Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia annual report 2024–25

People may receive alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment for their own alcohol or drug use or seek support for someone else’s alcohol or drug use. AOD services ensure that people who may be experiencing harm from alcohol, prescribed medicines or other substances are provided with information, support and the opportunity to seek further assistance if appropriate, for themselves or for someone else (Department of Health and Aged Care 2019).

Client trends

In 2024–25:

• Around 127,800 people received 244,400 treatment episodes for their own or someone else’s alcohol or drug use from publicly funded alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment services (Table SCR.21).
• 120,148 people received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use and 14,581 received treatment in relation to someone else’s alcohol or drug use.
• 1 in 20 (5.4%, 6,925) clients received treatment for their own in addition to support for someone else’s alcohol or drug use (Table SCR.27).

Between 2023–24 and 2024–25:

• The number of clients fell by 3.1%, from 131,892 in 2023–24 to 127,804 in 2024–25.
• The rate of clients fell from 553 per 100,000 people in 2023–24 to 527 in 2024–25, when considering population growth (Figure 1).

Between 2015–16 and 2024 –25:

• Since 2019–20, there has been an 8.2% decline in overall client numbers from 139,295 to 127,804, with rates declining from 623 to 527 per 100,000 people.
• The number of clients receiving AOD treatment for their own use fell by 7% between 2015–16 (125,655) to 2024–25 (117,132).
• Whereas, client numbers for people receiving AOD treatment for someone else’s AOD use almost doubled between 2015–16 (5,575) to 2024–25 (10,672).

Decreases in the number of clients receiving AOD treatment may also be due to changes in funding for services, agencies reporting for only part of the financial year, and system issues resulting in problems collecting or extracting AODTS NMDS data. Clients are also receiving more treatment episodes within a year (see treatment episodes per client).

Treatment episodes per client

In 2024–25:

• There were fewer clients overall, but on average, clients received more than one treatment episode within a year. This has been steadily rising, indicating that although fewer people are accessing services, those who do are receiving multiple episodes of care, especially in Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory.
  • Between 2020–21 and 2024–25, nationally, the number of people receiving 1 treatment episode has been dropping while the number of people receiving more episodes has been rising (Figure 2).

Characteristics of clients

Client profile

In 2024–25:

• Most people (92%, 117,132) received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use.
  • These clients were more likely to be male (63%, 73,670).
• Of the 9.3% (10,672) of people who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use, 48% (5,129) were male.  
• the rates of clients using an AOD service use were highest in Very remote areas (1,343 people per 100,000) and lowest in Major cities (441 per 100,000; Table SCR.29).
• 77% (98,314) of people received treatment at a single agency: 
  • 15% (19,693) attended 2 agencies, and 7.7% (9,797) clients received treatment at 3 or more agencies (Table SCR.23).

See key terminology for further information on how clients are counted in this report. 

Age and sex

In 2024–25:

• 62% (78,799) of all people were male 
• 51% (65,065) of all people were aged 30–49
• Less than one percent (0.5%, 643) of all people reported a sex of ‘Another term’.

Clients who received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use tended to be younger than those who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use. 

• Of the people who received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use (117,132):
  • 57% (66,612) of people were aged under 40
  • 7.7% (9,009) of people were 10–19 years of age
  • 20% (23,119) of people were aged 50 and over.
• Of the people who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use (10,672):
  • 53% (5,645) of people were aged under 40
  • 25% (2,660) of people were aged 50 and over (Figure 3, tables SC.2-4).

New and returning clients

In 2024–25:

• For clients who received treatment for the first time, 40% (51,512) were new clients (Table SCR.28).
  • 59% (30,403) were male.
  • 59% (30,370) were aged under 40, with 14% (6,989) aged 10–19.
  • Most (90%, 46,418) clients received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use and these clients received an average of 1.4 treatment episodes.
• For clients who had previously received AOD treatment, 60% (76,292) were returning clients:  
  • 63% (48,396) were male.
  • 56% (42,864) were aged 30–49.
  • Most (93%, 70,714) received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use and these clients received an average of 1.9 treatment episodes (Figure 4, Table SCR.28).

Principal drug of concern

In 2024–25, among clients who received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use:

• 2 in 3 of all alcohol treatment episodes (65%, 56,347) were provided to returning clients, compared with 35% (30,160) new clients.
• Over half 54% (16,024) of all cannabis treatment episodes were provided to returning clients compared with new clients (46%, 13,510).
• Most (76%, 38,178) of all methamphetamine treatment episodes were for returning clients, compared with new clients (24%, 12,020).
• Most (84%, 7,647) of all heroin treatment episodes were for returning clients, compared with new clients (16%, 1,492) (Figure 5, Table SCR.28a).

Clients and drugs of concern

AOD treatment services provide treatment for the drug that is of most concern to the client, which is referred to as their principal drug of concern.

The most common principal drugs of concern that clients were treated for in 2024–25 were different across age groups:

• Younger people were more likely to receive treatment for cannabis, with over half (53%) of episodes for those aged 10–19 and a quarter of episodes (24%) for those aged 20–29 related to cannabis use.
• People aged 30–39 (32%) were more likely to receive treatment for methamphetamine.  
• Older people were more likely to get treatment for alcohol, with 45% of treatment episodes for those aged 40–49, 60% for those aged 50–59, and 75% for those aged 60 and over related to alcohol (Figure 6, Table SC.10).

The age and sex profiles of clients varied by principal drug of concern. For people who received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use in 2024–25 (117,132):

• Where heroin (5,365) was the principal drug of concern, the majority (85%) of people were aged 30 and over (31% were aged 30‍–‍39, 34% were aged 40–49 and 20% aged 50 and over) (Table SC.10).
• Where cocaine (1,886) was the principal drug of concern, males were nearly 6 times (84%) more likely to receive treatment than females (13%).
• Where GHB (1,242) was the principal drug of concern, half (50%) of clients were female (noting 9.3% of client sex was reported as not stated) (Table SC.9).

Usual accommodation type for clients

In 2024–25, treatment episodes reporting the usual accommodation type for clients receiving AOD treatment from selected states and territories revealed (144,086): 

• The most common accommodation prior to the start of treatment was independent residential accommodation (for example, private residence, boarding house, private hotel, or informal housing) which ranged from 50% in the Northern Territory to 90% in Western Australia.
• The Northern Territory reported the highest proportion of episodes with usual accommodation types as custodial (prison/remand centre/youth training centre) (20%) and supported independent living (21%).
• South Australia reported the highest proportion of episodes with usual accommodation types as none/homeless/public place (10%) (Figure 7, Table OV.13).

Clients by socioeconomic area

In 2024–25, people living in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged areas were the most likely to access publicly funded AOD treatment services.

Among clients who received AOD treatment:

• Most were living in the two lowest socioeconomic areas – 53% of males and 52% of females.
• Far fewer were living in the highest socioeconomic area (socioeconomic area 5) – 10% of males and 11% of females.
• Clients aged 20–49 living in the lowest socioeconomic area were about 3 times as likely to access publicly funded AOD treatment services as those living in the highest socioeconomic area (Figure 8, tables SCR.32–33).

For further information on socioeconomic area in the AODTS NMDS see technical notes – data and methods.