Australia

Australia is a stable, multicultural, and democratic society with a strong economy, and a population of 21 million (2008). The federal government determines the national approach to illicit drugs, but services and programs are implemented at a state level. Since 1985 Australia has had a documented strategy addressing alcohol and illicit drugs.

The first of these, the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse (1985–98) set out the basic principles for Australia's drug policy approach, and these have been subsequently followed in later Australian national drug strategies. There are five main features to Australia's approach to drug policy: (1) harm minimization, (2) comprehensiveness, (3) partnerships, (4) balance, and (5) evidence-based policy and a commitment to evaluation.

Data from household surveys conducted every three years and from surveys of targeted populations such as injecting drug users provides information about Australia's rate of drug use. Cannabis is the most commonly “tried” and “ever used” drug in Australia, as in all other Western nations, with around 33 percent of Australians having consumed cannabis at some point in their lives.

The use of cannabis has been declining in Australia since 1998. Amphetamine-type stimulants are the second most commonly used illicit drug in Australia after cannabis. Methamphetamine is usually sold as “speed” (powder), “base,” “crystal” (ice), or tablets. Recent use of methamphetamine [Page 76]appears to have remained stable since the early 1990s in the general population (ranging between 2.0 percent and 3.7 percent, at its peak in 1998). Heroin is used by a very small proportion of the population (1 percent).

Australia has not had a significant human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) epidemic associated with injecting drug use, largely due to the introduction of needle syringe programs in 1985 (only 4–5 percent of all HIV/AIDS cases are attributable to injecting drug use). The prevalence of HIV antibody in a survey of attendees at needle and syringe programs has remained stable at 1.0 to 1.5 percent since 2003. The prevalence of hepatitis C in a needle and syringe program survey has remained stable at 60 percent since 2003.

Treatment for drug dependency is widely available in Australia and includes all main treatment types: pharmacotherapy maintenance, drug withdrawal (detoxification), therapeutic communities, counseling and relapse prevention, and self-help programs. The most commonly provided treatment is methadone or buprenorphine maintenance for heroin dependence. In terms of law enforcement, approximately 70,000 drug users are arrested each in year in Australia (charged with use/possess offenses). The vast majority of these arrests result in community sentences, rather than incarceration. This compares to approximately 17,000 arrests for dealing in drugs per annum.