The ACT has the lowest proportion of offenders who were diverted from the courts in its drug and alcohol treatment programs in the nation, a report has found.
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The Australian Institute for Health and Welfare on Tuesday released the findings of its research into people who were apprehended or sentenced for minor drug offences and referred for treatment for drug problems, when compared to non-diversion clients.
Drug and alcohol diversion programs aim to prevent reoffending, minimise drug use, and lessen the burden and cost on the criminal justice system.
Use of the programs in Australia has expanded significantly in recent years, mirroring a global trend to divert drug users away from the courts towards education and treatment initiatives.
The ACT's five diversionary programs include a scheme that allows police to issue fines for minor cannabis offences, a police-led early intervention drug program, a youth alcohol education program, the court's drug and alcohol assessment scheme, and the youth drug and alcohol court.
Twenty-four per cent of Australian clients who received treatment for alcohol and other drug problems in the decade to 2013 had been redirected from the criminal justice system, the report found.
The number of treatments provided to those offenders more than doubled in that time, while treatments for other clients remained relatively stable.
Research showed the ACT had the lowest proportion of offenders as part of its drug and alcohol treatment programs of any Australian jurisdiction.
Eleven per cent of clients who received treatment in the territory had been diverted from the courts.
That was compared to Queensland, which had the highest proportion of 35 per cent.
The findings come after the ACT government pledged earlier this month to strengthen efforts to divert drug users away from the justice system, after a separate report identified a series of failings in its current approach.
Among the problems the report authors identified was a low level of support and compliance with the cannabis infringement program, and a low number of referrals from the police-led intervention program for drugs other than cannabis.
The AIHW report also found diversion treatments were about twice as likely to involve cannabis as the main drug of concern for diversion clients (43 per cent) when compared to non-diversion clients (20 per cent).
This was followed by treatments for alcohol, amphetamines and heroin.
Police diversion for cannabis made up about 21 per cent of all arrests for illicit drugs in the ACT in 2012-13, figures from the Australian Crime Commission showed.
Those who were diverted into treatment programs were also found to be younger, more likely to be male and less likely to be indigenous than other clients, the report found.