Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia annual report

Alcohol: client demographics and treatment

In 2022–23, alcohol was reported as a drug of concern (either principal or additional) in almost half of all treatment episodes (49% or 105,451 episodes) (Table Drg.5).

Alcohol has remained the most common principal drug of concern (PDOC) since the beginning of the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Minimum Data Set (AODTS NMDS) in 2002–03. 

• Over 2 in 5 treatment episodes (43% or 92,417 episodes) were for alcohol as a principal drug of concern in 2022–23 (Table Drg.5). 
• Alcohol-related treatment episodes increased from 69,491 in 2013–14, to 92,417 in 2022–23. 
• The proportion of treatment episodes for alcohol in relation to all other drugs of concern fluctuated over time, falling from 40% in 2013–14 to 32% in 2015–16, before rising to 43% in 2022–23 (Table Drg.1).

In 2022–23, around 1 in 5 (21% or 19,502 episodes) alcohol-related treatment episodes reported at least one additional drug of concern (Table Drg.2).

The most common additional drugs of concern were cannabis (39% or 10,292 episodes), nicotine (27% or 7,182 episodes) and amphetamines (18% or 4,648 episodes) (Table Drg.3). Clients can nominate up to 5 additional drugs of concern: these drugs may not have been the subject of any treatment in the episode.

Figure ALCOHOL: Closed treatment episodes for own alcohol or drug use by alcohol as a principal drug of concern and top 5 additional drugs of concern, 2022–23

Note: Diagram presents the top 5 additional drugs of concern for a principal drug of concern. Totals do not add to 100%.

Client demographics

In 2022–23, 50,106 clients received treatment for their own use of alcohol as a principal drug of concern. Of these clients:

• 3 in 5 were male (60% of clients) (Table SC.9).
• 1 in 2 were aged either 30–39 (25% of clients) or 40–49 (26%) (Table SC.10). This was consistent for both males and females (Figure ALCOHOL 1).
• One in 6 were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people (16% of clients) (Table SC.11). This represents a crude rate of 1,270 First Nations clients per 100,000 people (crude rate) (Table SCR.26).

Figure ALCOHOL 1: Clients with alcohol as the principal drug of concern, by sex and age group, 2022–23

Treatment

In 2022–23, 92,417 treatment episodes were provided to clients for alcohol as the principal drug of concern (Table Drg.5). 

Among alcohol-related treatment episodes in 2022–23:

• The most common source of referral into treatment was self or family (41% or 37,667 episodes), followed by health services (37%) (Figure ALCOHOL 2, Table Drg.13). 
  • Across the 10 years to 2022–23, health service referrals increased while referral from the criminal justice system (diversion) fell.
• The most common main treatment type was counselling (33% or 30,491 episodes), followed by assessment only (23%) and withdrawal management (14%) (Figure ALCOHOL 2, Table Drg.18). 
  • Counselling, withdrawal management, and assessment only remained the most common treatment types across the 10 years to 2022–23, although the proportion of episodes for each treatment type varied over time.
• 2 in 3 episodes were provided in non-residential treatment settings (66% of episodes). A further 19% were provided in residential treatment settings and 5.6% were provided in outreach settings (Table Drg.20). 
• The median duration of treatment episodes was just under 4 weeks (27 days) (Table Drg.21). 
• Over 1 in 3 (36%) treatment episodes lasted 2–29 days, and 26% lasted 1–3 months (Table OV.12).
• Over 3 in 5 episodes ended with a planned completion (63% of episodes), while 19% ended unexpectedly (that is, the client ceased to participate against advice, without notice or due to non-compliance) (Figure ALCOHOL 2, Table Drg.19). 

Figure ALCOHOL 2: Treatment episodes with alcohol as the principal drug of concern, by main treatment type, reason for cessation or source of referral, 2013–14 to 2022–23