The State of Recovery in Australia: Key Statistics & Insights (2025)

Australia faces a significant and measurable addiction challenge — yet the gap between those who need support and those who receive it remains wide. This page compiles the most current Australian data on alcohol and drug use, treatment access, and the recovery landscape, drawing exclusively from national sources including the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and peer-reviewed Australian research.

How Many Australians Are Affected?

According to the 2022–2023 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS), published by the AIHW, 69% of Australians aged 14 and over consumed alcohol in the previous 12 months. More concerning is that 31% drink above NHMRC guidelines — a figure barely changed from 33% in 2016, suggesting that risky drinking has become deeply normalised across the population.

Illicit drug use is also rising. 1 in 5 Australians (20.4%) aged 14 and older reported illicit drug use in the previous 12 months, up from 18.4% in 2013–14 (AIHW, NDSHS). Cannabis remains the most common illegal drug, with 2.5 million Australians reporting recent use. Cocaine use climbed from 900,000 people (4%) to 1 million Australians (5%) between 2019 and 2022–2023, while hallucinogen use rose from 300,000 (1%) to 500,000 people (2%) over the same period (AIHW, NDSHS 2024).

Young adults are at particular risk. In 2022–2023, 35% of both males and females aged 18–24 reported recent illicit drug use (Alcohol and Drug Foundation / AIHW, 2024). Among teenage females, the proportion at high risk of harm from cannabis more than doubled — from around 1.8% to 4.8% — between 2019 and 2022–2023 (Alcohol and Drug Foundation / AIHW, 2024). Even among 14–17 year olds, 3 in 10 (31%) consumed alcohol in the past 12 months (AIHW, NDSHS / National Preventative Health Strategy 2021–2030).

The Burden on Australian Society

The cumulative toll is substantial. Tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs together account for 14% of Australia’s total burden of disease (AIHW, Australian Burden of Disease Study 2024). Alcohol alone ranks as the sixth highest risk factor for disease and injury in Australia, responsible for 4.1% of the nation’s total burden of disease (AIHW, Australian Burden of Disease Study 2024). These figures place substance use disorders firmly among Australia’s most pressing public health priorities.

The Treatment Gap: Australia’s Quiet Crisis

Perhaps the most urgent story in this data is not how many people use substances — it is how few receive meaningful support. Research published in the Drug and Alcohol Review (Ritter & O’Reilly, 2025, Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs) estimates that between 752,812 and 1,291,119 Australians met criteria for a substance use disorder in 2023. Yet only 30–48% of those who would seek and benefit from AOD treatment are actually accessing it.

Put simply: an estimated 500,000 Australians missed out on AOD treatment in 2023 (Alcohol and Drug Foundation, citing Ritter & O’Reilly, 2025). For people specifically dealing with methamphetamine use disorder, the gap is even starker — only 25–54% received treatment in 2022–2023 (Drug and Alcohol Review, 2025).

Young adults are heavily represented in those seeking help. In 2024–25, more than 1 in 5 (21%) AOD treatment clients were aged 20–29, while 7.7% were aged 10–19 (AIHW, Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia: early insights, 2026). Among young people aged 10–19 who did receive treatment, cannabis was the primary drug of concern for 60%, followed by alcohol (15%) and amphetamines (7.8%) (AIHW, 2025).

Where the System Falls Short — and Where Coaching Fills the Gap

The data above reveals a system under strain. Clinical services, while essential, cannot reach everyone — and for many Australians, the journey to stability happens outside formal treatment settings. The half-million people who missed out on support in 2023 did not simply have no options; many faced barriers including stigma, waitlists, cost, geographic access, and a preference for non-clinical, peer-based accountability.

This is precisely where structured, non-clinical recovery coaching plays a measurable role. Services like Redwood Recovery — operating across Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast — sit alongside (not instead of) clinical care. Recovery coaching provides consistent human accountability, practical life-skills support, and day-to-day guidance for people navigating change. It is not a medical treatment and makes no clinical claims. But for the hundreds of thousands of Australians sitting in the treatment gap, having a structured, consistent and experienced support person in their corner may be the difference between sustained momentum and isolation.

Australia’s recovery data tells a clear story: the need is large, the clinical system is stretched, and the space for structured non-clinical support has never been more relevant.

All statistics on this page are sourced from Australian national data. Sources include the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, and peer-reviewed research published in the Drug and Alcohol Review journal. This page will be updated as new national data becomes available. Redwood Recovery provides non-clinical recovery coaching services only and does not make medical or clinical claims.