Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia annual report

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

In 2021–22, information and education as a main treatment was reported for 2.8% (6,321) of all treatment episodes (where clients sought treatment for their own or someone else’s alcohol or drug use).

Most information and education episodes were provided to clients whose principal drug of concern was alcohol (42%) or cannabis (26%) (tables Trt.3, Trt.42).

Client profile

In 2021–22, for clients whose main treatment was information and education:

• more than 3 in 5 people receiving information and education for their own alcohol or drug use were male (65%), while more people who sought support for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were female (59%)
• seven in 10 (70%) of all people receiving information and education for their own alcohol or drug use were aged 10–39 (27% of clients aged 10–19, 23% aged 20–29 and 20% aged 30–39). In contrast, almost 3 in 5 (58%) people who sought treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were aged 40 or over
• almost 3 in 10 (28%) people receiving treatment for their own alcohol or drug use identified as Indigenous Australians, compared with 17% of people seeking treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use (tables SC.18–20).

Treatment profile

Among treatment episodes in 2021–22 with information and education as the main treatment, more than 2 in 5 (44%) of treatment episodes lasted 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 15% (Table Trt.44).

Over the 10-year period to 2021–22, among clients who received information and education:

• for their own alcohol or drug use: the proportion of treatment episodes that lasted 1 day decreased from 82% in 2012–13 to 44% in 2021–22. These recent decreases were likely due to COVID-19 restrictions and reductions in service delivery from 2019–20 onwards
• for someone else’s alcohol or drug use: the proportion of treatment episodes that lasted one day decreased from 77% in 2012–13 to 15% in 2021–22
• for all clients: the proportion of treatment episodes for lasting from 2 days to 3 months increased from 15% in 2012–13 to 51% in 2021–22 (Table Trt.44).

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