Alcohol, tobacco & other drugs in Australia

Web report

Last updated: 13 Dec 2018

Author: AIHW

The consumption of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs is a major cause of preventable disease and illness in Australia. This report consolidates the most recently available information on alcohol, tobacco and other drug use in Australia, including key trends in the availability, consumption, harms and treatment for vulnerable populations. Further, information on a range of health, social and economic impacts of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use are highlighted.

Cat. no: PHE 221

Findings from this report:

The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people smoking has declined significantly
There is a strong link between problematic alcohol or other drug use and experiences of homelessness
Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in Australia
Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in Australia

Notes

Corrections

Previous versions of files that have been updated or corrected are presented below.

(10 Sept 2018) Apparent consumption of alcohol data updated with 2016–17 numbers resulting in updates to the summary webpage (tableau image for alcohol consumption), Alcohol webpage (availability section and Figure ALCOHOL1) and supplementary Table S2.3.
(13 December 2018) Release of updated content, data tables and tableau.
Previous versions of data tables released 14 August 2018: Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, Impacts and Populations.
(30 January 2019) National Health Survey data updated with 2017–18 numbers resulting in updates to the Tobacco webpage (consumption and tobacco smoking by age and sex sections) and Alcohol webpage (consumption, lifetime risk, single occasion risk sections) and supplementary tables S2.27 and S2.29.
Previous versions of data tables released 13 December 2018: Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.
(15 March 2019) Updated wastewater analysis included resulting in updates to the Harm minimisation webpage, Drug types webpages and the Summary of main data sources used in this report webpage.

Pages updated at 13 December release

Section	Page updated	Data sources
Section 1 – Harm minimisation	Supply reduction – Drug seizures	Illicit Drug Data Report 2016–17
Section 1 – Harm minimisation	Supply reduction – Prohibited substances	Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS)
Section 1 – Harm minimisation	Supply reduction – Wastewater analysis	National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program
Section 1 – Harm minimisation	Demand reduction – Alcohol consumption.	Causes of Death, 2017
Section 2 – Impacts	Health impacts – Pregnancy complications	Australia’s mothers and babies 2016
Section 2 – Impacts	Health impacts – Injury and hospitalisation	Opioid harm in Australia: prevalence, trends and comparisons between Australia and Canada
Section 2 – Impacts	Health impacts – Injection-related harms	Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) Australian Needle Syringe National Data report 2013–2017
Section 2 – Impacts	Health impacts – Drug-induced deaths	Causes of Death, 2017 Australia’s Annual Overdose Report 2018
Section 2 – Impacts	Social impacts – Contact with the criminal justice system	Illicit Drug Data Report 2016–17
Section 2 – Impacts	Social impacts – Risky behaviours and criminal activity	The Ecstasy and related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS) Crime Victimisation, Australia, 2016–17
Section 3 – Drug types	Alcohol – Availability	Apparent Consumption of Alcohol, 2016–17
Section 3 – Drug types	Alcohol – Harms (Deaths, illness and injury - new)	Causes of Death, 2017
Section 3 – Drug types	Alcohol – Risky behaviours	Road trauma Australia 2017 statistical summary
Section 3 – Drug types	Tobacco – Harms	Australia’s mothers and babies 2016
Section 3 – Drug types Section 3 – Drug types Section 3 – Drug types	Cannabis; Methamphetamine and other stimulants; Illicit opioids (heroin); New (and emerging) psychoactive substances — Availability	Illicit Drug Data Report 2016–17
Section 3 – Drug types	Cannabis — At-risk groups Methamphetamine and other stimulants – Availability. Non-medical use of pharmaceutical drugs – At-risk groups. Illicit opioids (heroin) – Availability; At-risk groups	Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS)
Section 3 – Drug types	Non-medical use of pharmaceutical drugs – Availability, Harms (Deaths, illness and injury), Illicit opioids (heroin) – Availability, Harms	Opioid harm in Australia: Prevalence, trends and comparisons between Australia and Canada
Section 3 – Drug types	Methamphetamine and other stimulants – Harms (Deaths)	Opioid, amphetamine and cocaine-induced deaths in Australia
Section 3 – Drug types	Alcohol, Cannabis, Non-medical use of pharmaceutical drugs, Illicit Opioids (Heroin) - Deaths	Australia’s Annual Overdose Report 2018
Section 4 – Populations	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People — Tobacco smoking.	Australia’s mothers and babies 2016
Section 4 – Populations	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People – Health and harms.	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health organisations: Online Services report – key results 2016–17
Section 4 – Populations	People with mental health conditions — Illicit drug use.	The Ecstasy and related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS)
Section 4 – Populations	Homeless people — Illicit drug use, People in contact with the criminal justice system — Illicit drug use, People who inject drugs	Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS)
Section 4 – Populations	Homeless people — Illicit drug use, People in contact with the criminal justice system — Illicit drug use, People who inject drugs	Australian Needle Syringe National Data report 2013–2017

Find reports & data by topic

Featured reports

Featured

Alcohol, tobacco & other drugs in Australia

Notes

Corrections

Pages updated at 13 December release

AIHW

Feedback