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

Pharmaceuticals: client demographics and treatment

In 2024–25:

• Of the 214,662 treatment episodes provided for a client’s own drug use, pharmaceuticals were reported as a drug of concern (either principal or additional) in 12% (26,444) of all treatment episodes (Table Drg.87).
• Pharmaceuticals were the principal drug of concern (PDOC) in 6.1% of treatment episodes (13,128) (Table Drg.87).

Between 2015–16 and 2024–25, pharmaceuticals transitioned from being reported as an additional drug of concern to being reported as a principal drug of concern:

• The proportion of episodes with pharmaceuticals as a principal drug of concern increased from 5.2% in 2015–16 to 6.1% in 2024–25.
• The proportion of episodes with pharmaceuticals as an additional drug of concern decreased from 9.1% in 2015–16 to 6.2% in 2024–25 (Table Drg.87).
• The most common additional drugs of concern reported with pharmaceutical treatment episodes were:
  • Methamphetamine (25%, 2,165)
  • Cannabis (17%, 1,492)
  • Nicotine (14%, 1,198) (Table Drg.88).

Clients can nominate up to 5 additional drugs of concern, these drugs are not necessarily the subject of any treatment within the episode.

Pharmaceuticals by drug type

In 2024–25, 57% (7,455) of pharmaceutical drug-related treatment episodes were for opioids or benzodiazepines as the principal drug of concern (Table Drg.87). ‘Opioids’ includes codeine, morphine, buprenorphine, oxycodone, methadone, and other opioids.

In 2024–25:

• Opioids were a principal drug of concern in 2.4% (5,222 of all treatment episodes and an additional drug of concern in 1.1% (2,392).
• The most common principal drug types recorded in opioid-related treatment episodes were buprenorphine (2,164) followed by oxycodone (795) and methadone (702).
• Benzodiazepine was a principal drug of concern in 1.0% (2,233) of treatment episodes and listed as an additional drug of concern in 2.1% (4,428).

Between 2015–16 and 2024–25:

• The number of treatment episodes for opioids fell from 7,486 in 2015–16 to 4,722 in 2021–22 and rose to 5,222 in 2024–25.
• The number of treatment episodes for benzodiazepines as a principal drug of concern rose from 1,727 in 2015–16 to its highest level in 2022–23 (3,354), falling to 2,233 in 2024–25 (Figure 1, Table Drg.87).

Client demographics

In 2024–25, 7,220 clients received treatment for any pharmaceutical drug as the principal drug of concern (Table SC.30).

Of these clients:

• 3 in 5 were male (62%).
  • The proportion of male clients receiving treatment for a pharmaceutical principal drug of concern ranged from 42% for other sedatives and hypnotics to 82% for buprenorphine (Table SC.30).
• 1 in 2 clients were aged either 20–29 (25%) or 30–39 (32%). The proportion of clients in each age group varied by PDOC:
  • Clients receiving treatment for benzodiazepines had the highest proportion of people aged 10–19 (9.8%).
  • Most clients receiving treatment for opioids were aged either 30–39 or 40–49, ranging from 51% for oxycodone to 64% for buprenorphine (Table SC.31).
• 1 in 5 people were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people (17% of clients).
  • The proportion of First Nations clients was highest for buprenorphine (29% of clients) (Table SC.32).

 Treatment

In 2024–25, around 13,128 treatment episodes were provided to clients for pharmaceuticals as the principal drug of concern (Table Drg.87).

For these episodes:

• The most common sources of referral into treatment were health services (40% of episodes) and self or family (36%).
  • This was relatively consistent across drug types, but diversion was the most common referral into treatment for steroid-related treatment episodes (39%) (Table Drg.90).
• The most common main treatment types were assessment only (32% of episodes) and counselling (18%) (Figure 2, Table Drg.89).
• Most took place in non-residential treatment settings (71%) which was the most common treatment setting across pharmaceutical drug types (Figure 2, Table Drg.92).
• 3 in 5 ended with a planned completion (56%), ranging from codeine (542%) to other analgesics (67%).
• 1 in 6 ended unplanned (18%) (Figure 2, Table Drg.91).