For 30 years, Drug Trends has monitored trends in drug markets, use, and health impacts in Australia. Central to this work is a commitment to triangulation, bringing together multiple data sources to build a robust picture of current and emerging issues.

As Drug Trends marks its 30-year anniversary, we are launching a new bulletin series, Trends in Drug Markets, Use and Health Impacts in Australia, to build on this approach. The series will combine Drug Trends with other, publicly available, data sources, situating these within a broader national and global context.

Each bulletin will focus on a specific drug of current interest, presenting a concise, visual and accessible synthesis of evidence. By drawing together diverse indicators, the aim is to provide clear insights into how markets, use and health impacts are evolving, and where there may be emerging pressures on policy, health and treatment systems.

The series will release bulletins periodically, with scope to incorporate additional indicators over time as new data become available.

We are starting with cocaine, reflecting sustained high levels of use in Australia and internationally, alongside increasing concern about associated harms. Future bulletins will focus primarily on established drug markets, where multiple data sources can be meaningfully integrated, while retaining flexibility to examine novel substances where sufficient data become available.

This series is intended for policymakers, health and community services, researchers, and others seeking clear, evidence-informed insights into Australia’s evolving drug landscape. We are always keen to collaborate and improve, so if you have any feedback, drugs you’d like us to focus on, or data you’d like to share, we’d love to hear from you!

You can contact us at drugtrends@unsw.edu.au.

Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS)

The IDRS is a national illicit drug monitoring system intended to identify emerging trends of local and national concern in illicit drug markets. The IDRS consists of annual interviews across all Australian jurisdictions with people who inject drugs (PWID), as well as analysis and examination of indicator data sources related to illicit drugs. The IDRS is designed to be sensitive to trends, providing data in a timely manner, rather than describing issues in detail.

Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS)

The EDRS is a national monitoring system for ecstasy and related drugs that is intended to identify emerging trends of local and national interest in the markets for these drugs. The EDRS is based on the IDRS methodology and consists of interviews with people who regularly use ecstasy and other stimulant, as well as analysis and examination of indicator data sources related to ecstasy and other related drugs. EDRS is designed to be sensitive to trends, providing data in a timely manner, rather than describing issues in extensive detail.

National Illicit Drug Indicators Project (NIDIP)

The NIDIP was established in the recognition that there was a greater need for the regular dissemination of trends in the epidemiology of drug-related harms in Australia. It was also established to provide comparable monitoring at an international level as there is increasing recognition among international organisations and countries of the need for evidence based decision making in order to respond effectively to drug-related problems, particularly given the transborder issues associated with global drug trafficking. The recognition of a national and internationally comparable approach to illicit drug-related surveillance and monitoring is highlighted through a number of countries with illicit drug data collections in place as well as international efforts to coordinate global drug trends. The benefits of NIDIP then, include the enhanced dissemination of information on trends in harms related to opioid and psychostimulant use and use of prescription drugs, and a greater evidence base for the development of policy responses and interventions in relation to these harms. NIDIP also provides comparable monitoring of trends at an international level.

Drugs and New Technologies (DNeT)

The DNeT project aims to investigate drug marketplaces online and in other emerging technologies. It aims to assess and quantify the online availability of drugs, including both traditional and new psychoactive substances. This is accomplished by active monitoring of marketplaces on the ‘dark web’, i.e. those accessibly only by specially routed connections (e.g. The Onion Router), such as the Silk Road. It also aims to monitor new drugs, as well as internet forum discussions of these drugs. Findings are then placed within the context of other available indicators, such as the EDRS, to assess the impact of online availability on the Australian drug market.