Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2007-08: findings from the National Minimum Data Set

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Release Date: 23 Oct 2009

Topic: Alcohol & other drug treatment services

Media release

AIHW

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2009) Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2007-08: findings from the National Minimum Data Set, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 24 April 2024.

APA

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2009). Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2007-08: findings from the National Minimum Data Set. Canberra: AIHW.

MLA

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2007-08: findings from the National Minimum Data Set. AIHW, 2009.

Vancouver

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2007-08: findings from the National Minimum Data Set. Canberra: AIHW; 2009.

Harvard

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2009, Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2007-08: findings from the National Minimum Data Set, AIHW, Canberra.

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Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2007-08: findings from the National Minimum Data Set summarises data on publicly funded alcohol and other drug treatment services and their clients, including information about the types of drugs for which treatment is sought and the types of treatment provided. The data contained in this bulletin are derived from the comprehensive AODTA-NMDS 2007-08 annual report.

ISSN: 1446-9820
ISBN: 978 1 74024 967 6
Cat. no: AUS 118
Pages: 16

Summary

This bulletin presents summary findings of the 2007-08 Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Minimum Data Set (AODTS-NMDS). It is the eighth in a series of annual bulletins focusing on clients of government-funded alcohol and other drug treatment services. In particular, it highlights the drug use clients are concerned about and the types of treatment they receive. The data presented in this bulletin are derived from the comprehensive AODTS-NMDS 2007-08 national report (AIHW 2009).

Clients

Around 154,000 treatment episodes were provided during 2007-08, an increase of about 7,000 episodes compared to 2006-07. The vast majority of treatment episodes (96%) were for people seeking treatment for their own drug use. The largest group of clients was males aged 20-29 years; this finding has been remarkably consistent over time. Younger clients were more likely to receive treatment for cannabis use and older clients for alcohol use.

Drugs

Alcohol remains the most common principal drug of concern increasing to 44% of all treatment episodes in 2007-08 compared with 38% in 2002-03. Treatment for heroin use has been declining over time to 11% in 2007-08 compared with 18% in 2002-03; also the actual number of episodes has declined. Treatment for cannabis and amphetamines has remained stable, at about 22% and 11% respectively.

Treatment

Counselling remained the most common treatment provided at about 2 in 5 episodes. The proportion of clients in withdrawal management (detox) has declined since 2002-03, even though the number of detox episodes has increased.

Agencies

In 2007-08, more treatment episodes were provided in more treatment agencies compared with previous years. Integration and collocation of government and non-government services may have an increasing impact on the profile of alcohol and other drug treatment agencies in future years.

References

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2009. Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2007-08: report on the national minimum data set. Drug treatment series no. 9. Cat. no. HSE 73. Canberra: AIHW.