Alcohol and other drugs treatment services clients
Clients may receive treatment for their own or someone else’s alcohol or drug use (see Key terminology and glossary). Characteristics of all clients are described below, including client's principal drugs of concern by age group and clients receiving treatment in multiple collection years.
Key findings
In 2019–20:
- Around 139,300 clients aged 10 and over were treated by publicly funded AOD treatment services, equating to 624 clients per 100,000 people.
- Clients received just over 237,500 closed treatment episodes.
- An average of 1.7 closed treatment episodes were provided to clients seeking assistance for their own alcohol or drug use.
- Almost two-thirds of clients were male (64%), and over half (53%) of clients were aged 20–39.
- 1 in 6 (17%) clients aged 10 and over identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
From 2015–16 to 2019–20:
- Around 469,000 Australians have received treatment for alcohol or drug use over this period, some having sought treatment in more than one year.
- While there has been a small increase in client numbers over this period, from around 134,000 to 139,300, the rate of service use has not increased, from 629 clients per 100,000 population to 624.
- Of the 139,300 clients aged 10 and over who received treatment in 2019–20, around 2 in 5 (44%) had previously sought treatment by an AOD service since 2015–16.
Characteristics of clients
The number of clients treated by publicly funded alcohol and other drug treatment agencies increased from 133,895 in 2015–16 to 139,295 in 2019–20. While the number of clients has increased by 4% over this period, when taking into consideration population growth, the rate of clients accessing services has not increased. In 2019–20 the rate was 624 clients per 100,000 population, similar to the rate of 629 five years earlier (Table AODTS Clients.1).
In 2019–20, 131,076 clients received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use and 13,884 received treatment in relation to someone else’s alcohol or drug use. A small proportion (4.1% or 5,665 closed treatment episodes) of clients sought treatment for their own alcohol or drug use as well as for someone else’s alcohol or drug use (Table SCR.30).
The Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services (AODTS) collection captures information on treatment services accessed by clients. It does not measure the underlying need for treatment or level of problematic alcohol or drug use in the community. Changes in client numbers may be due to clients’ access to treatment, treatment availability and/or funding available for alcohol and other drug treatment services.
Table AODTS Clients.1: AODTS clients—2015–16 to 2019–20
|
2015–16(a) |
2016–17 |
2017–18 |
2018–19 |
2019–20 |
Number of clients
|
133,895
|
127,404
|
129,832
|
136,999
|
139,295
|
Number of episodes
|
206,395
|
200,751
|
208,935
|
219,933
|
237,545
|
Rate of clients
(per 100,000 population)
|
629
|
600
|
601
|
623
|
624
|
Note: Based on records with a valid statistical linkage key (SLK-581).
(a) In 2015–16 client numbers were imputed due to low response rates for valid SLK-581.
Source: Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Minimum Data Set Table SCR.21.
Client profile
In 2019–20:
- most clients (93%) received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use and were likely to be male (66% of clients)
- in contrast, clients who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use (7%) were more likely to be female (50%) (Tables SC.1–2)
- the rate of clients receiving AOD services was highest for those that lived in Very remote areas (1,865 clients per 100,000 population), followed by Remote areas (1,382 clients per 100,000) and Outer regional areas (887 clients per 100,000; Table SCR.29)
- almost 4 in 5 (79%) clients received treatment at a single agency, 14% at 2 agencies, and 7% of clients received treatment at 3 or more agencies (Table SCR.23).
Client service use over multiple years
Nationally, an estimated 469,059 Australians have sought AOD treatment, receiving one or more closed treatment episodes since 2015–16 (Figure CLIENT1; Table SCR.28).
Of these clients, over the 5 years to 2019–20:
- The majority received treatment in a single year (72%):
- 17% 77,571) received treatment for the first time in 2019–20
- A further 55% (259,884) received treatment in only one of the four collection periods (excluding 2019–20).
- Of the 139,300 clients aged 10 and over that received treatment in 2019–20; over 2 in 5 (44%) clients had previously sought treatment by an AOD service in one or more years since 2015–16.

Source: AIHW Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Minimum Data Set Table SCR.28.