from 714 to 1,274 in 2021–22, a change that was largely driven by increases in New South Wales (from 245 to 475) and Victoria (from 129 to 351)
  • alcohol, amphetamines, cannabis and heroin were the most common principal drugs of concern in 6 of the 8 states and territories
  • counselling was the most common main treatment type across most states and territories during this period.

State and territory client rates

Nationally, the rate of clients receiving specialist AOD treatment was 576 per 100,000 people in 2021–22, the lowest rate since 2015–16 (Table SCR.21). The rate of clients treated by publicly funded AOD treatment agencies in each state and territory varied over time. (Figure CLIENTS 1).

Figure CLIENTS 1: AODTS clients and treatment episodes, by state and territory, 2013–14 to 2021–22.

The line chart shows that there were 576 clients per 100,000 population in Australia in 2021–22, decreasing from 619 clients per 100,000 population in 2021-22. Across the period 2013–14 to 2021–22, the rate of clients was highest in the Northern Territory (1,530 per 100,000 in 2021–22) and lowest in New South Wales (399 per 100,000 in 2021–22). A filter allows the user to view by rate of clients, number of clients or number of treatment episodes.

Over the period from 2013–14 to 2021–22, in 4 of 8 states and territories, the rate of clients remained consistently higher than the rate of clients nationally:

  • in the Northern Territory, the rate of clients increased from 1,397 clients per 100,000 in 2013–14 to 1,530 per 100,000 in 2021–22
  • in the Australian Capital Territory, the rate of clients ranged from 877 clients per 100,000 in 2013–14 to 1,119 per 100,000 in 2017–18, falling to 966 clients per 100,000 in 2021–22
  • in Western Australia, the rate of clients increased between 2013–14 and 2019–20 from 697 per 100,000 to 817 per 100,000, then falling to 636 clients per 100,000 in 2021–22
  • in Queensland, the rate of clients fluctuated from 714 clients per 100,000 in 2013–14 up to 855 per 100,00 in 2015–16, falling to 748 clients per 100,000 in 2021–22.

For more information see the Data quality statement.


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