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 2020–21, when the client reported additional drugs of concern:
- cannabis was the most common additional drug (22% of episodes), followed by nicotine (17%) (Table ST NT.7).
Over the period 2011–12 to 2020–21:
- alcohol remained the most common principal drug of concern ranging from 60% (2,008 episodes in 2012–13) to 72% (5,531) over the period. The proportion of episodes for alcohol, relative to all other principal drugs of concern, remains consistently higher than the national proportion (for example, 72% compared with 37% nationally in 2020–21) (Table Drg.1).
- treatment for amphetamines as a principal drug increased over this period (5% to 10%) and cannabis decreased from 12% to 11%, as a proportion relative to all other principal drugs of concern.
- within the amphetamines group, treatment for methamphetamine as a principal drug of concern was reported as the principal drug of concern in less than 1% (0.7%) in 2011–12, rising to 85% in 2017–18, dropping to 84% in 2020–21 (Figure NT3a). The rise in methamphetamine episodes may be related to changes in the illicit drug market and/or changes in service provider practices.
- the proportion of treatment episodes for volatile solvents as a principal drug of concern decreased from 7% in 2011–12 to 3% in 2020–21 (Table Drg.1).
Treatment
In 2020–21, for treatment episodes in the Northern Territory:
- assessment only was the most common main treatment (45% of episodes), followed by information and education (21%) (Figure NT4; Table ST NT.13)
- where an additional treatment was provided as a supplementary to the main treatment, counselling (6.1%) was the most common additional treatment, followed by support and case management (5.3%) (Table ST NT.13). See technical notes for further information on calculating proportions for additional treatment type.
All agencies in the Northern Territory are required to complete a separate assessment only episode prior to the commencement of treatment. This is due to a policy of monitoring the volume of assessment work performed by agencies and understanding the relationship between assessment and subsequent treatment, particularly in relation to certain alcohol-related legislative-based programs. This policy was introduced in 2018 (reported in the 2017–18 collection year).
Over the period 2011–12 to 2020–21:
- assessment only remained the most common main treatment, although the proportion of episodes fluctuated (increasing from 37% in 2011–12 to 47% in 2017–18 before falling to 45% in 2020–21)
- the proportion of episodes where counselling was the main treatment fell from 25% in 2011–12 to 14% of episodes in 2020–21
- the proportion of treatment episodes where rehabilitation was the main treatment fluctuated since 2011–12, rising from 14% to 25% in 2016–17 then falling to 12% in 2020–21 (Table ST NT.13).