Key messages
- In Victoria, over 6,000 lives have been lost since 2010 because of fatal overdoses. These tragic numbers show why a health-led, evidence-based approach is essential.
- People use alcohol and other drugs for complex reasons. This complexity means a one-size-fits-all approach does not work. Services must be flexible, compassionate, and tailored to individual needs.
- The Victorian Alcohol and Other Drugs Strategy 2025-35 sets a ten-year plan to reduce alcohol and drug related harm across the state.
- It takes a health-led approach that focuses on early support, stronger harm reduction, culturally safe care for Aboriginal communities, innovation and better connections between services, so people and families can get the right help when they need it.
- The strategy will expand on and deliver the initiatives committed to in the Statewide Action Plan.
Alcohol and other drug (AOD) is a reality of life in every society. Victoria is no exception, with people using substances for a variety of reasons. For many people, alcohol or other drug use causes no harm. But for too many, it leads to devastating consequences - from illness and injury to overdose and premature death.
Victoria has made important progress in building a system to reduce AOD harm over the past 30 years. Since its establishment in the 1990s, it has grown into a strong specialist network, supporting around 40,000 people each year. This growth has been shaped by collaboration between government, service providers, people with lived and living experience, and Aboriginal communities.
In 2024 the Victorian Government invested $95.1 million through a Statewide Action Plan - delivering new harm reduction initiatives, expanded pharmacotherapy, and improved community-based services. The Statewide Action Plan included a commitment to build a 10-year strategy to guide long term development of the AOD system and services.
Victorian Alcohol and Other Drugs Strategy 2025-35
The strategy will provide a framework for the Victorian Government to develop and deliver comprehensive AOD reform for a modern and effective system. It will provide a clear direction to guide investment to achieve the strategy’s vision and objectives.
The strategy is informed by recent reviews and inquiries and draws on rich insights and experiences of AOD sector stakeholders, people with lived and living experience, Aboriginal communities, and other government departments whose work intersects with the AOD system.
The strategy will deliver and expand on the initiatives committed to in the Statewide Action Plan.
The Victorian Alcohol and Other Drugs Strategy 2025–35 takes the Statewide Action Plan even further. It sets out a 10-year vision for a holistic approach to reduce alcohol and other drug-related harms and stigma to maximise the health, mental health and wellbeing of Victorians.
The strategy focuses on five priority areas over the next decade:
- Providing Victorians with better information and easier access to services.
- Strengthening harm reduction and treatment options, and their flexibility within the system.
- Ensuring Aboriginal Victorians can access care with cultural safety and self-determination.
- Continuously improving the system and finding opportunities for innovation.
- Bolstering coordination across mental health, housing, justice and other services.
The first three years of the strategy will lay the groundwork by strengthening existing services, completing Statewide Action Plan initiatives, and building the foundations for reform.
Over the next decade, the strategy will help deliver a more compassionate, coordinated and connected system. A system that ensures people, families and communities can get the care they need, when they need it, and live healthier, safer lives.
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Contact email: aod.policy@health.vic.gov.au
Reviewed 04 December 2025