Latest information and statistics on Illicit drugs

Illicit drug use describes the use of drugs that are illegal to possess (e.g., cannabis, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine), and the non-medical use of prescribed drugs such as painkillers [48572]. Illicit drug use is associated with an increased risk of mental illness, poisoning, self-harm, infection with blood borne viruses from unsafe injection practices, chronic disease and death [22491][32052][35898].

Extent of illicit drug use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Surveys consistently show that most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people report they do not use illicit drugs [31728][39231][48574]. The two most recent national surveys to collect this data, the 2018-19 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS) and the 2022-2023 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS), found that 70% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over (NATSIHS) and 72% aged 14 years and over (NDSHS) reported either they had never used illicit drugs or had not used illicit drugs in the last 12 months (Derived from [48574])[39231].

The 2018-19 NATSIHS found that 28% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over reported using illicit drugs in the last 12 months [39231]. Similar proportions were reported in the 2022-2023 NDSHS, which found 28% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 14 years and over reported using illicit drugs in the last 12 months [48574].

The 2018-19 NATSIHS found that cannabis (marijuana, hashish or cannabis resin) was the most commonly used illicit drug, used by 24% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the previous 12 months [39231]. Slightly lower proportions were found in the NDSHS, which reported 17% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander respondents used cannabis in the last 12 months [48574]. The NATSIHS reported that, after cannabis, the most commonly used illicit drugs were ‘other drugs’ (5.9%), analgesics and sedatives for non-medical use (3.8%), amphetamines, ice or speed (3.3%) and ecstasy or designer drugs (3.3%) (Figure 2) [39231].

Figure 2. Proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who reported illicit drug use in the last 12 months, 2018-19

Notes:

1. Marijuana, hashish or cannabis resin.
2. ‘Other’ includes heroin, cocaine, petrol, LSD/synthetic hallucinogens, naturally occurring hallucinogens, kava, methadone and other inhalants.
3. Analgesics and sedatives for non-medical use.
4. Amphetamines, ice or speed.
5. Ecstasy or designer drugs.

Source: ABS, 2019 [39231]

In 2018-19, a greater proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males reported having used an illicit drug in the previous 12 months compared with females (37% and 21% respectively) [39231]. The higher proportions of use by males were found for all drug types. Almost three times as many males as females had used amphetamines (5.0% compared with 1.8%), and almost twice as many males had used cannabis (31% compared with 18%). Use of illicit drugs in the previous 12 months was similar for people aged 15 years or over living in non-remote areas and remote areas in 2018-19 (29% and 27% respectively).

In 2022-23, 18% of clients who accessed treatment for their own alcohol and other drugs (AOD) use from general AOD treatment services were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 10 years and over [43453]. Of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients who accessed treatment, there was a greater proportion of males (59%) than females (38%)[1]. After alcohol, the most common principal drugs of concern that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people sought treatment for were amphetamines (25% of clients), cannabis (23% of clients) and heroin (5.2% of clients). The greatest proportion of clients who accessed treatment among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were in the 30-39 years age-group (30%), followed by the 20-29 years age-group (28%), 40-49 years age-group (19%), 10-19 years age-group (12%), 50-59 years age-group (8.7%), and 60 years and over age-group (2.3%).

By jurisdiction, the highest proportions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients who accessed treatment for their own AOD use in 2022-23 were in the NT (72% of clients), followed by WA (22%), NSW (20%), Qld (19%), SA (17%), Tas and the ACT (both 13%) and Vic (9.8%) [43453].

Use of amphetamines is associated with risky behaviour such as injecting drug use [34107]. A 2023 report on the Needle Syringe Program (NSP) found that stimulants and hallucinogens (mainly methamphetamine) were the most commonly injected drugs reported by attendees of NSPs [49308]. Of the people attending NSPs in 2023, 22% identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

Hospitalisation

In 2018-19, the most common drug-related conditions resulting in hospitalisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were ‘poisoning’ and ‘mental and behavioural disorders’ [42032]. The crude hospitalisation rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from poisoning due to drug use was 3.0 per 1,000 population and for mental and behavioural disorders due to drug use 4.7 per 1,000. In 2017-19, the leading drugs of concern that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were hospitalised for (based on principal diagnosis) were methamphetamines (1.9 per 1,000), followed by cannabinoids (1.1 per 1,000), and antidepressants and antipsychotics (0.9 per 1,000) [42101].

By jurisdiction, the highest crude rates of hospitalisation related to drug use (based on principal diagnosis) among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in 2017-19 were in SA (11 per 1,000), followed by the ACT (9.8 per 1,000), WA (8.2 per 1,000), Vic (8.0 per 1,000), NSW (7.8 per 1,000), Qld (6.8 per 1,000), the NT (4.9 per 1,000) and Tas (3.2 per 1,000) [42101].

For 2017-19, crude hospitalisation rates related to drug use were higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in non-remote areas (7.7 per 1,000) compared with remote areas (4.3 per 1,000) [42101].

Mortality

In 2018, 224 deaths (6.2% of all deaths) among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were attributed to illicit drug use [44827]. In the period 2017-2021, there were 536 unintentional drug-induced deaths among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people [47731]. In the same five year period, aggregated data for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in NSW, Qld, WA, SA and the NT showed that the leading drug types involved in unintentional drug-induced deaths were opioids (involved in 49% of deaths), followed by stimulants (involved in 44% of deaths) and benzodiazepines (involved in 27% of deaths).

In 2014-2018, age-standardised rates of drug-induced deaths were higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males (17 per 100,000) than for females (11 per 100,000) [42032]. For the same period, SA recorded the highest age-standardised rate of drug-induced deaths for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (20 per 100,000), followed by NSW (18 per 100,000) and WA (17 per 100,000).

Burden of disease

Illicit drug use was the fourth leading risk factor contributing to the burden of disease among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in 2018 [44827]. It contributed to 6.9% of the total burden and was responsible for 5.1% of non-fatal burden and 8.9% of fatal burden. Among the different illicit drug types, the greatest contributors to the burden were opioids (2.2%), amphetamines (1.9%), and cannabis (1.6%). Illicit drug use contributed to the total burden of disease for multiple disease groups, particularly injuries (28%), gastrointestinal (16%), and mental disorders (12%).

Between the sexes, illicit drug use consistently contributed more to the burden of disease among males than females [44827]. This was seen across age-groups, with illicit drug use contributing to 14% of disease burden among males aged 15-24 years compared with 11% among females in the same age-group; 16% and 9.5% of burden respectively among males and females aged 25-44 years; and 5.4% of burden for males aged 45-64 years (illicit drug use did not appear in the top 10 causes of disease burden for females in this age-group).

Illicit drug use was the second leading risk factor causing total burden among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15-24 years and 25-44 years (13% of total DALY among both age-groups) [44827].

[1] Indigenous status not stated or another term (2.9%).