Alcohol, tobacco & other drugs in Australia

Introduction

Monitoring and law enforcement activities form part of Australia’s broader harm minimisation approach to alcohol and other drugs under the National Drug Strategy 2017–2026 (Department of Health 2017). This approach includes supply reduction as one of three ‘pillars’ of harm minimisation, which aims to reduce the risk of harm by preventing or reducing illegal drug production and supply and regulating the availability of legal drugs such as pharmaceuticals (Department of Health 2017).

Examples of supply reduction initiatives to limit the availability of illegal drugs include:

• law enforcement operations involving drug seizures and arrests
• disrupting the diversion of precursor chemicals that are used in the manufacture of illicit drugs (Department of Health 2017).

This page contains information on illicit drug markets and drug-related law enforcement activities in Australia. For related content on Australia’s drug laws, see Policy context.

What data sources are available?

Information on monitoring and law enforcement activities related to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs in Australia comes from a range of data sources including research with people who use drugs and data from law enforcement agencies (such as police). Each data source uses a different methodology and are therefore not comparable.

For more information about each data source, see Technical notes.

What do people who use drugs say about illicit drug markets?

Surveys of people who regularly use illicit stimulants or inject drugs have shown that many people who regularly use illicit drugs report it is ‘easy’ or ‘very easy’ to obtain drugs including cannabis and cannabinoid-related products, methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy and heroin (Sutherland et al. 2025a, Sutherland et al. 2025b). The perceived price and purity of most of these drugs also remained relatively stable in 2025 compared to the previous year, with a significant reduction in the price of heroin (from $80 per point in 2024 to $50 in 2025) (Sutherland et al. 2025b).

Illicit drug markets have remained relatively consistent over time, with some fluctuations for specific drug types potentially due to market disruptions. For example, in the early 2000s there was a widespread heroin shortage in Australia, which followed a period of unprecedented heroin availability in Australia in the late 1990s. The heroin shortage was attributed to a range of factors, including high purity and low profit margins for dealers, along with several law enforcement seizures (Degenhardt et al. 2004).

People who use drugs most often obtain them from a friend or dealer:

• According to the 2022–2023 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS), almost 2 in 3 (61%) people aged 14 years and over who had recently used cannabis reported their usual source as friends, while 1 in 5 (21%) usually sourced cannabis from a dealer (AIHW 2024, Table 5.35).
• Around 4 in 5 (79%) people who regularly use stimulant drugs reported obtaining drugs from a friend, partner, colleague or relative in the last 12 months in 2025, and 66% had obtained drugs from a known dealer (Sutherland et al. 2025a). 

Among people who regularly inject drugs or regularly use stimulants, the most common modes for arranging the purchase of illicit or non-prescribed drugs include face-to-face, via social networking or messaging applications (such as WhatsApp or Telegram), via text message or by phone call (Sutherland et al. 2025a, Sutherland et al. 2025b).

What do we know about illicit drug detections at the Australian border?

National illicit drug border detection data, including the number and weight of border detections, are collected annually from federal, state and territory police services and reported via the IDDR. In 2020–21, there were:

• 24,255 cannabis detections, weighing 819 kilograms in total (ACIC 2023, Figure 10)
• 2,169 cocaine detections, weighing 2,576 kilograms, the highest amount detected since reporting began (ACIC 2023a, Figure 22)
• 1,753 amphetamine-type stimulant (excluding MDMA) detections at the Australian border, weighing 5,290 kilograms (ACIC 2023a, Figure 1)
• 1,773 MDMA (ecstasy) detections, weighing 106 kilograms (ACIC 2023a, Figure 2).
• 1,415 pharmaceutical detections (including benzodiazepines, morphine, buprenorphine, methadone and oxycodone only). Most (64%) of these detections were for benzodiazepines (902 in 2020–21). 

Between 2011–12 and 2020–21:

• The number of heroin detections at the Australian border rose from 179 to 622 detections in 2020–21, and the weight of heroin detected rose from 256 to 1,247 kilograms.
• The number of pharmaceutical detections (including benzodiazepines, morphine, buprenorphine, methadone and oxycodone only) increased by 6% (from 1,337 to 1,415 detections).  
• There was a 1,215% increase in the number of pharmaceutical opioid detections (39 In 2011–12), increasing to the highest number recorded of 513 in 2020–21 (ACIC 2023).

What do we know about drug seizures?

National illicit drug seizure data, including the number and weight of seizures, are collected annually from federal, state and territory police services and reported via the IDDR. According to the most recent report:

• There were 105,694 national illicit drug seizures in 2020–21, equivalent to around one seizure every 5 minutes.
• There has been an increase in the number of seizures over the last decade from 76,083 in 2011–12, but a 13% decrease compared with the previous year.
• Cannabis (52%) and amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS; 27%) accounted for the greatest proportion of national illicit drug seizures in 2020–21. Amphetamines (including amphetamine, methylamphetamine, dexamphetamine and amphetamines not elsewhere classified) accounted for 90% of the total number of ATS seizures (24,745 seizures).
• The number of cannabis seizures decreased 12% in 2020–21 and ATS seizures decreased 27% compared with 2019–20 (ACIC 2023).
• The number of heroin seizures increased from 1,758 in 2011–12 to 2,130 in 2020–21 (Table IDDR1, Figure 1).

The weight of illicit drugs seized nationally was 41.4 tonnes in 2020–21, an increase from 38.5 tonnes in 2019–20 (8%). Illicit drugs classified as other and unknown accounted for the greatest proportion of the weight of illicit drugs seized in 2020–21 (45%) followed by cannabis (26%), ATS (15%), cocaine (11%) and heroin (3%) (Table IDDR2, Figure 1).

The weight of illicit drugs seized in 2020–21 increased from the previous year across all drug types except ATS, which decreased by 51%. There has been a 74% increase in the weight of illicit drugs seized over the last decade (23.8 tonnes in 2011–12) (Table IDDR2, Figure 1).

What do we know about drug-related arrests?

In addition to data on drug seizures, the IDDR includes information on national illicit drug arrest data as collected annually from federal, state and territory police services. According to the IDDR, the number of national illicit drug arrests rose by 51% over the decade to 2020–21 (from 93,148 arrests in 2011–12 to 140,624 in 2020–21) (ACIC 2023). However, the number of arrests has fallen since 2019–20 (166,321 arrests). Most (87%) illicit drug arrests in 2020–21 were for consumer related offences (Table IDDR3, Figure 2).

Data from the 2020–21 IDDR found that:

• There were 66,285 national cannabis arrests in 2020–21, with the number of arrests increasing 9% over the last decade (61,011 in 2011–12). Cannabis (47%) accounted for the greatest proportion of national illicit drug arrests in 2020–21, but this proportion has declined since 2011–12 (65% of arrests) (ACIC 2023).
• Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) accounted for the second largest proportion (26%) of national illicit drug arrests in 2020–21, up from 18% in 2011–12.
• The number of national cocaine arrests has increased 499% over the last decade, from 995 in 2011–12 to 5,958 in 2020–21, the highest number recorded in the IDDR (ACIC 2023).
• Heroin and other opioids accounted for 2.0% of national illicit drug arrests in 2020–21, down from 2.9% in 2011–12 (ACIC 2023).

What do we know about police and court illicit drug offences?

The number of illicit drug offences has declined in recent years, both for offenders proceeded against by police and defendants finalised in court (ABS 2025a, ABS 2025c). Possession and use offences continue to account for the highest proportion of all illicit drug offences across available data sources.

Data from Recorded Crime – Offenders found that 14% of offenders aged 10 and over had a principal offence that was illicit drug related in 2023–24. 

• Illicit drug offences (48,213 offenders) were the second most common principal offence nationally, behind acts intended to cause injury (92,259 offenders). 
• The number of illicit drug offences decreased by 8% (down 4,102 offenders) between 2022–23 and 2023–24 (ABS 2025c, Table 1). The number of illicit drug offenders is now at the lowest point since peaking at 83,204 in 2015–16.
• 2 in 3 (67%) illicit drug offences were related to possession and/or use of drugs – 32,135 out of 48,213 offences (ABS 2025c).

Among those aged 18 and over, the offender rate decreased between 2022–23 (238.0 per 100,000 persons) and 2023–24 (214.5 per 100,000 persons) (ABS 2025c, Table 4).

Between 2022–23 and 2023–24, the number of principal illicit drug offences among young people aged 10–17 decreased by 17% from 3,380 to 2,791 offences (ABS 2025c). Most (76%) of the offences were related to possession and/or use of drugs – 2,134 out of 2,791 offences (ABS 2025c). 

Data from Criminal Courts, Australia showed that illicit drug offences accounted for 7% (38,039) of defendants finalised across all Criminal Courts in Australia in 2023–24 (ABS 2025a). The number of illicit drug offences has overall declined since 2018–19 (58,883 defendants), driven largely by a fall in the number of possession or use offences (from 37,701 in 2018–19 to 24,837 in 2023–24) (ABS 2025a).

In 2023–24, consistent with previous years:

• Almost 2 in 3 (65%, or 24,837 defendants) illicit drug offences were possession or use offences (ABS 2025a, Table 1).
• Almost 3 in 4 (74% or 28,328) defendants with an illicit drug offence were male and almost 1 in 3 (31% or 11,640) were aged in their 30s (ABS 2025a, Table 3).
• Most illicit drug offences were finalised in the Magistrates’ Courts (34,257 defendants), as opposed to the Higher Courts (3,078) or Children’s Courts (706) (ABS 2025a, Table 1).
• Of those defendants who were found guilty of an illicit drug offence (35,048 defendants), around half (55% or 19,407 defendants) received a fine, 12% (4,246) received a good behaviour order and 10% (3,632) received ‘nominal and other’ penalties (ABS 2025a, Table 10).

The Prisoners in Australia report showed that illicit drug offences were the most serious offence for just over 1 in 10 (11% or around 5,200) people in custody on 30 June 2025, down from almost 6,600 in 2019 (ABS 2025b). Among people in custody for an illicit drug offence on 30 June 2025:

• almost 9 in 10 (89%) were male
• the median age was 38 years
• almost 1 in 2 (48%) had previously been imprisoned (ABS 2025b, Table 1).

Where do I go for more information?

• Criminal Courts, Australia
• Illicit Drug Data Report
• Prisoners in Australia
• Recorded Crime – Offenders