Overdose Awareness Day

August 31st is International Overdose Awareness Day, an annual campaign to end overdose.

This is a day to remember people who have died from overdose, and to acknowledge the grief of families and friends. The campaign also raises awareness about overdose prevention and seeks to end the stigma around overdose.

The theme for 2025 is ‘One big family, driven by hope’ - the overdose crisis doesn’t just shatter our families; it fractures our communities.

This year’s theme calls on all of us to reimagine the concept of family, extending our empathy beyond our immediate circles to build a community bound by shared responsibility and hope.

By moving beyond awareness to action, we can honour those we've lost to overdose and work together toward a safer future for all.

You can help the cause by attending events, signing petitions or writing to your local MP. The campaign website provides a full list of the different ways to get involved.¹

What is an overdose?

An overdose happens when a person has more of a drug, or a combination of drugs, than their body can handle.²

Taking several drugs at once increases overdose risk.

Most accidental overdose deaths happen when multiple drugs (including alcohol or medications) have been taken.^1,3

Some drugs also carry a higher overdose risk, such as opioids or benzodiazepines.³

Not all overdoses lead to death. But even non-fatal overdoses can have significant impacts on physical and mental health. This can include brain damage and damage to other vital organs.^4,5

Australia’s overdose statistics

Each year many Australians lose their life to overdose.

• In 2023, there were 1,762 overdose and drug-induced deaths. This equates to 5 deaths per day.³
• Australians aged 45-54 had the highest rate of drug-induced deaths, followed by people aged 35-44 and 55-64.³
• Between 2004 and 2023, drug-related deaths have become more common in older age groups (45–74), while deaths among younger people (15–44) have decreased.³
• In 2023, Australian men died from unintentional drug overdoses at twice the rate of women.³
• Intentional drug overdoses (suicide) have a huge impact on families in Australia, with 418 deaths in 2023.³
• Inner regional areas and major cities had the highest rates of drug-induced deaths in the country, while remote and very remote regions had the lowest overdose death rates.³
• Three out of four overdose deaths occurred in the home, a pattern that has remained steady over time.³
• In 2023, drug-induced deaths were most common among people living in the most disadvantaged areas. 32% of drug-induced deaths occurred in these communities.³
• This pattern was seen across most types of drugs, except for deaths involving cocaine, which were more common in socioeconomically advantaged areas.³
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are over three times more likely to die from overdose than non-Indigenous Australians.⁶

If you’re interested in finding out more about overdose data, there’s a public online data visualisation tool created by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.

What types of drugs are more likely to be involved in overdose deaths?

Between 2019 and 2023, most drug overdose deaths involved mixing more than one type of drug. This is known as polydrug use.^3,7

In Australia in 2023, the types of drugs most often involved in overdose deaths were:

• opioids (including prescribed medications such as oxycodone, codeine and fentanyl, as well as illegal drugs like heroin)
• benzodiazepines (such as diazepam (Valium) and alprazolam)
• amphetamine-type stimulants (including crystal methamphetamine (ice), speed, and MDMA)
• alcohol.³

Drug contamination and overdose

Potent synthetic opioids like fentanyl and nitazenes have been found as hidden contaminants in other drugs, making them far stronger than expected.^8,9

Between 2021 and 2023, 17 unintentional overdose deaths in Australia were linked to nitazenes.⁸

These deaths are preventable.

Drug checking (pill testing) services like CanTest, and the newly opened Victorian Pill Testing Service in Melbourne, can help people stay safe by providing information on exactly what’s in their drugs - helping them to make more informed decisions.

These services also post ‘drug alerts’ about emerging drugs of concern. Check out The Know for the latest drug alerts across Australia.

Initiatives like the medically supervised injecting rooms (MSIR) in Richmond, Melbourne, and Kings Cross, Sydney, also provide lifesaving help to people who use drugs.

Impact of non-fatal overdose on Australians

Not all overdoses are fatal. Non-fatal drug and alcohol-related harms also impact Australians and our health system.

In 2022-23 there were

• 77,324 hospitalisations caused by alcohol, 212 per day.
• 51,413 drug-related hospitalisations (excluding tobacco), 141 per day.¹⁰

Knowing when to go to hospital for a potential overdose can save lives.

What are the signs and symptoms of overdose?

The signs and symptoms of an overdose can be different depending on the drug, or drugs, taken.^11,12

Overdose can show up in different ways for different types of drugs.

Check out the Drug Wheel to find information on specific drugs and their overdose symptoms.

How to respond to an overdose

If you can’t get a response from someone, don’t assume they’re asleep.

If someone is not responding or not breathing, take the following steps straight away:

• use naloxone, if you have access to it.  If a person does not respond to the first dose after 3 minutes, give them a second dose. This can be repeated until the ambulance arrives.*
• call triple zero (000) and request an ambulance. Emergency services are there to help and can provide more instructions over the phone.
• check if anyone nearby knows CPR, in case they’re not breathing, or stop breathing
• lay them on their side in the recovery position
• stay with them until the ambulance arrives
• tell the ambulance officers anything you know, like if they have any pre-existing health conditions, what drug/s they’ve had, how much they’ve had, and what time the drug/s were taken (including any alcohol). It can help to show ambulance officers any packaging that may have held the drugs.^13-15

*Naloxone (also known as Nyxoid®/Narcan®) is a medication that temporarily reverses the effects of opioid overdose (including heroin, fentanyl and oxycodone). It’s available for free over the counter from local pharmacies and can be easily administered by anyone including family, friends, or bystanders.¹⁶

Knowing how to respond to an overdose can save someone’s life.

If someone might be in trouble or can’t be woken after drinking alcohol or using drugs, it’s essential they get medical help.

Learn more on overdose and drug-related emergencies here.

Show your support

The tragedy of overdose death is preventable and more can be done to save lives.

Show your support on August 31 by:

• posting a tribute
• wearing a badge, wristband or lanyard available on the campaign website.
• engaging with the online International Overdose Awareness Day community on social media.

You can also get involved by holding or attending an event. The campaign website provides an event support kit to help you get started.

Visit the International Overdose Awareness Day website for more information.