Wastewater monitoring became the canary in the coalmine during the height of the 2021 COVID outbreaks, alerting authorities to the presence of the virus often before any cases had been diagnosed.

It is also a critical tool in monitoring illicit drug use across Australia, and the stories it tells for regional Australia are not pretty.

Yesterday the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) released its 15th report on its National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program, revealing that an estimated 15.7 tonnes of methylamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and heroin was consumed across the country in 2020–21.

ACIC Chief Executive Officer Michael Phelan APM said the estimated street value of the four major drugs was $10.3 billion last year, up from $8.9 billion the previous year, due largely to general increases in street prices. Methylamphetamine accounted for 77 per cent of this expenditure. 

“We saw the second lowest annual consumption of the four major drugs since our national wastewater drug monitoring program began, yet the second highest spending by Australians over the same period. It is clear that Australians are prepared to pay top dollar to line the pockets of organised criminals, generating significant health and other harms to our community,” Mr Phelan said.

“Through wastewater analysis we gain insight into the serious and organised crime groups that supply illicit drug markets. Regular and near-real-time wastewater reporting enables the ACIC and our partners to detect and respond to increasing drug threats in a timely way and monitor the impact of responses.”

Regional trends

There are 13 sites monitored in NSW including five capital city sites and 8 regional sites, the exact locations of which are kept secret to protect the integrity of the program.

In some categories of drugs, regional areas bucked the trends seen in capital cities but across the board, average consumption of illegal drugs like methylamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, oxycodone decreased in August 2021 compared to April that year.

The report shows that while the prolonged disruptions of the pandemic lockdowns and border restrictions did not immediately cause a major interruption to our drug markets, the cumulative effect eventually contributed to reduced consumption of illicit drugs, even in regional areas.

“The restrictions put in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, severely constrained these markets. However, organised crime groups continued to find ways to supply illicit drug markets during the pandemic and to generate significant illicit revenue through this activity,” Mr Phelan said.

“Our report helps address harmful drug consumption through improving knowledge about these influences so that tailored supply, demand and harm reduction efforts can be developed and implemented by decision makers on a range of drug and public health issues.”

NSW had the dubious distinction of the highest average regional consumption of methylamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and fetanyl of all Australian states and territories in 2021.

Average cannabis consumption also increased in both capital city and regional sites and in August 2021 were the highest on record.

While smoking nicotine and drinking alcohol decreased last year across the monitored sites in Sydney, they actually increased in regional areas.

The data revealed by the Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program highlights the challenges facing different cities and towns and the unique characteristics of local drug markets, hopefully guiding the development of specific solutions for each region.

“We are improving our understanding of external factors that affect consumption of drugs and the resilience of the respective drug markets,” Mr Phelan said.

The report is available from the ACIC website: www.acic.gov.au

Need help? 

• For free and confidential advice about alcohol and other drug treatment services call the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015.
• Access free 24/7 drug and alcohol counselling online.
• For information about drug and alcohol addiction treatment or support, go to the Turning Point website.