A report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has revealed alarming statistics of drug and alcohol use in regional Australia.
The report found a 41% increase in drug-induced deaths in remote and regional areas in the decade following 2007, compared to a 16% spike in major cities.
‘Very remote’ areas of Western Australia were found in the report to top the list of places where people aged 14 years or older were drinking alcohol at risky levels and who had most recently used illicit drugs.
AIHW spokeswoman Moira Hewitt says This recent study reinforces what we know already — that people in regional and remote areas carry a disproportionate burden of disease and harm from the use of alcohol.