Australia's overdose death rate has stopped declining and is now climbing again, driven by a sharp surge in stimulant-related deaths that are reshaping the nation's drug crisis. After years of steady progress, the country recorded 2,005 drug-induced deaths in 2024, a rate of 7.3 per 100,000 people, or roughly 5.5 lives lost every single day. The reversal marks a troubling shift in which cocaine and methamphetamine are becoming the primary drivers of overdose mortality, even as opioids remain the leading cause overall.

Why Are Stimulant Deaths Climbing So Rapidly?

The latest data from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at UNSW Sydney reveals a dramatic change in Australia's overdose landscape. Deaths involving amphetamine-type stimulants jumped 29%, while cocaine-related deaths surged by 40% between 2023 and 2024. These increases are outpacing the broader trend and reshaping which substances pose the greatest threat to public health.

The problem extends beyond fatal overdoses. Drug-related hospital admissions climbed to almost 57,000 in 2023 to 2024, a jump of 10.5% compared to the previous year. This growth rate is more than double the 4.1% increase seen across all hospital admissions during the same period, suggesting that stimulant-related harms are placing unprecedented pressure on emergency departments and intensive care units.

"Methamphetamine in particular remains a significant challenge for prevention, treatment and harm reduction, and should not be viewed as a problem of the past," noted Associate Professor Amy Peacock, deputy director of NDARC and lead of the Drug Trends programme.

Associate Professor Amy Peacock, Deputy Director, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at UNSW Sydney

Who Is Most Affected by These Rising Deaths?

The data reveals consistent patterns in who is most vulnerable to overdose. Men account for 66% of drug-induced deaths, continuing a long-standing gender gap in overdose mortality. People aged 20 to 29 and 30 to 39 made up the bulk of hospital admissions related to stimulant use, each accounting for 26% of cases. Mental and behavioral disorders linked to substance use accounted for 59% of hospitalizations, ahead of poisoning at 41%, highlighting the deep connection between mental health and addiction.

Polydrug use, in which people consume multiple substances simultaneously, featured in 73% of overdose deaths. This pattern underscores how rarely a fatal overdose involves just one substance. Additionally, researchers noted that a personal history of self-harm was a contributing factor in around one in eight deaths, a reminder that substance use and mental health crises often occur together.

How Can Communities and Health Systems Respond to This Crisis?

• Prevention and Early Intervention: Experts emphasize that the sooner authorities respond to changing patterns of drug-related harm, the greater the opportunity to prevent avoidable deaths and hospitalizations. Communities and schools should treat current data as a warning rather than a footnote and invest in prevention before numbers climb higher.
• Demand Reduction Programs: Rather than relying solely on crisis response, health systems should prioritize demand reduction strategies that address why people turn to stimulants in the first place, particularly for younger age groups most affected by these drugs.
• Mental Health Integration: Since mental and behavioral disorders are present in 59% of stimulant-related hospital cases, addiction treatment must be paired with robust mental health support to address the underlying vulnerabilities that drive substance use.
• Harm Reduction Services: Facilities that provide medical supervision and connect users with treatment referrals remain part of the response, though their effectiveness continues to be debated in some regions.

The window for action is narrowing. As stimulant-related deaths outpace the broader overdose trend and hospital admissions grow faster than the health system itself can accommodate, the case for investing early in prevention and demand reduction becomes stronger than ever. The challenge now is whether policymakers will act on these warnings before the numbers climb even higher.

Meanwhile, in Scotland, similar pressures are mounting on addiction services. Glasgow's drug consumption room, which opened in January 2025 as the first facility of its kind in Scotland, is facing calls for independent evaluation to prove its impact on reducing deaths and connecting people with treatment. The facility costs around 2.3 million pounds annually, and its future depends on demonstrating measurable results in a country that continues to have the highest drug death rates in Europe.