The new edition of Penington Institute's Australia's Annual Overdose Report, the country's most comprehensive source of data about drug-related deaths, has shown that Western Australians continue to die from overdose at higher rates than residents of any other state or territory.
227 Western Australians died of unintentional overdoses in 2018 – an all-time high for the state.
The rate of unintentional overdose deaths in the state increased from an already unacceptably high 6.4 per 100,000 people in 2012 to a staggering 8.8 per 100,000 in 2018 – close to double the mortality rate for melanoma across all of Australia in the same year (which was 4.7 deaths per 100,000).
In addition, Western Australia led the way in 2018 when it came to overdose deaths from multiple different types of drugs, including stimulants, prescription opioids, heroin, benzodiazepines, and anti-depressants – suggesting a crisis on multiple fronts.
Western Australia, which for many years has suffered from disproportionately high levels of harm from stimulant drugs such as ice, has experienced the biggest increase in the rate of overdose deaths involving these drugs since 2013 from 1.3 to 3.3 deaths per 100,000 population, a steeper climb than other states.
Australia's Annual Overdose Report 2020 also reveals that, for the first time on record, Western Australia had the highest rate of heroin-induced overdose deaths per capita, overtaking Victoria.
However, Western Australia's overdose crisis is not only driven by illicit drugs. Legal drugs, which could be misused or used in combination with other drugs, are also causing deaths in their hundreds.
Since 2013, no state experienced as large an increase in unintentional deaths involving benzodiazepines as Western Australia. In just six years, unintentional overdose deaths involving these drugs, which Penington Institute has previously labelled "Australia's silent killer", increased by almost four times from a rate of 1.1 per 100,000 to 4.1 per 100,000 in 2018.
Meanwhile, unintentional overdose deaths involving anti-depressants, which are increasing in all states except for South Australia, have increased most prominently in WA – from 0.7 per 100,000 in 2013 to 2.8 per 100,000 in 2018.
Consistent with findings in many other states and territories, residents in rural and regional Western Australia die from overdoses at higher rates than residents of Greater Perth.
In 2018, the rates of unintentional drug-induced deaths were 8.7 deaths per 100,000 population in Perth, compared with 9.3 deaths per 100,000 population in regional and rural Western Australia.
Overall, Australia's Annual Overdose Report 2020 paints a disturbing and dramatic picture of overdose in Western Australia, which experiences the worst outcomes of any state against a range of drugs.
Much more must be done to reduce the impact of this eminently preventable health crisis.
As stated by Mr John Ryan, CEO of Penington Institute:
"The findings of Australia's Annual Overdose Report 2020 should ring alarm bells in the city and throughout rural and regional Western Australia. West Australia continues to struggle with how to reduce the harms from stimulants such as ice while now also facing risks from a range of new drugs."
"Western Australia having the highest rate of unintentional overdose deaths involving heroin among all states is a profound challenge. Trialling the Commonwealth Take Home Naloxone pilot in the West is a good start but much more needs to be done in order to respond to harms from all types of drugs, not just opioids."
"Surging death rates involving prescription drugs like opioids, benzos and anti-depressants suggest that Western Australia does not only have an issue with illicit drugs."
"Deaths involving these drugs are especially concerning when you consider the likely long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Australia is already experiencing a critical shortage of anti-depressants which may be linked to increases in demand."
"Combine all these findings and we are left with the brutal reality that Western Australia has an overdose crisis that is raging on virtually all fronts."
"Overdose is Australia's hidden health crisis. By releasing this Report, we're looking to have a better-informed conversation and bring it out of the shadows. Penington Institute is releasing this year's Annual Overdose Report on International Overdose Awareness Day, the world's largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember those who have died without stigma and acknowledge the grief of the family and friends left behind."
"International Overdose Awareness Day was first observed in Melbourne in 2001. This year is the 20th IOAD and it is being recognised with events around the world, including WA landmarks like Council House, Trafalgar Bridge and Mandurah Bridge being lit purple in support of the campaign."
Glossary
| Drug types |
Common examples |
| Illicit opioids |
Heroin |
| Pharmaceutical opioids |
Oxycodone, Codeine, Fentanyl |
| Stimulants |
Methamphetamine ("ice"), Ecstasy (MDMA) |
| Cannabinoids |
CBD, Synthetic cannabis, Hashish |
| Benzodiazepines |
Diazepam, Temazepam |
| Anti-depressants |
Zoloft, Prozac, Lexapro |
| Anti-psychotics |
Quetiapine, Olanzapine, Risperidone |
| Anti-convulsants |
Pregabalin, Gabapentin |
About Penington Institute
Penington Institute connects lived experience and research to improve community safety in relation to drugs, including alcohol and pharmaceuticals.
