Indicators of Drug Use – Planit Aerth

The concept of an indicator of drug abuse is that it can potentially “provide comparable, scientifically based estimates of the extent of the more severe patterns of drug use that cannot be reliably measured by surveys. This information is useful for assessing treatment needs, and offers a realistic basis for estimating the social costs of drug problems, for example drug-related crime.” Source: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction

The recognition for a national approach to have statistical data to generate information and provide reporting concerning alcohol and other drugs was one of the outcomes from the Special Premiers’ Conference on Drugs held in Canberra in April 1985, convened by the then Prime Minister Bob Hawke, that resulted in the establishment of the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NCADA).

Note: In 1993 the NCADA was renamed and expanded after reviews in 1988 and 1991, to become the National Drug Strategy (NDS). Subsequent NDS strategic frameworks in 2004, 2010 and 2017 continued the essential concept of harm minimisation underpinned by three complementary pillars of demand reduction, supply reduction and harm reduction.

One outcome of the NCADA was Commonwealth funded the establishment of the Western Australian Drug Data Collection Unit (WADDCU) which in 1988 commenced the publication of series of reports – Indicators of drug abuse.

The WADDCU was located in the Epidemiology Branch of the Health Department of WA (HDWA) until June 1994, when Commonwealth funding ceased and it was absorbed into the Epidemiology Branch of the HDWA. (Similar units were established in the other States & Territories.)

In June 2002 the National Illicit Drug Indicators Project (NIDIP) was established at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) which is located the University of New South Wales.

The NIDIP will develop a range of epidemiological data to measure trends over time in drug-related harms, to complement other Australian monitoring systems, to improve the understanding of and to systematically track changes in drug-related harms for both illicit and prescription drugs. The other Australian monitoring systems include the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) and the Ecstasy and related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS).

The operation of the NIDIP is a recognition for a greater need for the regular dissemination of trends in the epidemiology of drug-related harms in Australia. It will also have the potential to provide comparable monitoring at an international level, to meet the need for evidence based decision making in order to respond effectively to drug-related problems, particularly given the transborder issues associated with global drug trafficking.

The recognition of a national and internationally comparable approach to illicit drug-related surveillance and monitoring is highlighted through a number of countries with illicit drug data collections in place (e.g. the Community Epidemiology Working Group on Illicit Drugs (CEWG) in the U.S. and the European Union European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)) as well as international efforts to coordinate global drug trends.

The NIDIP publishes annual reports on drug-induced deaths and drug-related hospitalisations on the NDARC website. It also produces comprehensive analyses of trends in drug use and related harms over time, utilising a range of data sources for peer-reviewed journal articles, to provide a thorough overview of trends in drug use and associated harms in Australia.

A series of reports were produced by the WADDCU and subsequently by the Epidemiology Branch of the HDWA between 1988 and 1995. There were changes in titles, depending on whether data was narrowly defined as concerned with indicators of illicit drug abuse, or to meet broader policy perspective that encompassed the use and/or abuse of both licit and illicit drugs.

The scope of indicator reports expanded over time and contained a spectrum of indicators, such as drug-related mortality, morbidity, attendances at hospital emergency departments, arrest, conviction & imprisonment data, notifications of drug addiction, distribution of needles and syringes, drug-related telephone calls, utilisation of treatment services and alcohol sales and consumption.

Indicators of drug use: 1981 – 1995

Hayward L. (1988)
Indicators of illicit drug abuse in Western Australia 1981 – 1987. Perth, WA Drug Data Collection Unit, Epidemiology and Research Branch, Health Department of Western Australia, 1988. [PDF 885k]

Hayward L. (1989)
Indicators of illicit drug abuse in Western Australia 1981 – 1988. Perth, WA Drug Data Collection Unit, Epidemiology and Research Branch, Health Department of Western Australia, 1989. [PDF 903k]

Swensen G. (1991)
Indicators of illicit drug use in Western Australia, 1981-1989. Perth, WA Drug Data Collection Unit, Epidemiology and Research Branch, Health Department of Western Australia, 1991. [PDF 2.8MB]

Swensen G. (1993)
Indicators of drug abuse in Western Australia, 1981-1990. Perth, WA Drug Data Collection Unit, Epidemiology and Research Branch, Health Department of Western Australia, 1991. [PDF 5.8MB]

Swensen G & Unwin E (1995)
Indicators of drug abuse in Western Australia, 1982-1992. Perth, Epidemiology Branch, Health Department of Western Australia, 1995. [PDF 8MB]

Volume 2 of the Task Force on Drug Abuse
Note: Indicators of drug abuse up to the year 1995 were published in 1995 in Volume 2 of the Task Force on Drug Abuse’s 3 volume set of reports.

Click here to view or download a [PDF 1.6MB] copy of Volume 2 of the Task Force on Drug Abuse.

Indicator data in Volume 2 covered the following broad areas –

Chapter 5: Law enforcement data – Charges for drug offences (1985-1994), drug seizures (1985-1994), convictions for drug offences (1985-1993) & imprisonment (1982-1992)
Chapter 6: Injecting drug use – Notifications of registered addicts (1982-1994), HIV notifications (1983-1994) & distribution of needles & syringes
Chapter 7: Prevalence surveys of drug use by young people
Chapter 8: Treatment services – Participation in methadone treatment, Court Diversion Service (1988-1994), sobering up centres (1990-1994), attendances at residential treatment programs (2988-1994) & alcohol & drug related telephone calls (1986-1994)
Chapter 9: Prevalence surveys, alcohol sales (1986/1987-1993/1994), per capita alcohol consumption (1967/1968-1993/1994), hospitalisation due to alcohol-related injuries (1981-1992), admissions for alcohol related illness (1982-1992), alcohol related mental illnesses (1982-1993) alcohol related mortality (1982-1993),
Chapter 10: Tobacco
Chapter 11: Other drugs – Cannabis, opiates, psychostimulants, volatile substances, designer drugs & pharmaceutical drugs

Indicators of drug use: 2001

A set of updated indicator reports were produced in 2001 in conjunction with the Community Drug Summit held in mid 2001.

Swensen, G. (2001)
Indicators of drug abuse in Western Australia. (November 2001) [PDF 5.6MB]

Swensen, G. (2001)
Indicators of drug abuse: Australia vs other countries. (September 2001) [PDF 329k]

Swensen, G. (2001)
Use of illicit drugs: West Australian adults, 1998 (November 2001) [PDF 467k]

Swensen, G. (2001)
Illicit drugs in Western Australia: Facts & figures. (Working paper prepared for Community Drug Summit) (June 2001) [PDF 1.8MB]

Swensen, G. (2001)
Illicit drugs in Western Australia: Services & strategies. (Working paper prepared by WADASO for Community Drug Summit) (June 2001) [PDF 70k]

Indicators of amphetamine use: 2007

Indicators of drug abuse: Amphetamine type stimulants, Western Australia [969k]