The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) has released the latest findings from its National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program, revealing methylamphetamine and cocaine consumption increased to the highest levels recorded since 2020.
ACIC Acting CEO Matt Rippon said that this report underlines the pervasive and ongoing threat posed by serious and organised crime groups in Australia to illicit large profits at the expense of the Australian community.
“This reporting forms part of a multi-dimensional approach that targets supply, demand and harm reduction critical to reducing drug use in Australia.
“Drug consumption estimates derived from wastewater data, when used in combination with other data such as seizure, arrest, price, purity, health and availability data, provide the most comprehensive, empirically-based insights into Australian drug markets.
“In turn, these data reveal drug market resilience, but also points of vulnerability that present opportunities to inform harm reduction strategies that improve the safety of the Australian community,” Mr Rippon said.
Report 20 shows an increase in the average consumption of alcohol, methylamphetamine,
3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), oxycodone and ketamine in capital city and regional sites and decreases in the average consumption of heroin, 3,4-methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA) and fentanyl.
While cocaine receives a lot of attention, methylamphetamine is the drug which causes the most harm to the community in terms of related mental and physical health issues, property crime, offences involving violence and road trauma.
The ACIC remains committed to providing mission critical intelligence to domestic and international partners to disrupt and dismantle serious organised criminal networks who continue to supply illicit drugs to Australian markets.
Mr Rippon explained that the wastewater work extends far beyond this report, exploring new technology developed by our university partners to take sampling to an increasing variety of sites beyond wastewater treatment plants and to more remote areas of the country.
“With these advances applied to law enforcement, health and broader community harm reduction purposes, our work will generate greater understanding of emerging drug market issues and responses,” said Mr Rippon.
Report 20 presents data on Australia’s drug consumption of 12 substances, covering sampling from April and June 2023. Fifty-five wastewater sites were monitored nationally in April (20 capital city and 35 regional), covering a population of 14 million Australians, equating to approximately 55 per cent of our country’s population.
Read the full report on the ACIC website.
