Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia annual report 2023–24

Alcohol: client demographics and treatment

In 2023–24, alcohol was reported as a drug of concern (either principal or additional) in half of all treatment episodes (48% or 104,908) (Table Drg.5).

Alcohol has remained the most common principal drug of concern (PDOC) since the beginning of the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Minimum Data Set (AODTS NMDS) in 2002–03. 

• 2 in 5 treatment episodes (42%, 91,361) were for alcohol as a principal drug of concern in 2023–24 (Table Drg.5).
• Alcohol-related treatment episodes increased from 61,504 in 2014–15, to 91,361 in 2023–24.
• The proportion of treatment episodes for alcohol in relation to all other drugs of concern fluctuated over time, falling from 38% in 2014–15 to 32% in 2015–16, then rising to 42% in 2023–24 (Table Drg.1).

In 2023–24, 1 in 5 (22%, 20,385) alcohol-related treatment episodes reported at least one additional drug of concern (Table Drg.2).

The most common additional drugs of concern were cannabis (37%, 10,634 episodes), nicotine (28%, 8,054) and amphetamines (17%, 4,827) (Table Drg.3). Clients can nominate up to 5 additional drugs of concern, these drugs may not have been the subject of any treatment in the episode.

Figure ALCOHOL: Closed treatment episodes for own alcohol or drug use by alcohol as a principal drug of concern and top 5 additional drugs of concern, 2023–24

Note: Diagram presents the top 5 additional drugs of concern for a principal drug of concern by closed treatment episodes. Totals do not add to 100%.

Client demographics

In 2023–24, 49,552 clients received treatment for their own use of alcohol as a principal drug of concern.

Of these clients:

• 3 in 5 were male (60%) (Table SC.9).
• 1 in 2 were aged either 30–39 (25%) or 40–49 (26%) (Table SC.10). This was consistent for both males and females (Figure ALCOHOL 1).
• 1 in 6 were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people (17%) (Table SC.11). This represents a rate of 1,134 First Nations clients per 100,000 people (crude rate for clients aged 10 and over) (Table SCR.26).

Treatment

In 2023–24, 91,361 treatment episodes were provided to clients for alcohol as the principal drug of concern (Table Drg.5).

Among alcohol-related treatment episodes in 2023–24:

• The most common source of referral into treatment was self or family (42%, 38,521), followed by health services (38%) (Figure ALCOHOL 2, Table Drg.13).
  • Across the 10 years to 2023–24, health service referrals increased while referral from the criminal justice system (diversion) fell.
• The most common main treatment type was counselling (33%, 29,694), followed by assessment only (22%) and withdrawal management (14%) (Figure ALCOHOL 2, Table Drg.18).
  • Counselling, withdrawal management, and assessment only remained the most common treatment types across the 10 years to 2023–24, although the proportion of episodes for each treatment type varied over time.
• 2 in 3 episodes were provided in non-residential treatment settings (67%). A further 19% were provided in residential treatment settings and 5.7% were provided in outreach settings (Table Drg.20).
• The median duration of treatment episodes was just under 4 weeks (27 days) (Table Drg.21).
• 1 in 3 (36%) treatment episodes lasted 2–29 days, and 26% lasted 1–3 months (Table OV.12).
• 3 in 5 episodes ended with a planned completion (63%), while 19% ended unexpectedly (that is, the client ceased to participate against advice, without notice or due to non-compliance) (Figure ALCOHOL 2, Table Drg.19).