Media Release

Alarming Growth in Drug Abuse Dependency
Monday, April 13, 2009

Figures released under the Official Information Act show that in the 18 months to the end of 2008 the total number of people dependent on a sickness or invalid benefit, with a primary incapacity of substance abuse, grew by an average of 60 each month. Welfare commentator, Lindsay Mitchell, said that the numbers are deeply concerning but not a surprise. "There has been plenty of anecdotal evidence pointing to this trend."

"Reliance on sickness benefits because of drug or alcohol abuse had been steadily increasing, but in the last 18 months there has been a sharp rise. For example, reliance on the invalid's benefit because of drug and alcohol abuse grew by 29 percent from mid 2007 to the end of 2008. Over the same period, dependence on a sickness benefit for the same reasons grew by 20 percent. Many of these people are quite young. Sixty percent (2,494) of those on the sickness benefit are under 40 years.

There is also an element of tip-of-the-iceberg behind these numbers. The fastest growth in sickness and invalid's benefit incapacities is in psychological and psychiatric conditions. Forty percent (20, 409) of all sickness beneficiaries are suffering from psychiatric or psychological conditions but many people listed with these as their prime incapacity will also have drug and alcohol problems.

Clearly drug and alcohol treatment services are either not succeeding in rehabilitating beneficiaries or are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of numbers. In any case, Work and Income cannot compel people to attend programmes. But the problem is going to get worse without any significant change in policy."