Information and education

Information and education can be provided to clients as written information or a psycho-educational intervention program. See glossary for further information.

In 2020–21, information and education as a main treatment was reported for 3.6% (8,737) of all treatment episodes—3.5% of episodes for clients receiving help for their own alcohol or drug use were for information and education and 4.6% for those seeking treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use.

Most information and education episodes were provided to clients whose principal drug of concern was alcohol (45%) or cannabis (28%) (tables Trt.3, Trt.42).

Client profile

In 2020–21, for clients whose main treatment was information and education:

  • for their own alcohol or drug use were male (65%), while most people who sought support for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were female (70%)
  • 7 in 10 (70%) of all people receiving information and education for their own alcohol or drug use were aged 10–39 (23% of clients aged 10–19, 27% aged 20–29 and 20% aged 30–39). In contrast, 55% of people who sought treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were aged 40 and over
  • almost 1 in 4 (22%) people receiving treatment for their own alcohol or drug use identified as Indigenous Australians, compared with 7% of people seeking treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use (tables SC.18–20).

Treatment profile

Among treatment episodes in 2020–21 with information and education as the main treatment, over half (53%) of treatment episodes lasted just 1 day for clients receiving treatment for their own alcohol or drug use; for those seeking treatment for someone else’s use, this proportion was 24% (Table Trt.44).

Over the 10-year period to 2020–21 for clients who received information and education:

  • for their own alcohol or drug use, the proportion of treatment episodes that lasted just one day increased from 65% in 2011–12 to 82% in 2012–13, decreasing over time to 73% in 2019–20 down to 53% in 2020–21. These recent decreases were due to Covid-19 restrictions and reduction in programs
  • for someone else’s alcohol or drug use, the proportion of treatment episodes that lasted just one day increased from 65% in 2011–12 to 77% in 2012–13, decreasing over time to 51% in 2019–20, dropping to 24% in 2020–21
  • the proportion of treatment episodes for all clients lasting from 2 days to 3 months increased from 17% in 2011–12 to 26% in 2020–21 (Table Trt.44).

It is important to note that information and education treatment trends are influenced by differences in jurisdictional program practices over time.