Completion of treatment

In 2024–25:

  • Among treatment episodes for a client’s own alcohol or drug use (214,662 episodes):
    • 3 in 5 (59%, 126,384) episodes ended as expected (planned) completions.
    • 1 in 5 (21%, 45,428) of treatment episodes ended due to an unplanned completion.
  • The pattern of reasons for ceasing treatment differed for clients who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use (29,749 episodes):
    • The proportion of episodes that ended due to an unplanned completion was lower (6.9%, 2,044) than for a client’s own alcohol or drug use (Figure 1, Table Trt.8).

Figure 1: Treatment episodes, by client type and reason for completion, 2015–16 to 2024–25

Stacked horizontal bar graph shows that treatment episodes in 2024–25 by reason for cessation and client type. Data is filtered by year.

Stacked horizontal bar graph shows that treatment episodes in 2024–25 by reason for cessation and client type. Data is filtered by year.

In 2024–25, completion of treatment varied by principal drug of concern, for a client’s own alcohol or drug use (214,662 episodes):

  • Ecstasy had the highest proportion of episodes with expected completions (70%, 392), followed by cannabis (63%, 19,080), alcohol and benzodiazepines (both 62%, 54,638 and 1,389 respectively).
  • Methamphetamines had the highest proportion of episodes for unplanned end to treatment (25%, 12,829), followed by codeine and cannabis (21%, 68 and 20%, 6,175 respectively) (Table Drg.14, Figure 2).

Figure 2: Treatment episodes for selected drugs, by principal drug of concern and reason for completion, 2015–16 to 2024–25

Stacked horizontal bar chart shows reason for cessation by principal drug of concern in 2024–25. Data is filtered by year.

Stacked horizontal bar chart shows reason for cessation by principal drug of concern in 2024–25. Data is filtered by year.

Between 2015–16 and 2024–25, for a client’s own alcohol or drug use (214,662 episodes):

  • The proportion of treatment episodes that ended in an expected completion remained stable (61%, 121,632 in 2015–16 and 59%, 126,384 in 2024–25) (Table Ov.7):
  • Where alcohol was the principal drug of concern, episodes with an expected completion ranged from 65% (41,216) in 2015–16 to 62% (54,638) in 2025–26.
  • Where methamphetamine was the principal drug of concern, episodes with an expected completion remained stable between 2019–20 (50%, 23,315) and 2024–25 (51%, 25,965).
  • Where cannabis was the principal drug of concern, episodes with an expected completion fell from a peak of 73% (30,521) in 2016–17 to 63% (19,080) in 2024–25.
  • Where heroin was the principal drug of concern, the proportion of treatment episodes with an expected completion ranged between 54% and 61% between 2015–16 and 2024–25 (Table Drg.12).

Between 2015–16 to 2024–25 for someone else’s alcohol or drug use (29,749 episodes):

  • Episodes with an expected completion fell from 70% (5,520) in 2015–16 to 58% (17,112) in 2024–25.
  • ‘Other’ as a reason for ending treatment rose from 14% (1,114) in 2015–16 to 31% (9,241) in 2024–25 (Table Ov.7).
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