1. /
  2. Our work /
  3. Projects /
  4. Victorian Drug Trends

Victorian Drug Trends

The Drugs Trends Program includes the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) and the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS). These are ongoing national surveillance systems designed to monitor trends in drug use and harms among key sentinel groups of people who use drugs; people who inject drugs (IDRS) an people who use ecstasy or other stimulants (EDRS).

Objective

Determine patterns of drug use and harms in sentinel samples of people who use drugs.

Timeline

2000–ongoing.

Approach

The Drug Trends projects involve annual surveys with samples of people who use drugs recruited from contacts with services or other means such as social media. We also collect secondary data on illicit drug use captured through routine databases such as hospitalisation databases.

Community impact

The Drug Trends program is one of the key sources of illicit drug use patterns and trends in Australia. It has played a major role in understanding the impacts of drug use and informing ongoing debate in the community about how best to respond to these.

Partners

Funding partners

Australian Government Department of Health through the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW

Collaborators

  • National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW
  • National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University
  • University of Tasmania
  • Institute for Social Sciences Research,University of Queensland

Project contacts

Professor Paul Dietze

Professor Paul Dietze

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

Associate Professor Paul Agius

Honorary Principal 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
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
On this page