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 2021–22:
- around 228,500 treatment episodes were provided to 131,000 clients
- clients received an average of 1.8 treatment episodes nationally
- 92% (210,000) of all treatment episodes were provided to people receiving treatment for their own drug use while a further 8.1% (18,500) were for someone else’s alcohol or drug use
- counselling was the most common treatment type provided to all clients in 2021–22 (36% of all treatment episodes), followed by assessment only (21%)
- for someone else’s alcohol or drug use the most common treatment type was support and case management (39% of treatment episodes), followed by counselling (36%).
Over the 10-year period to 2021–22:
- counselling has remained the most common treatment type for all clients, ranging between 42% in 2012–13 and 36% in 2021–22
- withdrawal management for own drug use fell from 16% to 9.0%, moving from the third to the fourth most common treatment
- support and case management has become the third most common treatment for all clients, increasing from 9.2% of episodes in 2012–13 to 15% in 2021–22.
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.
In 2021–22, a total of 228,451 treatment episodes were provided to 130,525 people for their own or someone else’s alcohol or drug use; clients received an average of 1.8 treatment episodes each (Table SCR.21):
- between 2012–13 and 2020–21, treatment episodes increased by 41% (from 162,362 to 242,980)
- between 2020–21 and 2021–22, treatment episodes decreased by 6.0%.
Clients own drug or alcohol use and clients seeking support for someone else’s alcohol or drug use
In 2021–22:
- over 9 in 10 treatment episodes (92% or 209,953) were provided for a client’s own alcohol or drug use, and 8.1% (18,498) of treatment episodes were in relation to someone else’s alcohol or drug use (Table Trt.2)
- around 124,165 people received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use and 12,536 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
- one in 5 (20%) of clients aged 10–19 received support and case management as a treatment type
- older clients aged 40 and over were more likely to receive withdrawal management as a main treatment type (8-9%)
- 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 aged 40–49 (52%) and over 3 in 5 clients aged 50–59 (65%) and 60 and over (72%) received counselling for someone else’s alcohol or drug use.
- almost 2 in 5 clients aged 10–19 (39%) and 20–29 (35%) received support and case management for someone else’s alcohol or drug use (Figure TREATMENTCLIENTS 1, Table SC.22).
