Australian Drug Trends 2025: Key Findings from the National Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) Interviews

By Sutherland R, Uporova J, Karlsson A, Palmer L, Tayeb H, Chrzanowska A, Chandrasena U, Price O, Bruno R, Dietze P, Lenton S, Salom C, Radke S, Curran J, Vella-Horne D, Wilson J, Daly C, Thomas N, Degenhardt L, Farrell M, & Peacock A

The IDRS comprises a sentinel sample of people who regularly inject illicit drugs, recruited via advertisements in needle syringe programs and other harm reduction services, as well as via peer referral, across each capital city of Australia. The results are not representative of all people who inject drugs, nor of use in the general population. Data were collected in 2025 from May-July. Since 2020, interviews were delivered face-toface as well as via telephone, to reduce risk of COVID-19 transmission; all interviews prior to 2020 were conducted face-to-face. This methodological change should be factored into all comparisons of data from the 2020-2025 samples relative to previous years.

Australian Drug Trends 2025: Key Findings from the National Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) Interviews. Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney; 2025