Counselling
Counselling is the most common treatment type for clients’ who received treatment for alcohol or other drug use. Psycho-social counselling refers to evidence-informed talking therapies, aimed at helping the person develop skills (whether that be psychological skills, and/or practical skills) to reduce alcohol or other drug consumption and/or harms, in line with the person’s own goals. For more information on counselling see glossary.
In 2023–24:
- Counselling was reported as a main treatment type in 33% (79,471) of all treatment episodes.
- 1 in 3 (33%) episodes for people receiving treatment for their own alcohol or drug use involved counselling as the main treatment, remaining stable from 34% in 2022–23.
- For treatment episodes where the client received support for someone else’s drug use, 1 in 3 (35%) episodes involved counselling as the main treatment type, remaining stable from 34% in 2022–23.
- Among clients who received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use, counselling as a main treatment was most commonly provided where the principal drug of concern was alcohol (41%), or amphetamines (27%) (tables Trt.3, Trt.16).
Client profile
In 2023–24, for clients whose main treatment was counselling (52,441 clients):
- 3 in 5 (61%) people who received counselling for their own alcohol or drug use were male.
- Half (48%) of people who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were female (12% did not state their sex).
- Half (52%) of people receiving counselling for their own alcohol or drug use were aged 20–39.
- Over half (55%) of people who received counselling for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were aged 40 and over.
- 1 in 5 (18%) people who received counselling for their own alcohol or drug use were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations), and 9.4% of people who received counselling for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were First Nations people (tables SC.18–20).
Treatment profile
Counselling is provided for a client’s own alcohol or drug use, as well as those who received support for someone else’s alcohol or drug use.
Over the 10-year period to 2023–24 for clients who received counselling:
- Treatment episodes for counselling were longer than all other treatment types, ranging between a median length of 52 and 71 days. In 2023–24, the median length was 69 days (over 9 weeks) (Table OV.11).
- For their own alcohol or drug use, the proportion of treatment episodes that ended within 1 month fell from 35% to 27%.
- For someone else’s alcohol or drug use, the proportion of treatment episodes ending within 1 month fell from 40% to 23%. In contrast, the proportion lasting 3 to 6 months increased from 17% in 2014–15 to 25% in 2023–24 (Table Trt.21).