Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia annual report 2024–25

In 2024–25:

• Counselling was provided in 32% (77,976) of all treatment episodes:
  • 1 in 3 (33%) episodes were for people who received counselling for their own alcohol or drug use, similar to 2023–24 (33%).
  • 1 in 4 (24%) episodes were for people who received counselling for someone else’s alcohol or drug use, a decrease from 2023–24 (35%).
• Counselling episodes most commonly involved alcohol (42%) or methamphetamine (25%) as the principal drug of concern.
• The median length of counselling episodes was 68 days (over 9 weeks) (tables Trt.3, Trt.16, OV.11).

Client profile

In 2024–25, 50,339 clients received counselling:

• Of the people who received counselling for their own alcohol or drug use:
  • 3 in 5 (62%) people were male.
  • Half (52%) were aged 30–49.
  • 1 in 5 (18%) people were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people.
• Of the people who received counselling for someone else’s alcohol or drug use:
  • 53% were female (13% did not state their sex).
  • 3 in 5 (59%) were aged 40 and over.
  • 10% were First Nations people (tables SC.18–20).

Treatment profile

Between 2015–16 and 2024–25:

• Treatment episodes for counselling were longer than all other treatment types, ranging between a median length of 54 and 71 days (Table OV.11).
• For a client’s own alcohol or drug use, the proportion of counselling episodes that ended within 1 month fell from 34% in 2016–17 to 27% in 2024–25.
• For someone else’s alcohol or drug use, the proportion of counselling episodes ending within 1 month fell from 42% in 2015–16 to 22% in 2024–25.
  • In contrast, the proportion lasting 1 to 6 months increased from 50% in 2015–16 to 59% in 2024–25 (Table Trt.21).