Withdrawal management
Withdrawal management (detoxification) includes medicated and non-medicated treatment in a residential or non-residential setting, to help manage, reduce or stop the use of a drug of concern. This type of treatment is not available for people who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use.
In 2024–25, for a client’s own alcohol or drug use:
- Withdrawal management accounted for nearly 1 in 10 (8.6%, 20,929) of all treatment episodes.
- Most episodes were for alcohol (56%) or methamphetamine (17%) (tables Trt.3, Trt.24).
Client profile
In 2024–25, 7,981 clients received withdrawal management treatment for their own alcohol or drug use:
- 3 in 5 (57%) were male
- Half (52%) were aged 30–49
- 1 in 8 (14%) were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people (tables SC.18–20).
Treatment profile
Among withdrawal management episodes for a client’s own alcohol or drug use:
- 81% of treatment episodes lasted 2–29 days, followed by 9.7% episodes lasting 30-90 days in 2024–25.
- Between 2015–16 and 2024–25, median treatment duration has remained stable at 8 days (tables Ov.11, Trt.29).