The Australian Government, under the National Illicit Drug Strategy, allocated $9.7 million over five years to a National Comorbidity Initiative to improve service coordination and treatment outcomes for people with coexisting mental health and substance use disorders.
One priority under this Initiative is to improve data systems and collection methods within
the mental health and alcohol and other drug sectors to manage comorbidity more
effectively. The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA)
commissioned the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) to undertake this
project to inform this priority area.