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Australians in their 40s and 50s are now more likely than any other age group to die from an accidental drug overdose, and Victoria has recorded its deadliest year on record for unintentional drug deaths.
New figures, released by independent public health organisation the Penington Institute on Tuesday, show that NSW recorded the highest number of unintentional drug-induced deaths in 2024, with 587 people dying, followed by Victoria (572 deaths).
Nationally, 2596 people died from drug-induced deaths in 2024 – equating to about seven people a day, or one every 3½ hours. Of those deaths, close to 80 per cent (2091 deaths) were classified as unintentional.
For the first time since records began more than two decades ago, Australia’s unintentional drug overdose toll is led by people in their 50s, a group recording the highest number of accidental drug deaths since 2001 – 533 in 2024. The corresponding number for 40 to 49-year-olds was 531.
Opioids – a family of drugs that includes codeine, oxycodone, heroin and fentanyl – were the most common class of drugs involved in fatal overdoses, accounting for 1083 such deaths in total. They accounted for more than 40 per cent of unintentional deaths.
The report also found that unintentional deaths involving stimulants – such as amphetamines and ecstasy – had increased by 25 per cent in a single year. Stimulants replaced benzodiazepines as the second-most common drug involved in unintentional drug-induced deaths. Deaths involving cocaine increased by 28 per cent between 2023 and 2024.
Benzodiazepines, commonly prescribed to treat conditions such as anxiety or insomnia, or to manage pain and seizures – include medications such as Valium, Xanax and temazepam.
More than a quarter of all accidental drug fatalities in Australia occurred in Victoria, with 8.1 accidental drug overdoses per 100,000 residents – matching the state’s highest level ever recorded, which was in 2022.
Penington Institute chief executive John Ryan said the drug crisis was deepening, and described the issue as one of the nation’s most urgent public health emergencies.
“Seven Australians are dying every day from overdose. These are not isolated tragedies. They are preventable deaths happening in communities across the country,” Ryan said.
“The overdose crisis is deepening because Australia continues to rely too heavily on punitive responses while underinvesting in measures that keep people alive. Governments cannot keep repeating the same approaches and expect a different result.”
The data also showed that unintentional drug overdoses were much more common among men, with 1520 men dying in 2024 compared with 571 women.
In 2024, there were 533 unintentional overdose deaths among Australians in their 50s, with that age group accounting for one-quarter of all accidental overdoses nationally.
Accidental deaths for Australians in their 30s also rose, by more than 30 per cent to 358 fatalities after a six-year decline for that group.
Ryan said expanded access to harm reduction services, early interventions and treatment were all important steps in saving lives from accidental overdoses.
“What is missing is not evidence. What is missing is political urgency,” he said. “Every delayed decision carries a human cost.”
The latest data comes after more than a decade of governments at the state and federal levels rolling out policies to try to reduce overdose deaths, including real-time prescription monitoring systems.
The federal government this month began consulting on a plan that would force telehealth prescribing services – including medicines prescribed and dispensed through online platforms – to automatically upload prescription information to My Health Record in an effort to give doctors a clearer picture of a patient’s full medication history.
This follows years of advocacy from families of patients who have died by accidental overdose, including Alison Collins, whose 24-year-old daughter, Erin, died after taking psychiatric medicines prescribed through multiple online websites.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the reforms were the first step towards delivering a national drugs database, and would ensure “patients and their care teams can have accurate and up-to-date medicine information”.
A spokesperson for the federal Department of Health, Disability and Ageing said the federal government had made substantial investments in drug treatment, overdose prevention and opioid dependence programs, and expanding access to naloxone – a medication that temporarily reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.
More than 800,000 supplies of take-home naloxone have been distributed since the national program launched in July 2022.
The spokesperson also said $727 million would be spent on alcohol and other drug services over three years from 2026-27.
Victorian Minister for Mental Health Ingrid Stitt said the state government knew more needed to be done to tackle drug harm.
“Whether it’s introducing pill-testing, installing naloxone vending machines, or expanding access to pharmacotherapy, our government proudly takes a harm reduction approach to the impacts of drug use within our community,” Stitt said.
“We know more needs to be done, that is why we’re continuing to roll out our $95 million Statewide Action Plan, which aims to save lives and reduce drug harms and give more people the care they need – in the CBD and across Victoria.”
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