Young Australian women have been drinking more since the pandemic and are now taking as many illicit drugs as young men, according to the National Drug Strategy Household Survey for 2022-23.

In 2019, a quarter of women aged 18 to 24 used illicit drugs. Now, it is one in three. Their use of cannabis is up from 20 to 26 per cent and cocaine is up from 8 to almost 12 per cent.