Summary

This is the sixth report in the series of annual publications on the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Minimum Data Set (AODTS–NMDS). New to this edition is the inclusion of summaries on each of the principal drugs of concern nominated by clients seeking treatment for their alcohol or other drug use, and each of the main treatment types received as part of a client’s treatment plan.

This report also presents data from other relevant collections to provide the reader with a broader picture of drug use and drug treatment in Australia. The report contains data from the 2004 National Drug Strategy Household Survey on patterns of drug use for selected drugs, and treatment data from the 2006 National Opioid Pharmacotherapy Statistics Annual Data Collection (NOPSAD) and Australian Government-funded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander substance use services and primary health care services. Data on mortality and morbidity attributable to the use of alcohol and other drug use are also reported. 

Treatment agencies and episodes

  • In 2005–06, 664 government-funded alcohol and other drug treatment agencies from across Australia reported data to the AODTS–NMDS collection.
  • The majority (57%) of agencies identified as being non-government providers, and most were located in major cities (56%).
  • The 664 agencies delivered 151,362 closed treatment episodes, an increase from 142,144 episodes reported in 2004–05.

Client profile

Of the 151,362 closed treatment episodes reported in 2005–06:

  • 96% (or 144,963 episodes) involved clients seeking treatment for their own alcohol or other drug use, while the remaining 4% involved clients seeking treatment for someone else’s alcohol or other drug use.
  • The median age of persons receiving treatment for their own drug use was 31 years, while for people seeking treatment for someone else’s drug use the median age was 43 years.
  • Male clients accounted for two-thirds (66%) of all closed treatment episodes, which has been the case since 2001–02.
  • 10% (or 15,070 episodes) involved clients who identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin, which is higher than the overall proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, aged 10 years and over, in the Australian population (2.1%; ABS 2004).1
  • The majority (86%) of treatment episodes were for clients born in Australia and 95% of treatment episodes were for clients whose preferred language was English.

1 This figure is likely to be an underestimate of the total number of Indigenous Australians who received treatment for alcohol and other drugs in 2005–06 since the majority of Australian Government-funded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander substance use services or primary health care services are not included in the AODTS–NMDS collection.

Drugs of concern

  • Overall, alcohol was the most common principal drug of concern reported in closed treatment episodes (39%), followed by cannabis (25%), opioids (17%, with heroin accounting for 14%) and amphetamines (11%). Benzodiazepines accounted for 2% of closed treatment episodes and fewer than 1% of episodes were for the principal drugs ecstasy and cocaine (0.6% and 0.3% respectively).
  • When all drugs of concern are considered (that is, the principal and all other drugs of concern nominated by the client), alcohol and cannabis remained the two most commonly reported drugs of concern in 2005–06—more than half (54%) of all episodes included alcohol as a drug of concern, while 46% of episodes included cannabis. Amphetamines were the third most common reported drug of concern overall, accounting for 23% of episodes, followed by nicotine (18% of episodes).
  • For clients aged 10–19 years, cannabis was the most common principal drug of concern nominated (50% of episodes). The principal drugs of concern were more evenly distributed for clients aged 20–29 years, with cannabis being the most commonly nominated drug (30%), followed by alcohol (25%), heroin (19%) and amphetamines (15%). While for clients aged 30 years and over, alcohol was the most common principal drug of concern—highest for clients aged 60 years and over (81% of episodes).

Treatment programs

  • Overall, counselling was the most common form of main treatment provided (38% of treatment episodes), followed by withdrawal management (detoxification) (17%), assessment only (15%), information and education only (10%), and support and case management only and rehabilitation (both 8%).
  • Where the main treatment type was counselling, withdrawal management (detoxification), assessment only or rehabilitation, alcohol accounted for the greatest proportion of episodes (45%, 43%, 45% and 42% respectively). In contrast, where the main treatment type was information and education only or support and case management only, cannabis accounted for the highest proportion of episodes (61% and 32% respectively).

Other data sources

  • Nationally, an estimated 38,659 clients were receiving pharmacotherapy treatment on a ‘snapshot/specified’ day in June 2006—71% of clients were receiving methadone, 23% buprenorphine and 6% buprenorphine/naloxone.
  • There were 78,620 hospital separations reported in 2005–06 with a substance use disorder as the principal diagnosis, representing 1.1% of all hospital separations in Australia in that year.