What data is included in this report?
The Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Minimum Data Set (AODTS NMDS) is a service based (not demand based) data set collected by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The AODTS NMDS contains information about closed treatment episodes provided to clients by publicly funded specialist alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment services across Australia (including government and non-government services). Data is collected annually, with collection periods beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30 of the following year (financial years). This report includes data on:
- closed treatment episodes provided between 2013–14 to 2022–23
- valid Statistical Linkage Key 581 (SLK-581) data from 2013–14 to 2022–23
For further information see Technical notes: AODTS NMDS coverage and data quality.
AODTS NMDS counting measures
AODTS NMDS data can be counted using two measures: clients or closed treatment episodes provided to clients.
A typical AOD client will receive multiple treatment episodes. Based on the number and frequency of all episodes received between 2013–14 and 2022–23, clients were assigned to one of three cohorts reflecting their treatment intensity.
Data on both client cohorts and treatment episodes are included in this report to capture how clients interact with AOD services over multiple episodes, as well as yearly changes in individual episode characteristics. Due to changes in data quality over time, cohort-level and episode-level treatment data varies in coverage.
Table measures 1 summarises the differences in treatment cohort-level and treatment episode-level data. For further information see Defining treatment intensity using the AODTS NMDS and Overview of analysis variables and inclusion criteria.
Measure | Description |
|---|---|
Treatment cohort | Includes all closed treatment episodes received by a client: a person who receives an AOD treatment episode for their own drug use. Most clients undergo multiple treatment episodes over the course of their treatment, each episode is matched to a client and counted towards the treatment cohort the client is assigned to. |
Treatment episode | The period of contact between a client and treatment provider. Each closed treatment episode has one principal drug of concern and one main treatment type. |
| Time coverage | Description |
|---|---|
Treatment cohort | Clients who received treatment between 2013–14 to 2022–23 |
Treatment episode | Closed treatment episodes provided between 2013–14 to 2022–23 |