National Opioid Pharmacotherapy Statistics Annual Data collection

The data used in this report were extracted by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) subsidised prescriptions data in the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability, and Ageing's Enterprise Data Warehouse on 30 September 2025. The data presented in this report relate to prescriptions dispensed between 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2025.

The medicines reported from PBS data are classified based on the ATC (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical) classification system, defined by the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology. Please refer to the WHO ATC Index for more information on the structure of the ATC classification system and specific ATC codes see WHOCC - ATC/DDD Index.

Data contained in this report include prescriptions for the following patient entitlements:

• General
• Concessional
• Repatriation.

Medicines supplied under prescriber bag orders were removed from the dataset prior to analysis. Analysis includes under-co-payment data which include information on prescriptions priced below the co-payment as defined in the National Health Act 1953.

Drugs selected for this report were extracted from the PBS data using the ATC codes outlined below.

ATC code used

ATC code ‘N07BC’ was used for drugs classified as ‘Drugs used in opioid dependence’.

Measures used in the report

The measures used in this report are reported across a financial year. Patients’ demographics were assigned based on when they received their last prescription during the financial year.

Crude rates are calculated using the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated resident population (ERP) as at 30 June of each collection year. Rates for 2025 data were calculated using the preliminary ERP at 30 June 2024. The most current ERP is used when the relevant ERP has not been released.

The PBS patient rate is defined as:

The PBS prescription rate is defined as:

The denominator is based on the estimated resident population in Australia as at the previous 30 June and does not account for the changing age structure of the population across time or other confounding factors.