Primary Health Network (PHN) Data

In December 2015, the Australian Government announced the release of the Australian Government Response to the National Ice Taskforce Final Report (the Response). The Response underpinned the National Ice Action Strategy (NIAS), which was endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) on 11 December 2016.

An evaluation of the NIAS commenced in January 2020 with the development of an Evaluation Framework. The evaluation itself commenced in June 2020 and was completed in March 2021. An interim report, submitted to the Department of Health in January 2021, included interim findings for selected NIAS activities. A final report was submitted July 2021 providing a comprehensive assessment including initiatives designed to achieve demand reduction, supply reduction and harm reduction across a wide range of sectors including government, community, law enforcement, justice and regulation, policy, and research.

The Australian Government has invested approximately $561 million over four years from 1 July 2016 in drug and alcohol treatment services, as part of a $713 million investment in reducing the impact of drug and alcohol misuse on individuals, families and communities under the Drug and Alcohol Program.

Approximately $412.1 million of this investment was provided to Primary Health Networks (PHNs) to commission locally based treatment in line with community need. This includes the $241.5 million committed under the NIAS. This funding was delivered through the Australian Government’s Drug and Alcohol Program and aims to improve the access to, and effectiveness of drug and alcohol treatment services in the community.

In April 2020, the Australian Government announced an additional $6 million would be invested in online and phone support services for people experiencing substance issues during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The main source of data about specialist drug and alcohol treatment services in Australia is the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Minimum Data Set (the AODTS NMDS), compiled on an annual basis from administrative data by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

PHN-commissioned specialist alcohol and other drug treatment providers collect data, in accordance with the AODTS NMDS, on in-scope specialist treatment services and provide it to the AIHW. Alcohol and other drug treatment agencies funded by PHN organisations under the Drug and Alcohol Program submitted data to the AODTS NMDS for the first time in 2016–17.

The following set of data visualisations present information at PHN geographic areas. The data presented are from all publicly funded AOD treatment services (which includes PHN-commissioned services) that have reported to the AODTS NMDS (see technical notes for more details).

PHNs are organisations that connect health services across a specific geographic area (PHN areas). There are 31 PHN areas that cover the whole of Australia with the boundaries defined by the Australian Government Department of Health. Some states/territories consist of a single PHN area, while others are made up of multiple PHN areas.

Alcohol and other drug treatment agencies

The following data visualisation shows:

  • Number of agencies, by PHN area, 2020–21.
  • Number of agencies, by sector and PHN area, 2016–17 to 2020–21.

Figure AODTSPHN1: Alcohol and other drug treatment agencies, 2016–17 to 2020–21 

A map and horizontal bar chart show that the number of agencies in each Primary Health Network ranged from 16 agencies in the Gold Coast to 112 in North Western Melbourne in 2020–21. A line graph shows the number of agencies by sector in Australia, 2016–17 to 2020–21. There was a higher number of non-government agencies than government agencies across the period (938 non-government agencies and 439 government agencies in 2020–21).

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Alcohol and other drug treatment

The following data visualisation shows:

  • Treatment episodes, by PHN area of client and main treatment type, 2016–17 to 2020–21.
  • Treatment episodes, by PHN area of client and source of referral, 2020–21.                         
  • Treatment episodes, by PHN area of client and treatment delivery setting, 2020–21.  

 Figure AODTSPHN2: Alcohol and other drug treatment, 2016–17 to 2020–21

The interactive data dashboard shows that there were 242,980 treatment episodes provided to clients in Australia in 2020–21. A horizontal bar chart and line graph show the proportion of treatment episodes by main treatment type in 2020–21 (bar chart) and between 2016–17 and 2020–21 (line graph). Counselling remained the most common main treatment type between 2016–17 and 2020–21, accounting for 38.1% of episodes in 2020–21.

A horizontal bar chart and a donut chart show the proportion of treatment episodes by treatment delivery setting in 2020–21. Most episodes were delivered in non-residential treatment settings (66.5%) and the most common sources of referral were self/family (34.8% of episodes) and health services (33.1%). A filter allows the user to view data for Australia or by Primary Health Network area.

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Alcohol and other drug treatment map

The following data visualisation shows:

  • Treatment episodes, by PHN area of client and main treatment type, 2016–17 to 2020–21.

 Figure AODTSPHN3: Alcohol and other drug treatment map, 2016–17 to 2020–21

The map shows that number of treatment episodes in 2020–21 with withdrawal management as the main treatment type ranged from 13 episodes in Western Queensland to 2,120 episodes in North Western Melbourne. Filters allow the user to view data for each main treatment type and for different years of data from 2016–17 to 2020–21.

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Client demographics

The following data visualisation shows:

  • Clients by PHN area of client, client type and sex, 2020–21.
  • Clients by PHN area of client, client type and age group, 2020–21.
  • Clients by PHN area of client, client type and Indigenous status, 2020–21.

Figure AODTSPHN4: Client demographics, 2020–21 

The interactive data dashboard shows that there were 145,837 estimated clients in Australia in 2020–21. A horizontal bar chart shows that most clients in 2020–21 sought treatment for their own drug use (92.69%, compared with 7.31% of clients seeking treatment for someone else’s drug use).

A vertical bar chart shows the proportion of clients by age group in 2020–21. Most clients were aged 20–29 (25.6% of clients) or 30–39 (27.3%).

Two donut charts show the proportion of clients by sex and Indigenous status in 2020–21, respectively. Most clients were male (61.9%, compared with 36.4% for females) and 17.1% were Indigenous.

A filter allows the user to view data for Australia or by Primary Health Network area.

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Principal drug of concern

The following data visualisation shows:

  • Treatment episodes for clients who received treatment for their own drug use by PHN area of client and principal drug of concern, 2016–17 to 2020–21.
  • Treatment episodes for clients who received treatment for their own drug use by PHN area of client and main treatment type, 2020–21.
  • Treatment episodes for clients who received treatment for their own drug use by PHN area of client and source of referral, 2020–21.

Figure AODTSPHN5: Principal drug of concern, 2016–17 to 2020–21 

The interactive data dashboard shows that there were 224,135 treatment episodes provided to clients for their own drug use in Australia in 2020–21.

A horizontal bar chart and a line graph show the 4 most common principal drugs of concern among these episodes in 2020–21 (bar chart) and between 2016–17 and 2020–21 (line graph). Alcohol was the most common principal drug of concern across the period, accounting for 37.3% of episodes in 2020–21. This was followed by amphetamines (24.2% of episodes in 2020–21) and cannabis (19.4%).

A horizontal bar chart shows the proportion of treatment episodes provided to clients for their own drug use in 2020–21 by main treatment type. Counselling was the most common main treatment type (36.6% of episodes), followed by assessment only (19.3%).

A donut chart shows that proportion of treatment episodes by source of referral in 2020–21. The most common source of referral was self/family (35.2% of episodes), followed by health services (33.1%).

A filter allows the user to view data for Australia or by Primary Health Network.

Visualisation not available for printing

Principal drug of concern map

The following data visualisation shows:

  • Treatment episodes by PHN area of client and principal drug of concern, 2016–17 to 2020–21.

Figure AODTSPHN6: Principal drug of concern map, 2016–17 to 2020–21 

The map shows that the number of treatment episodes with alcohol as the principal drug of concern in 2020–21 ranged from 657 episodes in Western Queensland to 6,979 in North Western Melbourne. Filters allow the user to view data for different principal drugs of concern and different years from 2016–17 to 2020–21.

Visualisation not available for printing