This project was commissioned by the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD). By Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) regions it mapped the number and types of alcohol and other drug projects for Indigenous Australians and total and per capita allocations of funding to them.
In 1999-2000 financial year, a total of 277 alcohol and other drug intervention projects were conducted by or for Indigenous Australians. Of the 277 projects: 48 were primarily non-residential treatment; 33 residential treatment; 57 were prevention projects; 91 were acute interventions; 26 were multi-service project; and the remaining 22 were categorised as other.
There appeared to be no relationship between the number of projects in a region and either population size or the accessibility/remoteness of a region. There was also no correlation between total expenditure and either estimated resident population or regional accessibility/remoteness.
It was calculated that in the 1999-2000 financial year, in Australia as a whole, $35,429,530 was directly expended upon alcohol and other drug intervention projects for Indigenous Australians. Direct expenditure on individual projects ranged from $0 to approximately $932,000.
The report was used by the ANCD to advise the Australian Government on priorities to reduce the harm caused by alcohol and other drugs in Indigenous Australian communities.