Drug overdoses led to more than 2000 deaths in 2024, the latest trends report from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of NSW reveals.
Overdoses also led to nearly 57,000 hospitalisations in 2023-24, or 156 a day, in 2023/24, marking a 10.5 per cent increase on the previous year.
The trend is rising, fuelled by increased harm from amphetamine-type stimulants and cocaine, the centre says.
Associate Professor Amy Peacock, the drug and alcohol centre's deputy director, said the emerging patterns were a major public health concern.
"There are indications that suggest that cocaine and methamphetamine availability are increasing in Australia and internationally and we are seeing changes in patterns of use," she told AAP.
"There is a risk there that we could see these harms increase."
Methamphetamine in particular remained a significant challenge for prevention, treatment and harm reduction, and should not be viewed as a problem of the past, she said.
''The sooner we respond to these changing patterns of drug-related harm, the greater our opportunity to prevent avoidable deaths and hospitalisations.''
While opioids, including heroin, remain the leading drug class identified in overdose deaths, opioid deaths had been declining since about 2017, with effective addiction and overdose treatments now available.
"Unfortunately for methamphetamine and cocaine we don't have the same array of treatment options available," Prof Peacock said.
A key priority was investing in more effective treatments for those experiencing stimulant dependence and making sure people were able to access that help when they needed it, she said.
The recent drug deaths rise was driven by a 29 per cent increase in deaths from amphetamine-type stimulants and a 40 per cent jump in cocaine-related deaths.
In 2024, there were 2005 drug-induced deaths, excluding those from alcohol and tobacco, equivalent to 7.3 deaths per 100,000 Australians.
The rate was 6.8 deaths per 100,000 people in 2023.
The decline in overdose deaths, observed since the historical peak of 8.2 deaths per 100,000 people in 2017, had "well and truly stalled'', Prof Peacock said.
The report also found that males accounted for 66 per cent of overdose deaths, while multiple drug use was a key feature of overdose mortality, with 73 per cent of cases involving two or more drug classes.
The most common psychosocial risk factor was a personal history of self-harm, which was noted in about one in eight deaths.
Just over 50 per cent of drug-related hospitalisations occurred in those aged 20 to 39 years.
National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline: 1800 250 015.
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