Drug overdoses kill one Australian every five hours

Unintentional deaths increased 38% between 2001 and 2017, annual report reveals

Fatal drug overdoses are more common in regional Victoria and New South Wales than anywhere else in Australia, and those deaths are increasingly linked to heroin, an annual report has found.

The overdose report by the Penington Institute, released on Tuesday, found that the number of deaths owing to unintentional drug overdose in Australia had increased 38% between 2001 and 2017 and was growing by 3.4% a year.