Alcohol and other drug use in regional and remote Australia

In March 2019 the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) released a report entitled, “Alcohol and other drug use in regional and remote Australia: consumption, harms and access to treatment 2016–17”.  This report identifies trends and differences in alcohol and other drug use, harms and treatment; comparing major cities and regional and remote locations within Australia. The report highlights the following key points:

• The burden of drug and alcohol use increases with remoteness, with higher rates of clients seeking drug and alcohol treatment outside of major cities;
• Those accessing treatment outside of major cities travelled one hour or more to get to their AOD appointments;
• Levels of drug use were similar between remoteness areas, but the type of (illicit) substance used varied across regions.

Click here to read the full report “Alcohol and other drug use in regional and remote Australia: consumption, harms and access to treatment 2016–17”.