(Australian - heroin injection room run by nuns) "Nuns who run one of Australia's best known hospitals are to operate the country's first legal and medically supervised heroin injecting room after a radical overhaul of the drug laws in New South Wales. The 18 month trial will be administered by the Sisters of Charity, who also run Sydney's inner city St Vincent's Hospital.

"An estimated 50 000 visits a year by drug users are expected at the centre, which will be staffed by a medical supervisor, a registered nurse, and security staff. The controversial plan will include the provision of clean needles and syringes; users must supply their own drugs."

Australia - Data

(2008 - Australia - amphetamine use) "The prevalence of amphetamines use in New Zealand (2.1% among the population aged 16-64) in 2008 and Australia (2.7% among the population aged 15-64) in 2007 remains one of the highest in the world, though there are signs of a declining trend in recent years."

"In 2008, 21% of detainees across Australia had tested positive for methamphetamine – although this shows a decline from the previous year (27% in 2007) and the lowest positive test rate for methamphetamine since 1999."

"In Australia, the most commonly injected substances were also amphetaminesgroup
substances, where 67% of the injecting drug users interviewed had injected some form of methamphetamine in the preceding six months."

(2008 - Australia - cocaine seizures) "Cocaine seizures in Australia rose steadily over the period 2005-2008, from 87.5 kg in 2005 to 930 kg in 2008. With reference to the period 1 July 2007 – 30 June 2008, Australia⁸ mentioned the threat arising from trafficking and subsequent trans-shipment of cocaine from Canada, as well as the growth in trafficking through China (including Hong Kong). China has also reported a perceived increase in the use of cocaine in 2008."

(2008 - Australia - problematic cannabis use) "Treatment episodes where cannabis was the primary drug of concern increased in Australia by 34%, from 23,826 to 31,864 between 2002 and 2008 alone,¹⁴ despite a sharp decline in cannabis use among the general population.

"Possible explanations for the increasing trend in the problematic use of cannabis and cannabis-related harm include: increased consumption among older users reflecting dependence among those who have had a long history of use that was initiated at a relatively young age; and the increased availability of cheaper and possibly higher potency cannabis. Referrals from the criminal justice system do not seem to have had an influence on the increase in the numbers entering treatment in Australia.¹⁵"

(2007 - Australia - cannabis use) "In Australia, the annual prevalence of cannabis use has been declining since 1998, with an almost one fifth decline between 2004 and 2007. The major decline in cannabis use has been observed in the younger population (aged 14 to 19) from a prevalence of 34.6% in 1998 to 12.9% in 2007. In New Zealand, the annual prevalence of cannabis use fell from 20.4% in 2003 to 13.3% in 2006, to increase again in 2008 to 14.6%. The cannabis use prevalence was highest for men in the 18 – 24 age group and for women in the 16-17 and 18-24 year age groups.²²"

(2007 - Australia - ecstasy seizures) "Australian ‘ecstasy’ seizures fell drastically, from the record level of 2007 (1.97 mt) to 51.4 kg in 2008. The figure for 2007 includes a single extraordinarily large seizure of approximately 15 million tablets.20 However, the level in 2008 is low also in comparison with previous years. Over the period 2003-2006, ‘ecstasy’ seizures in Australia averaged 1.10 mt."

(2004 - Australia - alcohol use) "In 2004, around 84% of the population aged 14 years and over had consumed at least one full serve of alcohol in the last 12 months. People were most likely to drink either weekly (41%) or less than weekly (34%), and 9% of Australians consumed alcohol on a daily basis. People aged 60 years and over recorded the highest prevalence of daily drinking (17%).

"Overall, males were more likely to consume alcohol daily (12%) or weekly (48%) compared with females (6% and 35%). "The pattern of alcohol consumption by the Australian population has remained relatively unchanged over the period 1991 to 2004.

"Around one in three people (35%) aged 14 years and over consumed alcohol in a way that put themselves at increased risk of alcohol-related harm in the short term on at least one occasion in the last 12 months. One in ten Australians consumed alcohol at levels that are considered risky or high risk for alcohol-related harm in the long term."

(2004 - Australia - tobacco smoking) "Based on the results of the 2004 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS), 17% of the Australian population aged 14 years and over were daily smokers. Approximately one in four Australians (26%) were ex-smokers and just over half the population (53%) had never smoked.

"Overall, men were more likely than women to be smokers. In 2004, 19% of males were daily smokers, while 16% of females were daily smokers. People aged 20–29 years of age had the highest smoking rates, with 24% of this age group smoking daily.

"Smoking rates declined over the period 1991 to 2004. "During the 2003–04 financial year, the Australian Government collected over $5.6 billion in revenue from the importation and sale of tobacco products in Australia."

(2004 - Australia - illicit drug use) "Based on responses to the 2004 NDSHS, 38% of Australians aged 14 years and over had used any illicit drug at least once in their lifetime, and 15% had used any illicit drug at least once in the last 12 months.

"Marijuana/cannabis was the most common illicit drug used, with one in three persons having used it least once in their lifetime and 11% of the population having used it in the previous 12 months.

"Recent illicit drug use was most prevalent among persons aged between 18 and 29 years in 2004, with almost one in three people (31%) in this age bracket having used at least one illicit drug in the last 12 months. "

The proportion of the population who had used any illicit drug in the last 12 months fluctuated between 1991 and 2004, reaching a similar level in 2004 (15%) to the prevalence in 1993 (14%). While the proportion of people who had recently used marijuana/cannabis (11%) was the lowest seen in the 13-year period, the proportion using ecstasy (3%) was the highest prevalence for that substance in the same period.

"Ecstasy and related drugs were commonly used by 12–24-year-old Australians in 2004. The most prevalent drugs from this group were ecstasy and meth/amphetamines, with 7% of persons in this age group having used each substance in the last 12 months. In particular, the highest recent use of ecstasy (13%) and meth/amphetamines (11%) were reported by 20–24-year-olds."

(2003 - Australia - drug arrests and prisoners) "Marijuana/cannabis accounted for 72% of illicit drug arrests in 2003–04, compared with 12% of arrests related to amphetamine-type stimulants.

"In 2004, one in ten sentenced prisoners was imprisoned for drug-related offences. The most common drug-related offence for which people were imprisoned was dealing/trafficking drugs.

"Results based on the 2003 Drug Use Careers of Offenders (DUCO) study show that twothirds of female sentenced prisoners used an illicit drug in the 6 months prior to their arrest, while around 27% were classified in the study as dependent on alcohol and 55% were classified as dependent on drugs. Around two-thirds of female prisoners responding to the 2003 DUCO survey who were classified in the study as alcohol and/or drug dependent reported that they 'often' experienced a mental health condition while growing up."

(2003 - Australia - syringe exchange) "According to the annual Needle and Syringe Program (NSP) Survey, hepatitis C prevalence among people attending needle and syringe programs remained high over the period 1997 to 2003, with 57% of males and 61% of females testing positive to the hepatitis C virus antibody in 2003."

(2002 - Australia - tobacco and alcohol consumption) "The decline in smoking rates in Australia over the past three decades has resulted in Australia being ranked lowest of all countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in terms of the prevalence of daily smoking.

"In 2002, Australia ranked 23rd highest in the world in terms of per capita consumption of alcohol, with approximately 7 litres equivalent of pure alcohol consumed per person. This corresponded to an annual per capita consumption of approximately 92 litres of beer, 21 litres of wine and 1 litre of pure alcohol from spirits."

(1998 - Australia - social costs of drug use) "The National Drug Strategy (NDS), formerly the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse, was initiated in 1985 following a Special Premiers' Conference. From its inception the Strategy recognised the importance of a comprehensive, integrated approach to the harmful use of licit and illicit drugs and other substances. The aim is to achieve a balance between demand-reduction and supply-reduction measures to minimise the harmful effects of drugs in Australian society. The tangible social costs of drug use in Australia were estimated to be $18.3 billion or approximately 5.5% of gross domestic product in 1998–99 (Collins & Lapsley 2002)."

(1994-95 - Australia - syringe exchange) "An extensive network of needle and syringe programs (NSPs) has been established in Australia; in the financial year 1994-95, around 700 NSPs distributed six million syringes nationally and an additional four million were distributed through pharmacies. Early and vigorous implementation of harm reduction measures, such as methadone maintenance, peer-based education and NSPs, has successfully maintained low seroprevalence of HIV infection among people who inject drugs in Australia."

Australia - Law and Policy

Priority areas
"Building upon the previous National Drug Strategy, the following eight priorities are identified as specific areas for future action within the National Drug Strategy 2004–2009:

• prevention;
• reduction of supply;
• reduction of drug use and related harms;
• improved access to quality treatment;
• development of the workforce, organisations and systems;
• strengthened partnerships;
• implementation of the National Drug Strategy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Complementary Action Plan 2003–2006; and
• identification and response to emerging trends."

(Australia - drug policy)
Evidence-informed practice
"Wherever possible, all supply-reduction, demand-reduction and harm-reduction strategies should reflect practices that are informed by evidence derived from rigorous research, critical evaluation, (including assessment of the cost effectiveness of interventions), practitioner expertise and the needs and preferences of the individual client or consumer.

"The National Drug Strategy must continue to encourage innovation and leadership in the development of new approaches. An important goal, which is implicit in adopting this approach is to build (wherever possible) upon the evidence base, so that the impact of current approaches is well understood, the options for future actions are thoroughly explored, and the policy and program approaches adopted are influenced by this work."