Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2011-12

This report presents information on treatment episodes provided by publicly funded treatment services for alcohol and other drug use.SummaryPublicly funded alcohol and other drug treatment services are available to people seeking treatment for their own drug use and people seeking treatment for someone else\u27s drug use. This report presents data on alcohol and other drug treatment agencies and the episodes of treatment they provide. A total of 659 alcohol and other drug treatment agencies provided 153,668 episodes that were closed in 2011-12. While the number of agencies decreased slightly from 2010-11, the number of closed episodes increased by 2%.Most treatment was provided to clients for their own drug use Of the treatment episodes closed in 2011-12, nearly all (96%) were for clients receiving treatment for their own drug use. Around two-thirds (68%) of these episodes were for male clients, while the reverse was true for episodes provided for someone else\u27s drug use (63% of these were for female clients). Episodes for someone else\u27s drug use tended to be longer than those for the client\u27s own drug use. More than one-third (35%) of episodes for someone else\u27s drug use lasted 1-3 months, while over half (53%) of episodes for the client\u27s own drug use ended within 1 month.Alcohol was the most common principal drug of concern As in previous years, alcohol was the most common principal drug of concern (46%), followed by cannabis (22%), amphetamines (11%) and heroin (9%). Alcohol was the most common principal drug of concern in all states and territories, while cannabis was the second most common principal drug in all states and territories except South Australia, where amphetamines were more common. In 4 out of 5 (81%) closed episodes, the client reported additional drugs of concern. Of these, 34% reported 1 additional drug and 24% reported 2. Nicotine (21%) was the second most common additional drug after cannabis (22%), but it was the principal drug for only 1% of episodes.Counselling was the most common type of treatment Counselling was a main or additional treatment type in almost half (49%) of the episodes closed in 2011-12, and it was the main treatment type in 43% of episodes. Withdrawal management and assessment only were also common treatment types: withdrawal management was a treatment type in 18% of episodes and the main treatment type in 17%, while assessment only, which can only be a main treatment type, was the main treatment type in 14% of episodes. Alcohol was the most common principal drug for most treatment types, although cannabis (50%) was the most common principal drug in episodes with a main treatment type of information and education only (this is most likely due to the use of this treatment type in episodes where the client has been diverted from the criminal justice system for minor drug offences)