Support and case management

Support includes activities such as providing information and support to family members/friends/children, delivering peer-based support services, cultural support, and ongoing contact/regular communication between client/provider. Care co-ordination and case management involves ongoing treatment planning, goal setting and review and facilitation for client to achieve their goals. This includes supported referral and system navigation support to other services, if needed, such as health or social welfare services (Department of Health and Aged Care 2019). See glossary for further information on support and case management.

In 2023–24:

  • Around 1 in 6 (16%, 38,402) treatment episodes reported a main treatment of support and case management:
    • 1 in 8 (13%) episodes for clients’ own alcohol or drug use were support and case management.
    • Almost half (45%) of episodes for clients who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were support and case management.
  • Most support and case management treatment episodes for a client’s own alcohol or drug use were for people whose principal drug of concern was alcohol (38%), amphetamines (24%) or cannabis (22%) (tables Trt.3, Trt.37).

Client profile

In 2023–24, for clients whose main treatment was support and case management (16,598 clients):

  • Over half (55%) of clients receiving treatment for their own alcohol or drug use were male.
  • 2 in 3 (66%) people receiving treatment for their own alcohol or drug use were aged 10–39 or 3 in 5 people (61%) were for someone else’s.
  • 1 in 5 (22%) people who received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people.
  • 1 in 8 (12%) people who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people (tables SC.18–20).

Treatment profile

Among support and case management treatment episodes for clients’ own alcohol or drug use and someone else’s alcohol or drug use:

  • The proportion of episodes lasting 1 day was higher for clients receiving treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use (67%) than for their own alcohol or drug use (12%).
  • Most (81%) treatment episodes for support and case management lasted from one day to 3 months.

Over the 10-year period to 2023–24:

  • For clients receiving treatment for their own alcohol or drug use, treatment episodes lasting 1 day increased from 6.1% in 2014–15 to 12% in 2023–24, peaking in 2015–16 (43%).
  • Episodes lasting one to 3 months fell from 37% in 2014–15 to 26% in 2023–24.
  • The proportion of treatment episodes for someone else’s alcohol or drug use that lasted 1 day rose substantially from 2014–15 (13%) to 2018–19 (87%) before falling in 2023–24 (67%).
  • Median treatment duration for own alcohol or drug use dropped over this period from 57 days to 36 days since 2014–15.
  • For someone else’s alcohol or drug use the median treatment duration dropped from 36 days to 1 day (tables Ov.11, Trt.39).
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