Illicit & Injecting Drug Use among Indigenous Young People in Urban, Regional & Remote Australia

To examine patterns of illicit drug use among Australian Indigenous young people, identify correlates of frequent use separately in urban, regional and remote settings and characterise those who inject.

Cross-sectional design at 40 Indigenous events. Self-complete surveys were administered to Indigenous people aged 16-29 years using mobile devices.

2,877 participants completed the survey. 

• One in five reported using cannabis at least weekly in the previous year, but the use of other drugs was less prevalent. 
• Patterns of drug use were largely similar across regions, although more participants in urban and regional areas reported using ecstasy (12% vs 11% vs 5%) and cocaine (6% vs 3% vs 1%) and more reported weekly cannabis use (18% vs 22% vs 14%). 
• Injecting was rare (3%) but those who did inject reported a high incidence of needle sharing (37%). 
• Methamphetamine (37%), heroin (36%) and methadone (26%) were the most commonly injected drugs, and injecting was related to prison experience (AOR 5.3 95% CI 2.8-10.0).

Attention is needed in relation to cannabis use, particularly among those Indigenous young people living in regional and urban settings. Also, although injecting is uncommon, it is associated with prison involvement. Priority must be given to reducing the numbers of Indigenous youth entering justice settings, delaying the age at first entry to justice settings, and reducing the risk of BBV acquisition while in custody through, for example, prison-based NSP, BBV education, and Indigenous-specific treatment that emphasises connection to country and culture. 

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By: Bryant J1, Ward J2, Wand H3, Byron K4, Bamblett A4, Waples-Crowe P5, Betts S6, Coburn T7, Delaney-Thiele D8, Worth H9, Kaldor J3, Pitts M10.

• 1Centre for Social Research in Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
• 2Infectious Diseases Research Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia.
• 3The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
• 4Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, Melbourne, Australia.
• 5Moondani Balluk Indigenous Unit, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
• 6Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
• 7Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council, Brisbane, Australia.
• 8Aboriginal Medical Service Western Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
• 9School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
• 10Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
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