4808.0 - Illicit Drug Use, Sources of Australian Data, 2001

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 28/11/2001

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Contents >> Appendix 1: Sources of data on illicit drug use

Introduction

This appendix is an alphabetic directory of the major sources of Australian data regarding the use of illicit drugs, covering both administrative collections
and surveys, as well as major reports and publications. It includes the responsible organisation and their contact details; the purpose of the collection or report; a description of the source and the data items held; the years for which data are available; and an indication of how data can be accessed.

Contents

A1.1	Australian Illicit Drug Report (AIDR)
A1.2	Australian Needle and Syringe Program (NSP) Survey
A1.3	Australian School Students Alcohol and Drugs Survey (ASSADS)
A1.4	Bettering the Evaluation and Care for Health (BEACH)
A1.5	Causes of Death collection (COD)
A1.6	Clients of Treatment Service Agencies (COTSA)
A1.7	Developmental Research for the National Illicit Drugs Campaign
A1.8	Drug Use Careers of Offenders (DUCO)
A1.9	Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA)
A1.10	Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS)
A1.11	Inquiry into Substance Abuse in Australian Communities
A1.12	Kids Help Line statistics
A1.13	Methadone client statistics
A1.14	National AIDS Registry
A1.15	National Coroners Information System (NCIS)
A1.16	National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS)
A1.17	National HIV Database
A1.18	National Homicide Monitoring Program
A1.19	National Hospital Morbidity Database
A1.20	National Minimum Data Set for Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services
A1.21	National Mortality Database
A1.22	National Police Custody Survey
A1.23	National Prisoner Census
A1.24	National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing of Adults (SMHWB)
A1.25	The social costs of drug abuse in Australia in 1988 and 1992

A1.1

Data source	Australian Illicit Drug Report (AIDR)
Organisation	Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence
Contact	Mark Geddes Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence GPO Box 1936 CANBERRA ACT 2601 Telephone: 02 6243 5666 Facsimile: 02 6247 5380 Email: mark.geddes@abci.gov.au
Purpose	To provide an overview of the illicit drug market in Australia, intended principally to inform police and law enforcement policy makers.
Description	Data are collected from police, customs, correctional services and forensic science laboratories, Directors of Public Prosecutions, drug and alcohol research institutes, and drug and alcohol treatment agencies at State and Territory level. Data are collated to give national information on trends in illicit drug use in Australia.
Data items held	Arrests by consumer/provider, sex, type of drug, age, seizures by number and quantity, customs detections, trends in trafficking methods, developments in countries where illicit drugs are cultivated and produced, detections of use and trafficking in prisons, purity and prices by State/Territory.
Geographic coverage	Australia
Frequency	Annual
Year(s) of reference	1991-1992 to 1999-2000
Selected outputs	Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence 2001, Australian Illicit Drug Report 1999-2000, ABCI, Canberra.

A1.2

Data source	Australian Needle and Syringe Program (NSP) Survey
Organisation	National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research; Collaboration of Australian Needle and Syringe Programs; St Vincent’s Alcohol and Drug Services, Sydney; National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre; Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research
Contact	Margaret MacDonald National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research 376 Victoria St DARLINGHURST NSW 2010 Telephone: 02 9332 4648 Facsimile: 02 9332 1837 Email: recept@nchecr.unsw.edu.au Internet: http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/nchecr
Purpose	To monitor HIV and HCV infection and related risk behaviours among people who inject drugs. To inform relevant policies and services.
Description	During a designated week each year, all clients at selected needle and syringe programs, representing all jurisdictions, are asked to complete a brief self-administered questionnaire and provide a finger-prick blood sample for HIV and HCV testing.
Data items held	Demographic items: gender, sexuality, age, language spoken at home by parents, country of birth, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification Injecting practices: Type of drug last injected; frequency of injecting in the past month and where this took place; needle sharing behaviour in the last month; treatment history; recent imprisonment; sexual activity in the past month; needle and syringe purchasing behaviour; hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV status; tattoo and body piercing activities.
Geographic coverage	Australia
Frequency	Annual
Year(s) of reference	1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
Selected outputs	1. MacDonald, M. A., Wodak, A. D., Dolan, K. A., van Beek, I., Cunningham P. H. & Kaldor, J. M. 2000, ‘Hepatitis C virus antibody prevalence among injecting drug users at selected needle and syringe programs in Australia, 1995-1997’, in Medical Journal of Australia, 2000, Vol.172, pp. 57-61. 2. National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research (Ed.) 2001, HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis & sexually transmissible infections in Australia Annual Surveillance Report 2001, NCHECR, University of New South Wales, Sydney. Available on the Internet http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/nchecr/surv_anrep.html 3. MacDonald, M., Wodak, A. D., Ali, R., Crofts, N., Cunningham, P. H., Dolan, K. A., Kelaher, M., Loxley, W. M., van Beek, I. & Kaldor, J. M., on behalf of the Collaboration of Australian Needle Exchanges 1997 ‘HIV prevalence and risk behaviour in needle exchange attenders: a national study’, in Medical Journal of Australia, 1997, vol. 166, pp. 237-240.

A1.3

Data source	Australian School Students Alcohol and Drugs Survey
Organisation	Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria (The surveys are a collaboration between State cancer councils, State health departments and the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care.)
Contact	David Hill Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria 1 Rathdowne St CARLTON VIC 3053 Telephone: 03 9635 5180 Facsimile: 03 9635 5380 Email: david.hill@accv.org.au
Purpose	Health policy development and monitoring. Note: the major focus of this survey has been smoking and alcohol use among secondary school students, and it is only since 1996 that questions about illicit drug use have also been included.
Description	Random selection of secondary schools, stratified by State and type of school; self-completion questionnaire answered anonymously by a randomly selected sample of students. There were 31,000 respondents aged 12-17 years in the 1996 survey.
Data items held	Drug-related behaviours, language spoken at home, sex, age, year/level and spending money. Individual States may ask questions on drug-related knowledge and attitudes.
Geographic coverage	Australia
Frequency	Triennial
Year(s) of reference	1996, 1999 (Although conducted every three years since 1984, it is only since 1996 that questions about illicit drug use have also been included.)
Selected outputs	Letcher, T. & White, V. 1999, Australian secondary students’ use of over-the-counter and illicit substances in 1996, National Drug Strategy Monograph Series No. 33, Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, Canberra. Available on the Internet http://www.health.gov.au/pubhlth/publicat/drugs.htm

A1.4

Data source	Bettering the Evaluation and Care for Health (BEACH)
Organisation	The General Practice Statistics and Classifications Unit, a collaborating unit of The University of Sydney and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Contact	Helena Britt or Stephanie Knox, General Practice Statistics and Classification Unit (GPSCU) University of Sydney Acacia House Westmead Hospital WESTMEAD NSW 2145 Telephone: 02 9845 8151 Facsimile: 02 9845 8155 Email: gpscu@fmrc.org.au Internet: http://www.fmrc.org.au
Purpose	To describe aspects of general practice
Description	Detailed information about 100 consecutive patients of a rolling sample of 1,000 general practitioners each year. Partly funded by pharmaceutical companies and by DHAC.
Data items held	Characteristics of the doctor, type of medical services provided, characteristics of the patient, reasons for their attendance, problems managed at these consultations, management techniques adopted by the doctor.
Geographic coverage	Australia
Frequency	Data collected continuously
Year(s) of reference	1998, 1999, 2000
Selected output	1. Britt, H., Miller, G. C., Charles, J., Knox, S., Sayer, G. P., Valenti, L., Henderson, J. & Kelly, Z. 2000, General practice activity in Australia 1999-2000, AIHW cat. no. GEP 5, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra. Available on the AIHW website: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/health.html 2. Data are available as a consultancy.

A1.5

Data source	Causes of Death collection (COD)
Organisation	Australian Bureau of Statistics
Contact	Peter Burke Health and Vitals Section Australian Bureau of Statistics GPO Box 9817 BRISBANE QLD 4001 Telephone: 07 3222 6069 Facsimile: 07 3222 6038 Email: client.services@abs.gov.au Internet: https://www.abs.gov.au
Purpose	Monitor the cause of all deaths in Australia
Description	Death certificates and coroner’s reports are used to code the cause of all deaths registered within each State and Territory.
Data items held	Date of death, cause of death (ICD), certification, post-mortem flag, sex, age, State of registration, usual State and SLA of residence, year of registration, occupation, birthplace, duration of Australian residence, marital status, date of marriage, age at marriage, duration of marriage, number of children. An Indigenous identifier has been progressively introduced since 1980.
Geographic coverage	Australia. Data are available for individual States and Territories, and smaller area data may be available.
Frequency	Data released annually
Year(s) of reference	1964-1999
Selected outputs	1. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2000, Deaths, 1999, Cat. no. 3302.0, ABS, Canberra. 2. Data are available as a consultancy.
Note	Causes of death are classified according to ICD-9 (International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision) from 1979 to 1998; ICD-10 (10th revision) was introduced for deaths registered from 1999. To provide comparability, 1997 and 1998 were coded in both ICD-9 and ICD-10. With the introduction of the Automated Coding System, from the calendar year 1997, not only is the underlying cause of death coded but also any contributory causes which are mentioned on the death certificate and coroners' reports.

A1.6

Data source	Clients of Treatment Service Agencies (COTSA)
Organisation	National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre
Contact	Fiona Shand National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre University of New South Wales SYDNEY NSW 2052 Telephone: 02 9385 0333 Facsimile: 02 9385 0222 Email: fionas@unsw.edu.au Internet: http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/ndarc
Purpose	Monitor the changes of characteristics of people using drug and alcohol treatment services
Description	One-day census of clients (both users and friends/relatives of users) of all drug and alcohol treatment agencies across Australia. Agencies were asked to complete a survey form giving some details about each client seen that day. Data are not collected on methadone dosing. The 1995 dataset comprises data for 5,212 clients from 458 agencies.
Data items held	Service provided, principal drug problem, drugs injected during the past 12 months, age, sex, country of birth, language spoken at home, employment status, usual residential postcode
Geographic coverage	Australia
Frequency	Irregular
Year(s) of reference	1990, 1992, 1995, 2001
Selected outputs	1. Torres, M.I., Mattick, R. P., Chen, R. & Baillie, A. 1995, Clients of Treatment Service Agencies: March 1995 Census Findings. Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health, Canberra. 2. Records from the surveys are available by application to the Social Science Data Archives at the Australian National University

A1.7

Data source	Developmental Research for the National Illicit Drugs Campaign
Organisation	Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care
Contact	Department of Health and Aged Care GPO Box 9848 SYDNEY NSW 2001 Telephone: 02 9263 3548 Email: sue.bertram@health.gov.au Internet: http://www.drugs.health.gov.au
Purpose	To inform the development of a community education and information campaign on illicit drugs.
Description	The first, qualitative stage of this study involved 15 focus groups with parents and 65 in-depth interviews with parents and other members of the community. The second, quantitative stage of the research involved a national telephone survey of 1,004 parents of children aged 12-17 years. It aimed to determine the extent to which the emerging key issues and relevant knowledge, attitudes and behaviours identified in the qualitative phase were representative of a wider population.
Data items held	Demographics of the household members; whether parent smokes, drinks or has tried marijuana; whether respondents considered illegal drug taking to be a problem; the degree to which each drug (including alcohol and tobacco) was considered dangerous; their attitude to their teenage child using drugs; whether they thought it likely their child would be offered specific drugs and whether their child would accept the drug; whether it is the parent's responsibility to inform themselves about illegal drugs; who should take primary responsibility for providing children with information and advice on illegal drugs; if they are confident of their ability to prevent their child from experiencing harm from using illegal drugs; reasons which prevent parents from discussing drugs with children; what would be useful to assist parents
Geographic coverage	The qualitative phase was conducted mainly in Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Dubbo (NSW) and Renmark (SA). The quantitative interviews were conducted nationally.
Frequency	Once only
Year(s) of reference	1998
Selected outputs	Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care 1999, Research Report on Developmental Research for a Community Education and Information Campaign on Illicit Drugs, DHAC, Population Health Division, Research and Marketing Group, Canberra.
Note	Funded by the National Illicit Drug Strategy.

A1.8

Data source	Drug Use Careers of Offenders (DUCO)
Organisation	Australian Institute of Criminology
Contact	Ms Ibolya Losoncz Project Officer Australian Institute of Criminology GPO Box 2944 CANBERRA ACT 2601 Telephone: 02 6260 9281 Facsimile: 02 6260 9201 Email: Ibolya.Losoncz@aic.gov.au Internet: http://www.aic.gov.au
Purpose	To provide data on drug use among offenders, criminal activities of offenders, access to treatment of offenders and the illicit drugs market.
Description	The project will target three populations over three years: adult male inmates in the first year, adult female inmates in the second year and juvenile inmates in the final year. Data will be collected from correctional administrative records, cross-validated with face-to-face interviews with persons who have been incarcerated.
Data items held	Self-reported illicit drug use, self-reported data on offending patterns, information on illicit drug markets and costs associated with drug-related criminal behaviour.
Geographic coverage	In each year, the aim is to obtain random samples from prisons in each State and Territory. In 2001, samples of male prisoners were obtained from prisons in Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia and Tasmania.
Frequency	Each of the three different populations are to be surveyed once only
Year(s) of reference	2001, 2002, 2003
Selected outputs	Commencing in late 2001, monographs, annual reports and journal articles. Forthcoming papers from the study will be made available on the AIC website http://www.aic.gov.au/research/drugs/research/duco.html
Note	Funded by the National Illicit Drug Strategy.

A1.9

Data source	Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA)
Organisation	Australian Institute of Criminology
Contact	Dr Toni Makkai Australian Institute of Criminology GPO Box 2944 CANBERRA ACT 2601 Telephone: 02 6260 9231 Facsimile: 02 6260 9201 Email: DUMA@aic.gov.au Internet: http://www.aic.gov.au
Purpose	To measure recent drug use among those people detained by police.
Description	Police detainees at four designated sites in three jurisdictions (Southport, Qld; East Perth, WA; Bankstown and Parramatta, NSW) are recruited to answer questionnaires and give urine samples, aimed at gathering information on drug use and crime. In 2000 there were 2,121 detainees interviewed.
Data items held	Offender characteristics: sex and age of detainees, previous arrest/prison history, education status, type of housing, source of income, mental illness and gambling behaviour. Drug use: positive urine test results (amphetamines, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, opiates, multiple drugs, and any drug other than cannabis), previous drug use history, age at first use, treatment history. Offence information: type of offence (violent, property, drugs, traffic, disorder, warrants, other)
Geographic coverage	Southport, Qld; East Perth, WA; Bankstown and Parramatta, NSW
Frequency	Quarterly
Year(s) of reference	1999-2003
Selected outputs	1. Makkai, T. & McGregor, K. 2001, Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA): 2000 Annual Report on Drug Use Among Police Detainees, Research and Public Policy Series No. 37, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra. 2. Other publications are available on the Internet http://www.aic.gov.au/research/duma.html
Note	Funded by the National Illicit Drug Strategy, with 2002-03 extension funding from the Commonwealth Attorney General's Department. Affiliated with the International Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program, DUMA is designed to ensure comparability of methodology and data across countries.

A1.10

Data source	Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS)
Organisation	Coordinated by National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, research conducted by a variety of centres.
Contact	Dr Libby Topp National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre University of New South Wales SYDNEY NSW 2052 Telephone: 02 9385 0333 Facsimile: 02 9385 0222 Email: l.topp@unsw.edu.au Internet: http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/ndarc/idrs
Purpose	Monitor emergent trends in drug use and markets
Description	There are three components to the IDRS, used for supplementary data and convergent validation: personal interviews with injecting drug users and party drug users (910 respondents in 2000), telephone interviews with key informants (29-60 respondents from each capital city in 2000), and analysis of existing drug-related indicator data (all States).
Data items held	User survey: demographics; drug use patterns; price, purity and availability of drugs; criminal activity; risk-taking behaviour; general health status Informant survey: drug use patterns; drug availability; criminal behaviour; and health issues Other data sources include telephone advisory services; drug price, purity and availability data from the ABCI; household surveys (1997 National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being of Adults and the 1998 National Drug Strategy Household Survey); Australian Needle and Syringe Program Surveys; National Hospital Morbidity Database; and National Mortality Database.
Geographic coverage	1996: Sydney 1997, 1998: Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide 1999, 2000: Data on all capital cities, although injecting drug user survey only in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide 2001: All capital cities except Darwin
Frequency	Annual
Year(s) of reference	1996-2001
Selected outputs	1. An annual national report is published. Topp, L., Darke, S., Bruno, R., Fry, C., Hargreaves, K., Humeniuk, R., McAllister, R., O'Reilly, B., Williams, P. 2001, Australian Drug Trends 2000: Findings from the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS), NDARC Monograph No. 47, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney. A summary of information in the report is available on the Internet http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/ndarc/publications/monograph47.htm 2. Annual reports for each State and Territory are available, giving detailed information on drug trends in the capital city. 3. A short hardcopy Drug Trends Bulletin is sent quarterly to those on a mailing list.

A1.11

Data source	Inquiry into Substance Abuse in Australian Communities
Organisation	House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs
Contact	Committee Secretary Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs House of Representatives Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600 Telephone: 02 6277 4566 Facsimile: 02 6277 4844 Email: fca.reps@aph.gov.au Internet: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/fca
Purpose	To investigate how much of an impact both legal and illegal drugs have on our society and what the social and economic costs are to the community. The inquiry will focus on how drug abuse affects: family relationships; crime, violence (including domestic violence), and law enforcement; road trauma; workplace safety and productivity; and health care costs.
Description	The committee has invited anyone who has been affected by legal or illegal drug abuse to contact them. It has provided for written submissions to be made and has received oral evidence from hearings held throughout Australia during 2000 and 2001.
Data items held	Submissions to this enquiry have been received from individuals and organisations. Although confidentiality may be requested, if the committee accepts the submission, it may authorise its publication.
Geographic coverage	Australia
Frequency	Once only
Selected outputs	1. Many of the submissions received are available on the website http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/fca, or as bound hardcopies. 2. An interim report was tabled with parliament in October 2001.

A1.12

Data source	Kids Help Line statistics
Contact	Ian Thomas Information and Publications Officer Kids Help Line PO Box 376 RED HILL QLD 4059 Telephone: 07 3369 1588 Facsimile: 07 3367 1266 Email: admin@kidshelp.com.au Internet: http://www.kidshelp.com.au
Purpose	Kids Help Line provides a confidential counselling service to young people. Data are made available to assist with research into youth problems and needs throughout Australia.
Description	Counselling services are provided by telephone, email and the web (live-on-line private chat).
Data items held	State of residence, sex, age, drug type if caller ventures the information, severity of calls (inquiry, extent of use such as frequent/habitual drug use, experimental/occasional drug use, urgent intervention required or concern about friend or family member), outcome of call (whether crisis response, counsellor referred caller to appropriate services and if referral was accepted or refused, no referral required or no appropriate service available).
Geographic coverage	Australia
Frequency	Annual
Year(s) of reference	National data available from 1994
Selected outputs	1. A report on drug use is available on the Internet http://www.kidshelp.com.au/INFO13/DrugUse.htm 2. Data are available as a consultancy.

A1.13

Data source	Methadone client statistics
Organisation	Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care
Contact	Policy Officer, Illicit Drugs Section - MDP 27 Department of Health and Aged Care GPO Box 9848 CANBERRA ACT 2601 Telephone: 02 6289 1555 Facsimile: 02 6281 6946 Email: phd.frontdesk@health.gov.au Internet: http://www.health.gov.au
Purpose	For general monitoring purposes
Description	The States and Territories provide their local data to DHAC in October each year. It is collated and provided back to the members of the Methadone and Other Treatment Subcommittee in November.
Data items held	Number of clients registered with public and private prescribers and correctional institutions in each State or Territory; number of clients collecting doses at pharmacies, public clinics, private clinics, correctional facilities or other facilities in each State or Territory. Prior to 1999, only client numbers in public clinics and private clinics in each State or Territory.
Geographic coverage	Australia
Frequency	Annual
Year(s) of reference	Numbers of methadone clients have been collected since 1986. The type of data collected has varied in detail over this period of time. The latest data available are for the financial year 1999-2000.

A1.14

Data source	National AIDS Registry
Organisation	National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research
Contact	Head of Epidemiology National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research 376 Victoria St DARLINGHURST NSW 2010 Telephone: 02 9332 4648 Facsimile: 02 9332 1837 Email: recept@nchecr.unsw.edu.au Internet: http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/nchecr
Purpose	Describe the pattern of advanced HIV infection in Australia
Description	AIDS is a notifiable condition in all health jurisdictions in Australia. AIDS cases are notified by the diagnosing doctor through State/Territory health authorities to the national HIV surveillance centre.
Data items held	State/Territory of AIDS diagnosis, sex, date of birth, country of birth, Indigenous status, date of AIDS diagnosis, AIDS defining illness, CD4+ cell count at AIDS diagnosis, date of first HIV diagnosis and source of exposure to HIV.
Geographic coverage	Australia
Frequency	Continuous
Year(s) of reference	1982 onwards
Selected outputs	1. National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis & sexually transmissible infections in Australia Annual Surveillance Report. (issued annually by the National Centre of HIV in Epidemiology and Clinical Research, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW.) Available on the Internet http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/nchecr/surv_anrep.html 2. National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Australian HIV Surveillance Report. (issued quarterly by the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW.) Available on the Internet http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/nchecr/surv_quartrep.html

A1.15

Data source	National Coroners Information System (NCIS)
Organisation	Monash University National Centre for Coronial Information
Contact	Project Manager Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine 57-83 Kavanagh St SOUTHBANK VIC 3006 Telephone: 03 9684 4414 Facsimile: 03 9682 7353 Email: ncis@vifp.monash.edu.au Internet: http://www.vifp.monash.edu.au/ncis
Purpose	Tool for coroners and researchers in the public health and safety area, to be used in the investigation of unusual or premature deaths and to provide information on deaths and injury prevention.
Description	A central collection of coronial records from all States and Territories with the exception of Queensland. Any coronial record in which drugs are mentioned will become a part of the drugs module.
Data items held	Toxicology reports, autopsy reports, coroner’s findings and a narrative of events obtained from police reports to coroners.
Geographic coverage	All States and Territories with the exception of Queensland
Frequency	Daily updates
Year(s) of reference	Commenced 1 July 2000
Note	Access is restricted to coronial death investigation users and researchers approved by the MUNCCI Research Committee (MRC) and the Standing Committee on Ethics in Research Involving Humans (SCERH) - Monash University. State coronial ethics committees may also be involved in applications for access.

A1.16

Data source	National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) (previously known as the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse Social Issues Survey)
Organisation	Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (1998 and 2001), Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care (all previous surveys)
Contact	Mark Cooper-Stanbury Data and Information Services Unit Australian Institute of Health and Welfare GPO Box 570 CANBERRA ACT 2601 Telephone: 02 6289 7027 Facsimile: 02 6889 8483 Email: mark.cooper-stanbury@aihw.gov.au Internet: http://www.aihw.gov.au
Purpose	Monitoring the public’s experience of and attitude toward drug use
Description	Personal interview and self-completed questionnaire of random and targeted (youngest) persons aged 14 or more in a random sample of households, nation-wide. In 1999 there were over 10,000 respondents. It is anticipated there will be approximately 20,000 respondents in the 2001 survey. A supplementary sample of urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples was also included in 1994.
Data items held	Sociodemographic items include sex, age, marital status, education, country of birth, languages spoken, income, employment status Many data items regarding alcohol and other drug-related attitudes, awareness, knowledge and behaviours have been collected. For each drug, respondents are asked about their age of first use, place of use, where the drug was obtained, prevalence of use among friends, days lost from work or education because of drug use and health problems experienced. Questions have enquired about people's perceptions of problems associated with drug use, and their attitudes towards changes to regulations related to the use of drugs and treatments available.
Geographic coverage	Australia
Frequency	Triennial (approximately)
Year(s) of reference	1985, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2001
Selected outputs	1. Adhikari, P. and Summerill, A. 2000, 1998 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: Detailed findings, AIHW Cat. no. PHE 27 (Drug Statistics Series No. 6), Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra. Fitzsimmons, G. & Cooper-Stanbury, M. 2000, 1998 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: State and Territory results, AIHW Cat. no. PHE 26 (Drug Statistics Series No. 5), Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra. These publications, plus others giving detailed information on drug trends in specific States and Territories, are available on the AIHW website http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/health.html 2. Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health 1994, National Drug Strategy Household Survey: Urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Supplement, 1994, Looking Glass Press, Canberra. Available on the Internet http://www.health.gov.au/pubhlth 3. Records from the surveys are available by application to the Social Science Data Archives at the Australian National University.

A1.17

Data source	National HIV Database
Organisation	National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research
Contact	Head of Epidemiology National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research 376 Victoria St DARLINGHURST NSW 2010 Telephone: 02 9332 4648 Facsimile: 02 9332 1837 Email: recept@nchecr.unsw.edu.au Internet: http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/nchecr
Purpose	Describe the pattern of newly diagnosed HIV infection in Australia
Description	HIV is a notifiable condition in all health jurisdictions in Australia. New diagnoses of HIV infection are notified by the diagnosing doctor or laboratory through State/Territory health authorities to the national HIV surveillance centre.
Data items held	State/Territory of HIV diagnosis, sex, date of birth, Indigenous status, country of birth, date of HIV diagnosis, CD4+ cell count and source of exposure to HIV.
Geographic coverage	Australia
Frequency	Continuous
Year(s) of reference	1985 onwards
Selected outputs	1. National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis & sexually transmissible infections in Australia Annual Surveillance Report. (issued annually by the National Centre of HIV in Epidemiology and Clinical Research, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW.) Available on the Internet http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/nchecr/surv_anrep.html 2. National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Australian HIV Surveillance Report. (issued quarterly by the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW.) Available on the Internet http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/nchecr/surv_quartrep.html

A1.18

Data source	National Homicide Monitoring Program
Organisation	Australian Institute of Criminology
Contact	Jenny Mouzos Research Analyst - Manager National Homicide Monitoring program Australian Institute of Criminology GPO Box 2944 CANBERRA ACT 2601 Telephone: 02 6260 9250 Facsimile: 02 6260 9201 Email: Jenny.Mouzos@aic.gov.au Internet: http://www.aic.gov.au
Purpose	Monitoring of trends and patterns in the incidence of homicide across all Australian jurisdictions
Description	Data are collected primarily from police records and coronial files, supplemented by information from individual investigating officers. Information from police records is available to determine whether the offender had consumed alcohol or used illicit/prescription drugs at the time of the homicide incident. Coronial toxicology reports have been used since 1996-97 to identify whether the victim had consumed alcohol or used illicit/prescription drugs at the time of the homicide incident.
Data items held	Type of drug used by the offender, offender demographics (from police records). Type of drug used by the victim, victim demographics (from coronial records). Many additional data items are also held regarding the circumstances of the incident, such as alleged motive (including drug dealing), location of incident, the status of the investigation, primary weapon used (including injection of a drug) and victim-offender relationship.
Geographic coverage	All Australian States and Territories
Frequency	Annual
Year(s) of reference	1989-90 to 1999-2000.
Selected outputs	Mouzos, J. 2000, Homicidal Encounters: A study of Homicide in Australia 1989-1999, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra. Mouzos, J. 2001, ‘Homicide in Australia 1999-2000’, in Trends and issues in crime and criminal justice No. 187,Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra. These publications are available on the AIC website http://www.aic.gov.au/research/hmonitor/index.html

A1.19

Data source	National Hospital Morbidity Database
Organisation	Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Contact	Jenny Hargreaves Australian Institute of Health and Welfare GPO Box 570 CANBERRA ACT 2601 Telephone: 02 6244 1121 Email: jenny.hargreaves@aihw.gov.au Internet: http://www.aihw.gov.au
Purpose	Health monitoring, health service use analysis
Description	Data from the separation records of almost all hospitals, both private and public.
Data items held	Establishment data: State or Territory of hospital; sector (public or private); rural, remote and metropolitan area classification and other characteristics of the hospital; accessibility/remoteness index classification of the hospital. Demographic data of patient sex; date of birth; age; country of birth; indigenous status; state and local area of residence (SLA, Statistical Subdivision, Statistical Division, rural, remote and metropolitan area classification of patient’s residence.). Administrative data: accommodation status (the account category of the patient); compensable status (entitlement to claim compensation for the episode of care). Length of stay data: admission and discharge dates; leave dates. Clinical and related data: principal diagnosis; additional diagnoses; procedures; type of episode of care;diagnosis related group; admission weight (neonates); referral source; external cause of injury and poisoning; major diagnostic category; mode of separation.
Geographic coverage	Australia. Data are available for individual States and Territories, and smaller area data may be available.
Frequency	Data are released annually (financial year).
Year(s) of reference	1993-94 to 1999-2000
Selected outputs	1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2001, Australian Hospital Statistics 1999-2000, AIHW Cat. no. HSE 14, (Health Services Series No. 17), AIHW, Canberra. Available on the AIHW website http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/health.html 2. Data are available as a consultancy.
Note	Data are available on the number of hospital episodes and the number of hospital bed days related to the principal diagnosis and up to 30 additional diagnoses. Diagnoses are coded according to ICD-9-CM (International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification) used from 1993-94 and ICD-10-AM (ICD 10th Revision, Australian Modified) introduced from 1998-99.

A1.20

Data source	National Minimum Data Set for Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services
Organisation	Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Contact	Dr Bradley Grant Australian Institute of Health and Welfare GPO Box 570 CANBERRA ACT 2601 Telephone: 02 6244 1152 Facsimile: 02 6244 1299 Email: bradley.grant@aihw.gov.au Internet: http://www.aihw.gov.au
Purpose	To provide nationally consistent data from drug and alcohol treatment service providers
Description	Client data are collected when they are initially registered with the service provider. Financial year data are annually forwarded to State and Territory health authorities who forward it to AIHW. Client names are not collected, however, each client is assigned a unique person identifier within a treatment agency, allowing non-identifiable unit record data to be collated.
Data items held	Establishment data: geographic location, type of service provider, establishment identifier, person identifier, client type. Patient data: sex, date of birth, country of birth, Indigenous status, preferred language, commencement date, source of referral, principal drug of concern, method of use, other drugs of concern, injecting drug use. Note: Additional data items have been included for 2001-02.
Geographic coverage	Australia
Frequency	Annual (financial year)
Year(s) of reference	2000-2001 will be the first year.
Selected outputs	1. First data will be published by AIHW late in 2002. 2. Grant, B. & Petrie, M. 2001, Alcohol and other drug treatment services,: Development of a National Minimum Data Set, AIHW Cat. no. HSE 12, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra. 3. Conroy, A. & Copeland, J. 1998, National Minimum Data Set Project for Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services: report on the pilot study and recommended set of data definitions, Technical Report No. 65, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney.

A1.21

Data source	National Mortality Database
Organisation	Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Contact	Mr John Harding Australian Institute of Health and Welfare GPO Box 570 CANBERRA ACT 2601 Telephone: 02 6244 1140 Facsimile: 02 6244 1044 Email: john.harding@aihw.gov.au Internet: http://www.aihw.gov.au
Purpose	Monitor the cause of all deaths in Australia
Description	A collection of the unit record files from the Causes of Death collection, updated annually. Contains information about the cause of all deaths registered within each State and Territory.
Data items held	Date of death, cause of death (ICD), certification, post-mortem flag, sex, age, State of registration, usual State and SLA of residence, year of registration, occupation, birthplace, duration of Australian residence, marital status, date of marriage, age at marriage, duration of marriage, number of children. From 1980: Indigenous identifier, place of marriage, registration district, registration number.
Geographic coverage	Australia. Data are available for individual States and Territories, and smaller area data may be available.
Frequency	Data are released annually.
Year(s) of reference	1964-1999
Selected outputs	1. Higgins, K., Cooper-Stanbury, M. & Williams, P. 2000, Statistics on drug use in Australia 1998, AIHW Cat. no. PHE 16, (Drug Statistics Series No. 2), Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra. 2. Data are available as a consultancy.
Note	Causes of death are classified according to ICD-9 (International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision) up to 1998. ICD-10 has been used from 1999. Commencing from the calendar year 1997, not only is the underlying cause of death coded but also any contributory causes which are mentioned on the death certificates and coroners’ reports.

A1.22

Data source	National Police Custody Survey
Organisation	Australian Institute of Criminology (1992 and 1995), Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1988)
Contact	Carlos Carcach Australian Institute of Criminology GPO Box 2944 CANBERRA ACT 2601 Telephone: 02 6260 9245 Facsimile: 02 6260 9218 Email: Carlos.Carcach@aic.gov.au Internet: http://www.aic.gov.au
Purpose	To provide information on the extent and nature of police custody in Australia.
Description	A census of all detainees lodged in police cells during August 1995. Statistics are derived from information collected and recorded by police officers at the station level within each State and Territory.
Data items held	Detainee's name, age, gender, Indigenous status; name and postcode of police station or watchhouse; date and time when the person was lodged in cells, reason for being lodged in cells, most serious offence, date and time when the person was released from cells, reason for release from police cells, and whether or not the person was still in police cells at the end of the survey period
Geographic coverage	Australia
Year(s) of reference	August 1988, August 1992, August 1995
Selected outputs	Carcach, C. & McDonald, D. 1997, National Police Custody Survey August 1995, Research and Public Policy Series No. 9, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra. Available on the Internet http://www.aic.gov.au/publications

A1.23

Data source	National Prisoner Census
Organisation	Australian Bureau of Statistics (1994 to present), Australian Institute of Criminology (1972 to 1993)
Contact	Australian Bureau of Statistics National Centre for Crime and Justice Statistics GPO Box 2796Y MELBOURNE VIC 3001 Telephone: 03 9615 7362 Facsimile: 03 9615 7372 Email: crime.justice@abs.gov.au Internet: https://www.abs.gov.au
Purpose	To provide information on all adult prisoners who were in custody on 30 June each year.
Description	A census of all prisoners held in all gazetted adult prisons in Australia as at midnight on 30 June each year. Statistics are derived from information collected and recorded by corrective service agencies within each State and Territory.
Data items held	Number of prisoners, most serious offence, age, sex, Indigenous status, expected time to serve, aggregated sentence, country of birth, prison location, marital status, employment status, known prior imprisonment, date received, referral status, level of court, State, security, legal status, type of sentence, earliest release, breach, period at large
Geographic coverage	Australia
Frequency	Annual
Year(s) of reference	1972-2000
Selected outputs	Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001, Prisoners in Australia, 2000, Cat. no. 4517.0, ABS, Canberra.

A1.24

Data source	National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing of Adults (SMHWB)
Organisation	Australian Bureau of Statistics
Contact	Josie Barac Australian Bureau of Statistics Health Section PO Box 10 BELCONNEN ACT 2616 Telephone: 02 6252 6415 Facsimile: 02 6252 8007 Email: josie.barac@abs.gov.au Internet: https://www.abs.gov.au
Purpose	Determine the prevalence of common mental disorders in the population
Description	Personal interview of random persons aged 18+ in households. Approximately 10,600 people participated in the survey.
Data items held	Physical conditions, ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders, DSM-IV classification of mental disorders, personality disorders screener, psychosis screener, disability scores, health service utilisation, perceived health needs, days out of role; age, sex, country of birth, year of arrival, number of times married, marital status, number of children, age when children born, language usually spoken at home, education, labour force status, occupation, main source of income, dwelling tenure type, household type, part of State, SEIFA index
Geographic coverage	Australia
Frequency	Once only
Year(s) of reference	1997
Selected outputs	1. Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998, Mental Health and Wellbeing: Profile of Adults, Australia 1997, Cat. no. 4326.0, ABS, Canberra. 2. Data are available from the ABS as a consultancy. 3. Hall, W., Teesson, M., Lynskey, M. & Degenhardt, L. 1998, The Prevalence in the Past Year of Substance Use and ICD-10 Substance Use Disorders in Australian Adults: Findings from the National Survey of Mental Health and Well-being, NDARC Technical Report No. 63, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney. 4. The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) have produced a number of Technical Reports and articles which give relevant information gained from this survey. Details of these publications are available on the NDARC website http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/ndarc
Note	Respondents who had used any class of drug at least five times in the 12 months before the survey were asked detailed questions about any impact of drug taking on their day-to-day lives. The responses were scored according to both ICD-10 and DSM-IV Diagnoses of Harmful Use or Drug Dependency.

A1.25

Publication	The social costs of drug abuse in Australia in 1988 and 1992
Authors	David Collins and Helen Lapsley
Reference	Collins, D. J. & Lapsley, H. M. 1996, The social costs of drug abuse in Australia in 1988 and 1992, National Drug Strategy Monograph Series No. 30, Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health, Canberra.
Purpose	To estimate the dollar costs of drug abuse in Australia on individuals, business and government.
Description	The authors estimate the social costs attributable to tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug use, including health costs, loss of production and loss of life. They calculate government budgetary funding impacts and the impact of drug costs on individuals and business. Costs include hospital bed-day costs, resource costs of addictive consumption, education, research and law enforcement. Methodology and data are updated from the earlier paper mentioned below.
Related publications	Collins, D. J. & Lapsley, H. M. 1991, Estimating the economic costs of drug abuse in Australia, National Campaign Against Drug Abuse Monograph Series No. 15, Commonwealth Department of Community Services and Health, Canberra.