What we're doing about drugs
We develop plans and strategies, fund programs and research, and work with other organisations to help reduce the harmful effects of drugs in Australia.
Plans and strategies
Our 10-year National Drug Strategy guides all our work to prevent and reduce drug-related harm in Australia. There are several sub-strategies that focus on specific issues related to drugs.
- National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Drug Strategy 2014–2019
- National Alcohol and other Drug Workforce Development Strategy 2015–2018
- National Ice Action Strategy 2015
Research
We provide funding to research centres to make sure we have the data we need to make better decisions.
- National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA)
- National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC)
- National Drug Research Institute (NDRI)
- Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research (CYSAR)
- National Clinical Centre for Research of Emerging Drugs (NCCRED)
We also fund the Australian School Students Alcohol and Drug (ASSAD) survey. This survey is run every 3 years by Cancer Council Victoria’s Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer. Read the most recent survey report from 2017.
Initiatives and programs
Our initiatives and programs target different needs in the community.
- Alcohol and Other Drugs Hotline
- Alcohol and Other Drugs Knowledge Centre initiative
- ASSIST (Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test) initiative
- Local Drug Action Team Program initiative
- Positive Choices initiative
- Drug help campaign
Committees and groups
We participate in committees and groups that focus on preventing and reducing drug-related harm.
The Ministerial Drug and Alcohol Forum (MDAF) is responsible for overseeing work to develop, implement and monitor Australia's national drug policy framework.
Other work
Australia also cooperates with international organisations to combat drug abuse and trafficking.
- Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961
- Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1971
- United Nations Convention against illicit traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988
- World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control