Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia annual report 2023–24

In 2023–24, 125 publicly funded alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment agencies in Western Australia provided 19,639 treatment episodes to 14,521 clients (tables Agcy.1, SCR.21).

Western Australia reported:

• Client numbers increased from 2013–14 (15,146) to 2018–19 (19,348), decreasing steadily to 14,521 in 2023–24.
• Fewer clients are receiving AOD services in 2023–24 than 2013–14, after adjusting for population growth (564 compared with 697 per 100,000 people, respectively) (Table SCR.21).
• There was an 0.2% decrease in treatment episodes from 19,671 in 2022–23 to 19,639 in 2023–24, and a 17% decrease in episodes since 2014–15 (23,542) (Table ST WA.2).

In 2023–24, most (84%) clients in Western Australia attended 1 treatment agency, and received an average of 1.4 treatment episodes, which is lower than the national average of 1.8 treatment episodes (tables SCR.21, SCR. 23).

Client demographics

In 2023–24:

• Most (95%) clients in Western Australia received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use, of which 2 in 3 (63%) people were male (Figure WA 1).
• 4 in 5 people who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were female (80%).
• Half (49%) of the people who received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use were aged 20–39 years. In contrast, people who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were more likely to be aged 50 and over (51%).
• 1 in 5 (21%) of all clients were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people, which is higher than the national proportion (18%).
• The majority (82%) of all clients were born in Australia and nearly all (98%) reported English as their preferred language (tables SCR WA.1–4, SCR WA.9-10, SC.5).

New and returning clients

In 2023–24:

• Nearly half (46%, 6,623) of all clients in Western Australia were a new client, who had not previously received treatment since 2013–14.
• Over half (54%, 7,894) of all clients in Western Australia were returning clients, who have previously received AOD treatment from a service at some point since 2013–14 (see Key terminology and glossary) (Table SCR.28).

Drugs of concern

In 2023–24, among clients in Western Australia receiving treatment episodes for their own alcohol or drug use (18,723):

• Alcohol was the most common principal drug of concern (47%, 8,745).
• Amphetamines were the second most common principal drug of concern (25%, 4,642) (Figure WA 2; tables ST WA.2 and ST WA.6).

In 2023–24, for clients who received treatment for their own use of amphetamines (4,642 episodes):

• Methamphetamine was reported as a principal drug of concern in 9 in 10 (90%) treatment episodes (Table ST WA.6).
• In over half of treatment episodes where methamphetamine was the principal drug of concern, injecting was the most common method of use (50%), followed by smoking (45%) (Figure WA 3; Table ST WA.10).

Clients can nominate up to 5 additional drugs of concern; however, these drugs are not necessarily the subject of any treatment within the episode (see technical notes).

In 2023–24, where additional drugs of concern were reported, cannabis was the most common additional drug (17% of episodes), followed by nicotine, alcohol (both 11%) and amphetamines (9.9%) (Table ST WA.7).

Over the period 2014–15 to 2023–24:

• The proportion of treatment episodes for alcohol as a principal drug of concern relative to all other principal drugs of concern fell from 37% (8,223) in 2014–15 to 29% in 2016–17 (6,723), before rising to 47% (8,745 episodes) in 2023–24.
• The proportion of treatment for amphetamines as a principal drug of concern increased from 25% in 2014–15, peaking at 36% in 2016–17 then falling to 25% in 2023–24 (Table ST WA.6).
  • Within the amphetamines group, methamphetamine was reported as the principal drug of concern in 64% of episodes in 2014–15, rising to 90% in 2023–24 (Figure WA 3).
• The proportion of treatment for cannabis decreased from 24% in 2014–15 to 18% in 2023–24.

Treatment

In 2023–24, for treatment episodes in Western Australia (19,639), counselling was the most common treatment provided (63%), followed by support and case management 12% (Figure WA 4, Table ST WA.13).

Over the period 2014–15 to 2023–24:

• Counselling remained the most common main treatment for all episodes.
• The proportion of episodes where counselling was a main treatment type remained substantially higher in Western Australia than nationally over the period, ranging from 60% to 71% in Western Australia compared with 33% to 40% nationally (tables ST WA.13, Trt.3).
• The next most common main treatment types were support and case management (5.8% to 12%) and withdrawal management (5.6% to 8.3%).

Agencies

In 2023–24, in Western Australia:

• 9 in 10 (90%) AOD agencies were non-government treatment agencies (Table Agcy.1).
• 3 in 5 (60%) of the 125 treatment agencies were located in Major cities (Figure WA 5, Table Agcy.3).
• Very remote areas were the only areas where there were more government than non-government agencies (8 and 5, respectively).

In the 10 years from 2014–15 to 2023–24, the number of publicly funded treatment agencies in Western Australia rose from 84 to 125 (Table Agcy.1).