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Here are some of the findings.
Risky alcohol consumption – and other behaviours in 2022-23
Alcohol remains the most commonly used drug in Australia, with about three in four people (77 per cent) reporting they consumed it in the previous 12 months.
Population estimates: Drug use behaviours of Australians aged 14 and over in 2022-23. Source: SBS News
According to National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines, revised in December 2020, drinking at “risky levels” involves more than 10 standard drinks a week or more than four standard drinks in a single day at least once a month.
Between 2019 and 2022-23, the proportion of people who drank at risky levels did not change substantially at a national level. In the last year, men were more likely to do so (39 per cent) compared to women (23 per cent) – though this proportion has been declining for several years.
Among other population estimates of behaviours in 2022-23, 2.5 million people recently used cannabis (in the previous 12 months), 1.8 million smoked daily, 1.5 million were currently using e-cigarettes and one million recently used cocaine.
Young people most likely to use e-cigarettes, as vaping triples
According to the survey, the proportion of people aged 14 and over who smoked daily has dropped from 24 per cent in 1991 to 8.3 per cent in 2022-23. The proportion who have never smoked continues to rise — from 49 per cent in 1991 to 65 per cent in 2022-23.
The proportion of surveyed Australians who smoked daily from 2001 to 2022-23, by age. Source: SBS News
Meanwhile, the use of e-cigarettes increased from 2.5 per cent in 2019 to 7.0 per cent in 2022-23. Around one in five people (19.8 per cent) aged 14 and over reported having used an e-cigarette at least once in their lifetime — up from 11.3 per cent in 2019.
This was most common among young people, with the use among those aged 18-24 increasing from 5.3 per cent in 2019 to 21 per cent in 2022-23.
The proportion of surveyed Australians who were current e-cigarette users, by age. Source: SBS News
“Half (49 per cent) of people aged 18–24 reported having tried an e-cigarette in their lifetime,” Phillips said.
Meanwhile, older age groups were most likely to smoke tobacco and the least likely to use e-cigarettes.
Daily e-cigarette use highest in areas of socioeconomic advantage
People in the lowest socioeconomic areas were about 3.3 times as likely to smoke daily as those in the highest socioeconomic areas in 2022-23 (13.4 per cent compared with 4.1 per cent).
The proportion of surveyed Australians who smoked daily, from 2001 to 2022-23, by socioeconomic area. Source: SBS News
But this is declining. The proportion who smoked tobacco daily in the lowest socioeconomic areas dropped from 18.1 per cent in 2019 to 13.4 per cent in 2022-23, from 13.7 to 11.1 per cent in the second lowest and from 10.7 to 8.3 per cent in the third lowest socioeconomic areas.
But in 2022-23, those living in the highest socioeconomic areas were the most likely to use them daily (4.1 per cent), while those living in the lowest socioeconomic areas were the least likely (2.8 per cent).
The proportion of surveyed Australians who were current e-cigarette users, by socioeconomic area. Source: SBS News
Illicit drug use on the rise among young females
However, Phillips noted an increase in illicit drug use in young women.
The recent use of illicit drugs among surveyed 18-24 year olds in 2019 and 2022-23, by gender. Source: SBS News
“Males have historically been more likely to use illicit drugs than females, however 2022–2023 was the first time since monitoring began that females aged 18–24 were as likely to use illicit drugs as males of the same age,” Phillips said.
To access free and confidential advice about alcohol and other drugs, phone the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015.
