2007 National Drug Strategy Household Survey

Recent Alcohol and Drug releases

National Opioid Pharmacotherapy Statistic Annual Data Collection 2007 Report (released 28 July 2008)

2007 National Drug Strategy Household Survey First Results (released 27 April 2008)

The effectiveness of the Illicit Drug Diversion Initiative in rural and remote Australia (released 10 April 2008)

Alcohol and other drug treatment services NMDS specifications 2008-09:data dictionary, collection guidelines and validation processes (released 25 March 2008)

Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services in Australia 2005-06: Report on the National Minimum Data Set (released 26 July 2007)

Statistics on drug use in Australia 2006 (released April 2006)

Welcome!

Thank you for inquiring about the 2007 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS). If you would like to know more about the Survey, please read below, and look at the frequently asked questions and their answers. If you have further questions, send an or call us.

The field work has been completed and analysis of the data has started. The first public release of this data and analysis, First results, will be available, on this web site and in print, in mid-April 2008. A more detailed publication, Detailed findings, will be released around October 2008.

In the meantime, you can download the 2007 NDSHS Questionnaire.

Note that this questionnaire is the first rotation, of three, of the 14-year-olds or older drop-and-collect instrument. Icons have been added to indicate those questions that were asked of 12- and 13-year olds and those that were asked by telephone interview .

Call David Batts on (02) 6289 8515 if you need further information about the 2007 NDSHS.

Background

The 2007 National Drug Strategy Household Survey is the ninth in a series of household surveys measuring the prevalence of drug use and attitudes towards drug use in Australia. Earlier surveys were conducted in 1985, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2004. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) is conducting the 2007 survey at the request of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

Privacy and ethics

All the information collected through the survey is protected by legislation - section 29 of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Act 1987. No results or any other data that could possibly identify individuals may be released. This arrangement binds everyone involved with the survey. The survey project was approved by the AIHW Ethics Committee.

Project overview

The National Drug Strategy Household Surveys are national surveys providing cross sectional data on drug use in Australia. The surveys provide estimates of licit and illicit drug use. The surveys also measure community attitudes to drug use, and awareness of and community support for various drug-related policies.

Project objectives

The project objectives are to gather data for the surveillance and monitoring of drug use and related issues in the general population by means of a household-based survey.

The specific objectives of the 2007 survey are:

to provide data on the level, patterns and trends in the use of tobacco, alcohol and other substances;
to identify groups with a high risk for drug abuse;
to measure community awareness and knowledge of licit and illicit drugs; and
to measure community support for various drug-related policies.

The design of the survey is such that it necessarily excludes special population groups not accessed by a household survey and specifically excludes detailed analysis of drug-related treatment and harm.