Client interactions with AOD services

This report examines the characteristics of AOD clients who received treatment for alcohol at any point and describes variation in the treatment based on the nature of their AOD service use (treatment intensity). Analysis focused on 836,209 treatment episodes provided to 244,479 clients who received treatment for alcohol at any point as a principal drug of concern (PDOC) between 1 July 2013 and 30 June 2023 (see Figure treatment intensity 1).

Client cohorts

The three cohorts were defined as follows:

  • non-recurring treatment – clients who received fewer than 13 treatment episodes for their own alcohol or other drug use in fewer than 3 years within the 10-year period between 2013–14 and 2022–23 (noting these do not have to be consecutive).
  • recurring treatment – clients who received fewer than 13 treatment episodes across at least 3 years. 
  • intensive treatment – clients who received 13 or more treatment episodes across at least 3 years.

For further information on the methodology used to define these cohorts, see Technical notes: Defining treatment intensity using the AODTS NMDS, including diagrammatic examples of the treatment pathways for the three main client cohorts.

Figure treatment intensity 1: Analysis criteria of clients who at any point received treatment for alcohol, by intensity of service use and episodes, 2013–14 to 2022–23 

This report refers to clients in each cohort who received treatment for alcohol at any point as well as the treatment episodes provided to these clients. In examining the client and treatment characteristics of each cohort, all episodes provided to each client over the course of their treatment are considered.

For example, where a client receiving intensive treatment received 13 treatment episodes over the course of at least 3 years, each episode’s main treatment type and each principal drug of concern is counted separately when describing the characteristics of the intensive treatment cohort.  

Figure treatment intensity 1 illustrates the numbers of clients who received treatment for alcohol at any point in each cohort, and treatment episodes provided to these clients treated for either alcohol only or alcohol and another PDOC (amphetamines, cannabis, heroin, pharmaceuticals or other drugs of concern):

  • Most clients received non-recurring treatment for alcohol in fewer than 3 years between 1 July 2013 and 30 June 2023 (76%, or 185,054 clients).
  • Most of this treatment was for alcohol only (30% of all treatment episodes for alcohol, and 74% (248,638) of treatment episodes for this non-recurring cohort). Clients received on average 1.6 treatment episodes during this period for alcohol only or 3.1 for alcohol and another PDOC.
  • Clients in the recurring cohort represented the next largest client group, 1 in 5 clients (20%, 49,489 clients). Most treatment in this cohort was provided to clients for alcohol and another PDOC (60%, or 29,605 clients for this cohort).  
  • Recurring clients received on average, similar levels of treatment, irrespective of whether they were treated for alcohol only or alcohol and another PDOC (on average 6.3 or 5.8 treatment episodes per client between 2013–14 and 2022–23 for alcohol only or alcohol and another PDOC, respectively).
  • Clients who received intensive treatment for alcohol represented less than 1 in 20 clients (4.1%, or 9,936 clients) but they received nearly 1 in 4 treatment episodes (24%, or 199,568 episodes). Most of the treatment in this cohort was provided for alcohol and another PDOC (75%, or 149,742 episodes for alcohol and another PDOC (such as amphetamines)) with these clients making up 73% (7,287 clients) of this cohort.
  • Clients in the intensive treatment cohort received similar levels of treatment, irrespective of whether they were treated for alcohol only or alcohol and another PDOC (on average 18.8 or 20.1 treatment episodes per client between 2013–14 and 2022–23, respectively).

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