Alcohol treatment in Australia: Client characteristics and patterns of service use, 2013–14 to 2022–23

This report examined the patterns of AOD service use and characteristics of clients who received non-recurring, recurring, and intensive treatment for alcohol only or alcohol and another principal drug of concern (PDOC) using data from the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Minimum Data Set between 2013–14 and 2022–23.

It explored the demographic and treatment characteristics of clients who received non-recurring, recurring, and intensive treatment for alcohol only or alcohol and another PDOC. It also explored the patterns of service use for these clients using process mapping and trace analysis to identify common client pathways through AOD treatment.

As supported by previous AIHW research, these findings indicate that clients are willing to make repeated efforts to seek support for their AOD use, specifically, for alcohol as a PDOC. However, a number of additional factors – including housing stability and homelessness, socioeconomic status, disability, contact with the criminal justice system, and mental health – can play a role in how a client engages with AOD treatment services over time. Further work could focus on linking AODTS data with other data sets to provide more comprehensive and nuanced information on client circumstances, other health service engagement, and patterns of service use. Understanding these factors may help with AOD treatment service planning and inform policy development.

In interpreting the findings from this report, it is important to consider the following limitations in the analyses presented:

• The definition of treatment intensity does not account for treatment duration. For example, 3 information and education episodes within a year would be classified as a similar intensity to 3 rehabilitation episodes, despite the likely differences in client profiles and needs. It would be useful if future analyses could capture the duration of client’s contact with AOD treatment services between treatment episodes and for specific treatment types, to gain a more complete picture of treatment patterns.
• Outcome indicators may clarify why clients cease or continue treatment. For example, clients who receive non-recurring treatment for alcohol may achieve their treatment goals after 1 or 2 episodes of treatment and in a relatively short period of time. Conversely, these clients may cease treatment prematurely due to barriers (for example, accessibility, social and/or economic disadvantage, stigma), despite experiencing ongoing symptoms of dependence. Therefore, the outcomes for these different treatment cohorts are unclear. Investigating the reasons why people who use services repeatedly cease treatment would provide further understanding of the factors affecting client engagement and retention in treatment.
• Analysis can only provide insights into the pattern of alcohol and other drug treatment service use for those clients who accessed AOD services that report to the AODTS NMDS. Further research is required to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the patterns of AOD treatment service use in Australia, including those services outside of the scope of the AODTS NMDS.