Amphetamines was the second most common principal drug of concern, recorded in almost 1 in 4 treatment episodes (24% or 54,300 episodes) (Table Drg.4). Amphetamines has remained the second most common PDOC since 2015–16, when it surpassed cannabis for the first time (Table Drg.5). Treatment episodes for amphetamines have increased by 220% since 2011–12 (16,900 to 54,300 episodes), although this has declined since 2019–20. Proportionally, treatment episodes for amphetamine-related treatment steadily rose (in relation to all drugs) between 2011–12 (11%) and 2019–20 (28%) but declined in 2020–21 (Figure AMPHET2; Table Drg.1).
In 2020–21, 2 in 5 amphetamine-related treatment episodes had at least 1 additional drug of concern recorded (39% or 21,200 episodes) (Table Drg.2). The most common additional drugs of concern were cannabis (34% or 12,000 episodes), alcohol (21% or 7,400 episodes) and nicotine (18% or 6,500 episodes) (Figure DRUGS1; Table Drg.3). These drugs may not have been the subject of any treatment in the episode.
For information on amphetamine use and harms, please see:
Client demographics
In 2020–21, 30,200 clients received treatment for amphetamines as the principal drug of concern. Of these clients:
- Just under 2 in 3 were male (64% of clients) (Table SC.9).
- Almost 7 in 10 were aged 20–29 (30% of clients) or 30–39 years (39%) (Table SC.10). This was consistent for both males and females (Figure AMPHET1).
- Around 1 in 5 were Indigenous Australians (19% or 5,700 clients) (Table SC.11). This represents a crude rate of 981 Indigenous clients per 100,000 population (crude rate) (Table SCR.26).