1. /
  2. Our work /
  3. Projects /
  4. Methamphetamine use in Melbourne and rural Victoria: the VMAX cohort study
Crystal Meth 500X800

Methamphetamine use in Melbourne and rural Victoria: the VMAX cohort study

Open to students

The VMAX cohort study follows more than 850 people who use methamphetamine recruited from metropolitan Melbourne and 3 regions of rural Victoria.

Methamphetamine use is a significant public health issue in Australia. It’s associated with a range of harms that increased significantly in line with:

  • major changes to the methamphetamine market
  • changes in the behaviour of people who use the drug.

There a few prospective studies of methamphetamine use in Australia. In 2016, we established the VMAX cohort study to determine patterns of methamphetamine use and harm in metropolitan and rural Victoria.

People in the study complete follow-up surveys once a year. They also consent to us linking administrative data obtained from health and social services to our cohort study data.

VMAX is part of a broader study called MIXMAX. This combines VMAX with SuperMIX—a study collecting data on injecting drug use over time—to form the largest active cohort study of people who use drugs in Australia.

About the study

As at November 2020, our sample looked like the following:

  • 77% were people who used methamphetamine via non-injecting means.
  • 39% were female.
  • Participants were recruited from Melbourne and three non-metropolitan Victorian regions.

For more information, read: A prospective cohort of people who use methamphetamine in Melbourne and non-metropolitan Victoria, Australia: Baseline characteristics and correlates of methamphetamine dependence

Our impact

VMAX data is used to determine the nature and extent of methamphetamine use and harm in Victoria. The data has been used to determine issues related to drug driving and service provision across Victoria.

Student opportunities

View 56 more

Social networks of people who use drugs

Help us understand the characteristics study participant social networks. Investigate the influence of these characteristics on drug-related risk behaviours and harms, including cessation from and relapse into drug use, and overdose.

Tobacco/nicotine harm reduction among people with a history of illicit drug use

Quantitative research including: 

  • analysis of trends in prevalence of daily tobacco use, quantity of cigarettes smoked daily, and/or vape use 
  • analysis of longitudinal changes in individual smoking behaviours 
  • estimation of incidence of tobacco-related chronic disease hospital admissions. 

Measuring risk and health outcomes among women who use drugs

Qualitative and quantitative research, including: 

  • conducting in-depth interviews with study participants to better understand their experiences as people who inject drugs 
  • analysis of longitudinal survey data, characterising and assessing its suitability to understand behavioural risk and health outcomes among women. 
Open to
  • Honours
  • Masters by research
Vacancies

2

Partners

Funding partners

  • Colonial Foundation Trust 
  • National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Grant IDs: 1148170, 2023690.

Collaborators

  • Monash Rural Health 
  • British Columbia Centre on Substance Use  
  • Curtin University 
  • Deakin University 
  • University of Bristol 
  • School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University
  • Kirby Institute 
  • UNSW Sydney 
  • Alfred Health 
  • Harm Reduction Victoria 
  • Royal Melbourne Hospital 

Project contacts

Main contacts

Professor Paul Dietze

Professor Paul Dietze

Program Director, Disease Elimination; Professor and Program Leader, National Drug Research Institute (NDRI)
View profile

Student supervisor contacts

Dr Rachel Sacks-Davis

Dr Rachel Sacks-Davis

Senior Research Fellow
View profile
Professor Paul Dietze

Professor Paul Dietze

Program Director, Disease Elimination; Professor and Program Leader, National Drug Research Institute (NDRI)
View profile
Associate Professor Peter Higgs

Associate Professor Peter Higgs

Principal Research Fellow; Honorary Associate Professor, Department of Public Health, La Trobe University
View profile
Dr Michael Curtis

Dr Michael Curtis

Postdoctoral Research Officer
View profile
Dr Anna Wilkinson

Dr Anna Wilkinson

Research Fellow
View profile
Associate Professor Peter Higgs

Associate Professor Peter Higgs

Principal Research Fellow; Honorary Associate Professor, Department of Public Health, La Trobe University
View profile

Project team

Professor Paul Dietze

Professor Paul Dietze

Program Director, Disease Elimination; Professor and Program Leader, National Drug Research Institute (NDRI)
View profile
Associate Professor Peter Higgs

Associate Professor Peter Higgs

Principal Research Fellow; Honorary Associate Professor, Department of Public Health, La Trobe University
View profile
Filip Djordjevic

Filip Djordjevic

Research Assistant
View profile
Zachary  Lloyd

Zachary Lloyd

Research Assistant
View profile
Rebekka (Bek) Petrovic

Rebekka (Bek) Petrovic

Research Assistant
View profile
Bianca Whiteside

Bianca Whiteside

PhD candidate; Research Assistant
View profile
Joanna Wilson

Joanna Wilson

Research Assistant
View profile
Dr Samantha Colledge-Frisby

Dr Samantha Colledge-Frisby

Honorary Postdoctoral Research Fellow
View profile
Dr Shelley Walker

Dr Shelley Walker

Adjunct Research Fellow
View profile
Dr Michael Curtis

Dr Michael Curtis

Postdoctoral Research Officer
View profile
Associate Professor Bernadette Ward

Associate Professor Bernadette Ward

Collaborator
Monash Rural Health
View profile
Dr Thomas Kerr

Dr Thomas Kerr

Collaborator
British Columbia Centre on Substance Use
View profile
Dr Jocelyn Jones

Dr Jocelyn Jones

Collaborator
Curtin University
View profile
Associate Professor Paul Agius

Associate Professor Paul Agius

Honorary Principal Research Fellow
View profile
Professor Lisa Maher

Professor Lisa Maher

Collaborator
Kirby Institute and UNSW Sydney
View profile
Associate Professor Andrew Stewardson

Associate Professor Andrew Stewardson

Infection Prevention and Healthcare Epidemiology
Alfred Health; Monash Univesity
View profile
Sione Crawford

Sione Crawford

Collaborator
Harm Reduction Australia
View profile
Associate Professor Nicholas  Clark

Associate Professor Nicholas Clark

Collaborator
Royal Melbourne Hospital
View profile
On this page