Clients

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Overview Key findings Characteristics of clients Client profile Age and sex Profile of new and returning clients Clients and drugs of concern Usual accommodation type for client

People may receive treatment for their own or someone else’s alcohol or drug use (see Key terminology and glossary). Characteristics of all clients are described below, including clients’ principal drugs of concern by age group and new and returning clients in the current collection year.  

The Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services (AODTS) collection captures information on treatment services clients received. It does not measure the underlying need for treatment or level of alcohol or drug use in the community. Changes in client numbers over time may be due to clients’ access to treatment, treatment availability, differences in counting methodologies, and/or funding available for alcohol and other drug treatment services. 

Key findings

In 2022–23:

  • Around 131,500 people aged 10 and over received treatment for their own or someone else’s alcohol or drug use from publicly funded alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment services. This equates to 568 clients per 100,000 people.
  • Around 235,500 treatment episodes were provided to clients. 
  • An average of 1.7 treatment episodes were provided to people receiving treatment for their own alcohol or drug use. 
  • 6 in 10 people receiving treatment were male (60%), and half (50%) were aged 20–39. 
  • One in 6 (18%) people aged 10 and over identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people.
  • Of the clients receiving treatment in 2022–23, 54% previously received AOD treatment from a service at some point since 2013–14.

In the 10 years to 2022–23:

  • There has been a 15% increase in client numbers since 2013–14, from around 114,400 to 131,500 in 2022–23.
  • Adjusting for population growth, this equates to a modest increase in the rate of service use over this period from 564 to 568 clients per 100,000 people.

Characteristics of clients

The number of people treated by publicly funded alcohol and other drug treatment agencies increased by 15% in the last 10 years, from 114,436 in 2013–14 to 131,516 in 2022–23. 

When taking population growth into consideration, the rate of people receiving services over the past decade has fluctuated, rising from 564 clients per 100,000 people in 2013–14 to peak at 623 in 2018–19 and 2019–20 before falling to 568 clients in 2022–23.

Of the clients receiving treatment in 2022–23:

  • 54% had previously received treatment at least once since 2013–14 when client reporting was enabled
  • 46% had not previously received treatment since 2013–14.

In 2022–23:

  • 125,948 people received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use and 11,072 received treatment in relation to someone else’s alcohol or drug use. 
  • Around 1 in 20 (4.9% or 6,561) clients received treatment for their own as well as someone else’s alcohol or drug use (Table SCR.27).

Figure CLIENTS 1: AODTS clients and treatment episodes, by state and territory, 2013–14 to 2022–23

The line chart shows that there were 568 clients per 100,000 population in Australia in 2022–23, decreasing from 576 clients per 100,000 population in 2021-22. Across the period 2013–14 to 2022–23, the rate of clients was highest in the Northern Territory (1,424 per 100,000 in 2022–23) and lowest in New South Wales (384 per 100,000 in 2022–23). A filter allows the user to view by rate of clients, number of clients or number of treatment episodes.

Client profile

In 2022–23:

  • Most people (94% or 123, 744 clients) received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use. These clients were more likely to be male (61% or 75,267).
  • In contrast, of the 5.9% of people (or 7,772 clients) who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use, close to half were female (47% or 3,631 clients) (12% or 968 reported not stated for sex) (tables SC.1–2).
  • The rate of all clients receiving AOD services was highest for those that lived in Very remote areas (1,412 per 100,000 people) and lowest for those in Major cities (487 per 100,000, Table SCR.29).
  • Almost 4 in 5 (79% or 104, 452 clients) received treatment at a single agency, 14% (18,345) attended 2 agencies, and 6.6% (8,719) of clients received treatment at 3 or more agencies (Table SCR.23).

See Key terminology and glossary for further information on how clients are counted in this report.

Age and sex

Clients who received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use tended to be younger than those who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use. 

In 2022–23, client characteristics revealed:

  • The majority of all clients were male (60% or 78,392 clients) and half (50% or 66,106 clients) of all clients were aged 20–39.
  • 3 in 5 (60% or 74,376 clients) of people receiving treatment for their own alcohol or drug use were aged under 40.
  • Almost 1 in 10 (9.3% or 11,541 clients) of people receiving treatment for their own alcohol or drug use were 10–19 years of age.
  • People aged 60 and over accounted for 5.9% (or 7,287) of clients who received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use.
  • Over half (51% or 3,929 clients) of those who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were aged under 40. 
  • Over 1 in 8 (12% or 916) clients who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were aged over 60 (Figure CLIENTS 2, tables SC.2-4).

Figure CLIENTS 2: Proportion of clients by client type, sex, and age group, 2013–14 to 2022–23

The butterfly bar chart shows that, among all clients, the most common age group for both male and female clients in 2022–23 was 30–39 (27.3% of males and 26.1% of females), followed by 20–29 (23.2% of males and 22.8% of females). A filter allows the user to view data for all clients, clients seeking treatment for their own drug use, or clients seeking treatment for someone else’s drug use. Buttons allow the user to navigate to bar charts presenting trend data disaggregated by sex, age group and client type. 

Profile of new and returning clients

AOD use is often complex and clients accessing AOD treatment services may return to receive further support and treatment over one or more years to achieve their goals. In 2022–23:

  • Nationally, over half (54% or 70,602) of all clients had previously received AOD treatment from a service at some point since 2013–14 when client reporting was enabled (see Key terminology and glossary). This proportion of returning clients ranged from 60% (or 2,073) in the Australian Capital Territory to 50% (or 18,145) in Queensland. Of these clients:
    • Over 3 in 5 of returning clients were male (63% or 44,511).
    • Over half (55% or 38,977) were aged 30–49.
    • Almost all received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use (95% or 67,268).
  • Over 2 in 5 (46% or 60,914) clients had not previously received treatment since 2013–14 (see Key terminology and glossary) (Table SCR.28). This proportion of new clients ranged from 50% in Queensland to 40% in the Australian Capital Territory. Of these clients:
    • 3 in 5 (61% or 37,451 clients) of new clients were aged under 40, with 1 in 7 (15% or 9,111 clients) aged 10–19.  
    • Over half (56% or 33,881) of new clients were male.
  • Nearly 3 in 5 clients (57% or 4,458) who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were new clients (Figure CLIENTS 3, Table SCR.28).

Figure CLIENTS 3: Number and proportion of new and returning clients by sex, client type and age group, 2022–23

The pie chart shows in 2022–23, most new and returning clients were male (55.6% and 63.0% respectively) and most new and returning clients sought treatment for their own drug use (92.7% and 95.3% respectively). The bar chart displays in 2022–23, the most common age groups for new clients were 20–29 (23.5%) followed by 30–39 (23.0%). The most common age groups for returning clients were 30–39 (30.7%) followed by 40–49 (24.5%). A filter allows users to toggle between measures of per cent and number of clients.

Clients and drugs of concern

AOD treatment services provide treatment for the drug that is of most concern to the client, which is referred to as their principal drug of concern. 

Different age groups received treatment for different principal drugs of concern. For people who received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use in 2022–23:

  • Alcohol was the most common principal drug of concern in the older age groups: just under two-thirds of people aged 50–59 (63%) and over three-quarters of people aged 60 and over (77%) received treatment for alcohol as a principal drug of concern.
  • Amphetamines were the most common principal drug of concern for those aged 30–39 and 40–49 (32% and 25%, respectively).  
  • Cannabis was the most common principal drug of concern in younger clients, for almost 2 in 3 people aged 10–19 (64%), 1 in 3 people aged 20–29 (30%), and 13% of people aged 30–39. 

Figure CLIENTS 4: Clients who received treatment for their own drug use, by age group and principal drug of concern, 2013–14 to 2022–23 

The stacked horizontal bar chart shows that the most common principal drug of concern (PDOC) differed with age in 2022–23. Cannabis was the most common PDOC for clients aged 10–19 (64.4% of clients) or 20–29 (29.9%). Amphetamines was the most common PDOC for clients aged 30–39 (32.3%), and alcohol was the most common principal drug of concern among clients aged 40–49 (48.2% of clients), 50–59 (62.5%) or 60+ (76.6%). A filter allows the user to view different years of data.

The age and sex profiles of the clients varied by principal drug of concern. For people who received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use in 2022–23 (123,744):

  • For clients who received treatment where heroin (5,573) was the principal drug of concern, the majority (83%) were aged 30 and over (32% were aged 30–39 and 33% were aged 40–49) (Table SC.10).
  • Over half (56%) of all people receiving treatment for codeine (247) as the principal drug of concern were female.
  • For clients who received treatment for cocaine (1,564) as a principal drug of concern, males were nearly 6 times (83%) more likely to receive treatment for cocaine than females (12%) (Table SC.9).
  • Nearly 7 in 10 (68%) clients receiving treatment for volatile solvents (226) as a principal drug of concern were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people (Table SC.11).

Usual accommodation type for client

The collection of information about a person’s usual type of accommodation where they lived prior to the start of their AOD treatment enables AOD services to identify people who may be vulnerable, such as those from custodial settings or people at risk of homelessness. This information may help identify people living in a public place or experiencing homelessness, supporting the ‘no exit to homelessness’ policy where agencies can only discharge a client to safe, stable housing (Department of Social Services 2020).

Usual accommodation type for the client prior to treatment is reported for selected jurisdictions: New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. As data quality improves additional jurisdictional data will be reported. The following analysis therefore includes 59% of all treatment episodes (139,037) nationally (Figure CLIENTS 5, Table OV.13). 

In 2022–23, treatment episodes reporting the usual accommodation type for AOD clients from selected states and territories revealed: 

  • The most common accommodation prior to the start of treatment was independent residential accommodation (e.g., private residence, boarding house, private hotel or informal housing) which ranged from 45% in the Northern Territory to 90% in Western Australia.
  • The Northern Territory reported the highest proportion of episodes with usual accommodation types as custodial (prison/remand centre/youth training centre) (21%) and supported independent living (18%).
  • South Australia reported the highest proportion of episodes with usual accommodation types as none/homeless/public place (10%) (Figure CLIENTS 5, Table OV.13).

Figure CLIENTS 5: Treatment episodes by client’s accommodation type prior to treatment service, selected states and territories, 2017–18 to 2022–23 

The stacked horizontal bar chart shows client accommodation type prior to treatment service for New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory in 2022–23. Independent residential accommodation was the most common accommodation type prior to treatment service across all included states/territories, ranging from 45.2% of clients in the Northern Territory to 89.6% in Western Australia. A filter allows the user to view different years of data.

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