Treatment provided

There are a number of treatment types available to assist people experiencing problematic drug use, most of which aim to reduce the harm of drug use through services such as counselling or information and education. Additionally, some treatments use abstinence-oriented interventions to aid in short-term cessation or reduction of heavy or prolonged alcohol or other drug use in a safe, structured and supportive environment, to assist clients in developing skills to facilitate substance-free lifestyles.

Key findings

In 2020–21:

  • around 243,000 treatment episodes were provided to 139,300 clients
  • clients received an average of 1.7 treatment episodes nationally
  • 92% (224,100) of all treatment episodes were provided to people receiving treatment for their own drug use while a further 7.8% (18,800) episodes were provided to people seeking treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use
  • counselling was the most common treatment type provided to all clients in 2020–21 (38% of all treatment episodes), followed by assessment only (20%)
  • for someone else’s alcohol or drug use the most common treatment type was counselling (44% of treatment episodes), followed by support and case management (31%).

Over the 10-year period to 2020–21:

  • the proportion of episodes with withdrawal management for own drug use fell from 18% to 10%, and counselling treatment episodes for all clients fell from 43% to 38%
  • the proportion of episodes with a main treatment type of support and case management increased from 8.8% in 2011–12 to 15% in 2020–21.

Treatment types

People can receive treatment for their own or someone else’s alcohol or drug use (see Key terminology and glossary). Rehabilitation, withdrawal management (detoxification) and pharmacotherapy are not available for people seeking treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use.

A total of 242,980 treatment episodes were provided to people for their own or someone else’s alcohol or drug use. Treatment episodes increased by 58% since 2011–12 (from 153,668) and 2.3% from the previous year (237,545 in 2019–20). Clients received an average of 1.7 treatment episodes nationally.

Clients own drug or alcohol use and clients seeking support for someone else’s alcohol or drug use

In 2020–21:

  • over 9 in 10 treatment episodes (92% or 224,135) were provided for a client’s own alcohol or drug use, and 7.8% (18,845) of treatment episodes were in relation to someone else’s alcohol or drug use (Table Trt.2)
  • around 131,173 people received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use and 13,972 people sought treatment in relation to someone else’s alcohol or drug use (Tables SCR.27)
  • among clients receiving treatment for their own alcohol or drug use:
    • counselling was the most common main treatment type followed by assessment only across all age groups
    • 1 in 5 clients (19%) aged 10–19 received support and case management as a treatment type, while older clients aged 40 and over were more likely to receive withdrawal management as a main treatment type.
  • among clients seeking support for someone else’s alcohol or drug use, the age of clients varied by main treatment type:
    • Over half of clients (55%) aged 40 and over received counselling for someone else’s alcohol or drug use.
    • Over one third of clients aged 10–19 (33%) and 20–29 (31%) received support and case management for someone else’s alcohol or drug use (Figure TREATMENTCLIENTS1; Table SC.19).

Figure TREATMENTCLIENTS1: Clients by client type, main treatment type and age group, 2020–21 (per cent)

The stacked horizontal bar chart shows that counselling was the most common main treatment type provided to all clients across all age groups, ranging from 40.0% for all clients aged 60+ years to 47.6% for all clients aged 10–19 years in 2020–21. A filter allows the user to view data for all clients, clients seeking treatment for their own drug use or clients seeking treatment for someone else’s drug use.

For treatment episodes provided for a client’s own alcohol or drug use over the 10-year period to 2020–21:

  • the proportion of episodes with counselling as the main treatment type fell from 41% in 2011–12 to 35% in 2015–16, but then rose to 38% in 2020–21
  • the proportion of main treatment episodes with withdrawal management dropped from 2011–12 (18%) to 2015–16 (12%), falling to 10.0% in 2020–21.

For treatment episodes provided for those seeking support for someone else’s alcohol or drug use:

  • the proportion of counselling as the main treatment type decreased over 10 years; from 79% in 2011–12, decreasing to 43% in 2019–20 and 44% in 2020–21
  • the proportion for support and case management as a main treatment tripled, rising from 10% in 2011–12 to 31% in 2020–21 (Figure TREATMENTCLIENTS2; Table Trt.3).

Figure TREATMENTCLIENTS2: Treatment episodes, by client type and main treatment type, 2011–12 to 2020–21 (per cent)

The line graph shows that counselling has remained the most common main treatment type among episodes provided to all clients across the period 2011–12 to 2020–21, accounting for 38.1% of episodes in 2020–21. In 2020–21, assessment only was the second most common main treatment type (19.9% of episodes), followed by support and case management (15.0%). A filter allows the user to view data for all clients, clients seeking treatment for their own drug use or clients seeking treatment for someone else’s drug use.

Figure TREATMENTTYPES1: Summary treatment characteristics (main and additional) of closed episodes, 2020–21

The flow chart shows treatment types, assessment only, counselling, information and education, rehabilitation, support and case management, withdrawal management, and other treatment broken down by main and additional treatment type and own and whether the treatment was received for own drug and/or alcohol use or another person’s drug and/or alcohol use.

Source: Tables Trt.3 and Trt.4.


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