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

 In 2024–25, 84 publicly funded alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment agencies in South Australia provided 12,706 treatment episodes to 8,721 clients (tables Agcy.1, SCR.21).

South Australia reported:

• Client numbers decreased steadily from 9,215 in 2013–14 to 7,989 in 2023–24, before increasing to 8,721 in 2024–25.
• Fewer clients are receiving AOD services in 2024–25 than 2013–14, after adjusting for population growth (516 clients per 100,000 people compared with 624, respectively) (Table SCR.21).
• Treatment episodes have fluctuated since 2015–14, falling from 13,155 to 9,689 in 2021–22, then rising to 12,706 in 2024–25 (Table SCR.21).

In 2024–25, most (82%) clients in South Australia attended 1 agency, and received an average of 1.5 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 South Australia:

• Nearly all (98%) clients received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use, of which 3 in 5 (63%) people were male (Figure SA 1).
• 7 in 10 people who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were female (68%).
• Half (54%) of all people were aged 30–49 years.
• 1 in 6 (18%) people were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people, which is less than the national proportion (19%).
• The majority (85%) of clients were born in Australia and nearly all (92%) reported English as their preferred language (tables SCR SA.1–4, SCR SA.9–10, SC.5).

New and returning clients

In 2024–25:

• 2 in 5 (44%, 3,800) of all clients were a new client, who had not previously received treatment since 2013–14.
• More than half (56%, 4,874) 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 South Australia:

• Among clients receiving treatment episodes for their own alcohol or drug use (12,539):
  • Alcohol was the most common principal drug of concern (35%, 4,408 episodes).
  • Methamphetamine accounted for one-quarter of treatment episodes (25%, 3,141), followed by cannabis (13%, 1,570) (Figure SA 2, Table ST SA.6). 
• Where additional drugs of concern were reported, nicotine was the most common (24% of episodes), followed by cannabis (18%) (Figure SA 2, Table ST SA.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 (3,141 episodes), the most common method of use was smoking (62%), followed by injecting (28%) (Figure SA 3, Table ST SA.10).

Between 2015–16 and 2024–25:

• Alcohol remains the most common principal drug of concern since 2020–21, increasing from 3,971 episodes to 4,408 in 2024–25. Alcohol replaced amphetamines as the most common principal drug of concern from 2020–21.
  • Alcohol rose from 29% of all treatment episodes in 2015–16, peaking at 41% in 2021–22, before falling to 35% in 2024–25 (Table ST SA.7).
• In South Australia, amphetamines were the most common principal drug of concern between 2015–16 (36%) and 2019–20 (35%). Methamphetamine was reported as a principal drug of concern in 7 in 10 of amphetamine-related episodes, when improvements in reporting reliability is evident, from 2018–19 onwards.
  • Methamphetamine has remained the second most common principal drug of concern since 2020–21 (25%) to 2024–25 (25%).

The proportion of treatment episodes for amphetamines/methamphetamine as a principal drug of concern has been consistently higher in South Australia than the national proportion overtime. This is related to a state government legislated program regarding assessments provided under a Police Drug Diversion initiative. The program results in comparatively high proportions of engagement with methamphetamine users.

In addition, due to the Cannabis Expiation Notice legislation in South Australia, adult simple cannabis offences are not diverted to treatment and so are not included in the data (see the Data Quality Statement).

Treatment

In 2024–25, for treatment episodes in South Australia (12,706):

• Counselling was the most common main treatment (42% of episodes), followed by assessment only (20%) and withdrawal management (13%) (Figure SA 4, Table ST SA.13).
• Where an additional treatment was provided as a supplementary to the main treatment, support and case management (15%) was the most common additional treatment. See technical notes for further information on calculating proportions for additional treatment type.

Between 2015–16 to 2024–25:

• Counselling as a main treatment rose from 2,684 to 5,384 episodes over this period, increasing from 24% of all episodes in 2015–16 to 42% in 2024–25.
• The number of episodes with rehabilitation as a main treatment fell from 5.5% (618) of all treatment episodes to 1.2%, with 153 treatment episodes provided in 2024–25.
• Assessment only as the main treatment decreased from 4,656 episodes to 2,604 over this period, falling from 42% of all episodes to 20% in 2024–25 (tables ST SA.13, Trt.3).

The high proportion of assessment only treatment episodes relates, in part, to the SA Police Drug Diversion Initiative (PDDI).

Agencies

In 2024–25, in South Australia:

• 3 in 5 (62%) AOD treatment agencies were non-government agencies (Table Agcy.1).
• Nearly 3 in 5 (56%) of all treatment agencies were located in Major cities, followed by Outer regional areas (24%) and Inner regional areas (14%) (Figure SA 5, Table Agcy.3).
• In Very remote areas all agencies (2) were government organisations.

Between 2015–16 and 2024–25, the number of publicly funded treatment agencies in South Australia increased from 78 to 84 (Table Agcy.1).