Projects

A qualitative study of alcohol, other drug use, mental health and sexuality in party going regional youth in the WA
September 2025
Youth party

Regional young people often have higher rates of harm associated with AOD use, which impacts sexual and mental health.

Most past research collects data from surveys and reports prevalence, but there is very limited research that explores ‘lived experience’ in detail. This NDRI study is using in-depth interviews with ‘partygoing’ country youth to describe their AOD use experiences, associated sexual and mental health issues, and detailed harm event descriptions to help inform policy and service provision to reduce risk and harm in ‘partygoing’ country youth.

Click here to find out more about NDRI’s research.

In this issue

Research focus

Why Australia’s medicinal cannabis system needs urgent reform

Opinion

Comprehensive community initiatives: what are they, and what works best?

Conversation

Conversation With…Shelley Walker

Projects

Health and Wellbeing Survey of the NSW Non-Government Organisation AOD Workforce
NCETA’s focus for 2025-26

Publication highlight

Nitrous oxide sourcing, use and harms: Insights from Australians who use ecstasy/MDMA and other illicit stimulants
Trends in social norms toward cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use among U.S. youth between 2015 and 2021
Evaluation of a Residential Managed Alcohol Program for Aboriginal Peoples Experiencing Homelessness and Alcohol Dependence: Short-Term Impacts of an Australian Trial
Global perspectives on kava: A narrative systematic review of the health effects, economic and social impacts and policy considerations
The Need to Revitalise Drug Use Monitoring to Keep Pace with a More Dynamic, Digitally Enabled and Globally Connected Drug Market
Understanding drug and alcohol staff perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to drug checking: a qualitative study
Adolescent cannabis vaping trends (2021-2023): delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol, and synthetic cannabinoids
Are alcohol restrictions bad for tourism? An exploratory study of tourism trends in Western Australia
The prevalence and correlates of self-reported cannabis use for medicinal, dual and recreational motives in Australia: findings from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2022/2023
The association between mental disorders and treatment retention among people with opioid use disorder receiving opioid agonist treatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Co-design of the Australian Prompt Response Network for a public-health focused intersectoral approach to information sharing on emerging drugs of concern

Publication list

September 2025

News

NDRI Director delivers keynote at major policy forum in China
NCYSUR Conference Report and Awards
NDARC relocated to the UNSW Health Translation Hub
New guiding principles to support peer workers
New vaping resources available to support workplaces
Alcohol retail lobbying: Comparing policy positions between sectors
Substance use implicated in most adult bath-related drownings, NDARC study shows
Recreational nitrous oxide use survey seeking participants
Consecutive Early Career research excellence awards for NDRI researcher
New guide to support telehealth for AOD counselling
NDRI researcher elected president of prestigious society
Recognising the NCETA Team
Regional Harm Reduction: A Bilateral Australia–Japan Drug Policy Initiative
Abstract submission opening for ISSDP 2026 in Perth
NCYSUR media mentions
Understanding overdose and other drug-induced deaths in Australia: What the latest data tells us
Vaping more effective at helping socially disadvantaged people quit smoking than NRT
NDRI Director to help steer international drug strategy
NCETA’s NADK website updated with latest data