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

 In 2024–25, 23 publicly funded alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment agencies in the Northern Territory provided 5,062 treatment episodes to 3,136 clients (tables Agcy.1–2, SCR.21).

The Northern Territory reported:

• A decrease in client numbers in 2024–25 compared with the previous year (3,136 and 3,429, respectively). Over a longer period, client numbers have been decreasing since a peak in 2019–20.
• Fewer clients are receiving AOD services in 2024–25 than 2013–14, after adjusting for population growth (1,381 clients per 100,000 people compared with 1,397 per 100,000, respectively) (Table SCR.21). 
• There was a 11% drop in treatment episodes in 2024–25 (5,062) compared with the previous year (5,678), while over a longer period episodes continued to decrease since a peak in 2019–20 (8,565) (Table ST NT.2).

In 2024–25, most (82%) clients in the Northern Territory attended 1 treatment agency, and received an average of 1.6 treatment episodes, which is lower than the national average of 1.9 treatment episodes (tables SCR.21, SCR.23).

Client demographics

In 2024–25 in the Northern Territory:

• Most (94%) clients received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use, of which 7 in 10 (72%) people were male (Figure NT 1)
• People who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were more likely to be female (65%).
• Over half (56%) of all people were aged 20–39 years, and 11% of people were aged 10–19 years which is higher than national proportion (7.7%).
• 7 in 10 (73%) of all clients were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people, 4 times higher than the national proportion (19%).
• Nearly all (95%) people were born in Australia and 3 in 5 (63%) reported English as their preferred language, with 1 in 3 (33%) reporting Indigenous languages as their preferred language (tables SCR NT.1–4, SC.3–5).

New and returning clients

In 2024–25:

• 2 in 5 (40%, 1,247) of all clients were a new client, who had not previously received treatment since 2013–14.
• 3 in 5 (60%, 1,867) of all clients were returning clients, who have previously received AOD treatment from a service at some point since 2013–14 (Table SCR.28).

Drugs of concern

In 2024–25 in the Northern Territory:

• Among clients receiving treatment episodes for their own alcohol or drug use (4,831):
  • Alcohol was the most common principal drug of concern for clients (60%, 2,894 episodes) (Figure NT 2, Table ST NT.7).
  • Cannabis (18%, 846) and methamphetamine (12%, 563) were the second and third most common principal drugs of concern.
  • Volatile solvents (1.8%, 87) were the next most common principal drug of concern, with proportions higher than the national level (less than 1%) (Table Drg.1).
• Where additional drugs of concern were reported, cannabis was the most common additional drug of concern (26% of episodes), followed by cocaine (24%) (Figure NT 2, Table ST NT.7). Clients can nominate up to 5 additional drugs of concern; these drugs are not necessarily the subject of any treatment within the episode (see technical notes).

In 2024–25, for clients who received treatment for their own use of methamphetamine (563 episodes), the most common method of use was injecting (49%), followed by smoking (43%) (Figure NT 3; Table ST NT.10).

Between 2015–16 to 2024–25:

• Alcohol remained the most common principal drug of concern, with the number of treatment episodes peaking in 2020–21 (5,531) before declining to 2,894 in 2024–25.
  • Alcohol rose from 48% of all treatment episodes in 2015–16 to peak at 72% in 2020–21, falling to 60% in 2024–25.
  • More treatment episodes are provided for alcohol relative to other principal drugs of concern in the NT than any other jurisdiction (for example, 60% compared with 41% nationally in 2024–25) (tables ST NT.7, Drg.1).  
• Methamphetamine numbers fluctuated over this period alongside similar variability in all other amphetamines, making reporting of trends unreliable.
  • Methamphetamine numbers varied between 649 and 392 from 2020–21, with 563 treatment episodes reported in 2024–25, ranging from 8% to 12% of all treatment episodes over this period (tables ST NT.7, Drg.1).  
• The proportion of treatment episodes for volatile solvents as a principal drug of concern decreased from 12% in 2015–16 to 1.8% in 2024–25 (Table Drg.1). 

Treatment

In 2024–25, for treatment episodes in the Northern Territory (5,062):

• Assessment only was the most common main treatment (46% of episodes), followed by counselling (20%) and rehabilitation (16%) (Figure NT 4, Table ST NT.13).
• Where an additional treatment was provided as a supplementary to the main treatment, ‘other’ main treatment was the most common additional treatment (22%), (Table ST NT.13). See technical notes for further information on calculating proportions for additional treatment type.

Between 2015–16 and 2024–25:

• Assessmentonly remained the most common main treatment type over this period, rising from 1,930 (37%) episodes in 2015–16 to a peak in 2020–21 (3,569), then falling in 2024–25 (2,316, 46%).
• The number of episodes with counselling as the main treatment fluctuated between 1,155 (22%) in 2015–16, to 932 in 2022–23 increasing to 1,021 (20%) in 2024–25.
• The number of episodes with rehabilitation as a main treatment peaked in 2016–17 (1,343), then fluctuated until 2024–25 (816) (Table ST NT.13).

Agencies

In 2024–25:

• The majority of the 23 treatment agencies were in non-government services (78%).
• Outer regional areas contained the most treatment agencies (48%), followed by Remote areas (39%) (Figure NT 5, Table Agcy.3).

Between 2015–16 and 2024–25, the number of publicly funded treatment agencies has remained consistent (23 and 23 respectively) (Table Agcy.1).