National Drug Research Institute

What National Drug Research Institute does

The National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) is a research institute within Curtin University in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia, focused on preventing and reducing alcohol and other drug-related harm in Australia. It is described as one of the largest centres of alcohol and other drug research expertise in Australia, employing a multidisciplinary approach spanning epidemiology, psychology, public health, and policy analysis. NDRI's primary stakeholders are federal and state government policy makers, the public health sector, and the academic research community.

NDRI's core outputs are research programs and associated deliverables rather than commercial products. These include the National Alcohol Indicators Project (NAIP), the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS), the Alcohol Harm Visualisation Tool (a web-based platform displaying Australian alcohol-attributable hospitalisation and death data from 2011-2022), various research studies (e.g., Alcohol & Young People Research Study), peer-reviewed publications, and the Drug and Alcohol Research Connections newsletter distributed via the Connections network. The institute also evaluates policy interventions such as the Northern Territory minimum unit pricing policy and the WA Police naloxone pilot.

NDRI's business model is that of a publicly funded university research institute. Revenue is not commercially generated; funding flows from Australian government research grants (notably the Medical Research Future Fund), Curtin University institutional support, and competitive research schemes. The institute does not charge for its core products and no pricing models are publicly disclosed. NDRI disseminates research through academic journals, newsletters, seminars, an international conference (ISSDP 2026), and active social media and media engagement, with two physical offices in Perth (headquarters at Curtin Technology Park) and Melbourne.

Name

National Drug Research Institute

Legal name

Curtin University

Website

https://ndri.curtin.edu.au

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

National Drug Research Institute is a Curtin University research institute in Australia focused on preventing alcohol and other drug-related harm through epidemiological research, policy evaluation, and public health studies for government and public health sector stakeholders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Health Research

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAJAAAM

Substance Use, Addiction & Harm Reduction Health Departments

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Public Health, Government & Regulators/Public Health Agencies & Health Departments

SECONDARYHLAJANAG

Chronic Disease & NCD Program Evaluation (e.g., diabetes/CVD/cancer)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Public Health, Government & Regulators/Health Program Evaluation & Surveillance

SECONDARYBPAIAJAI

Non-Communicable Disease Prevention & Chronic Disease Programs

Business & Public Services/Public Sector & Government Administration/Public Health Administration & Regulation

SECONDARYBPADAIAK

Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) & Mental Health Programs

Business & Public Services/International Organizations & Development/Global Health & Population Programs

Keywords

• Alcohol and drug research
• Public health research
• Harm prevention policy
• Substance use epidemiology
• Drug monitoring systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Bentley

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

NDRI conducts multidisciplinary research on alcohol and other drug-related harm in Australia, producing evidence to inform harm prevention policy and practice. Its core deliverables include epidemiological monitoring studies (e.g., NAIP, EDRS), policy evaluations (e.g., Northern Territory minimum unit pricing), peer-reviewed publications, project reports, the free monthly Drug and Alcohol Research Connections newsletter, and the Alcohol Harm Visualisation Tool v2.2 web application for visualizing alcohol-attributable harm data.

Product overview

The National Drug Research Institute operates as a research institute within Curtin University, not as a commercial product company. Its primary offerings consist of research programs focused on preventing harmful drug use in Australia, along with the Alcohol Harm Visualisation Tool (a web-based data visualization platform for alcohol-attributable harm statistics), various research studies including the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS) and Alcohol & Young People study, and the Drug and Alcohol Research Connections newsletter. The institute also publishes reports, bulletins, and academic publications through its Publications & Resources section.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS): A system for monitoring ecstasy and related drug trends in Australia through confidential surveys with people who use these substances.
• National Alcohol Indicators Project (NAIP)
• Alcohol Harm Visualisation Tool

Products and services

• Alcohol Harm Visualisation Tool v2.2 A free, web-based visualization tool that displays alcohol-attributable harm data in Australia, including hospitalizations and deaths. Users can view data through line charts, bar charts, and maps, with options to filter by health conditions, age groups, states, and years. Aimed at policy makers, public health professionals, researchers, and the general public.
• Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS) A national monitoring system using confidential surveys with people who use ecstasy and related drugs to track trends in use patterns, harms, and market characteristics across Australia. Includes the Perth arm of the study recruiting participants.
• Alcohol & Young People Research Study A research study recruiting young people aged 18-24 in Australia to discuss their drinking experiences and health perspectives, contributing to evidence on alcohol harms in young adult populations.
• Drug and Alcohol Research Connections Newsletter A free monthly newsletter providing updates on drug and alcohol research findings, NDRI news, events, and publications. Distributed via subscription to researchers, policy makers, and practitioners.

Quantifiable outcome

• Conducts national alcohol indicators project tracking harm trends across Australian states and territories
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• RAND Drug Policy Research Center: U.S.-based policy research group evaluating drug policy and substance use harms; comparable in policy-evaluation focus but operates as part of a much broader, multidisciplinary research organisation rather than an AOD-dedicated centre.
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): U.S. federal lead agency supporting research on drug use and addiction; significantly larger and broader in scope than NDRI but operates in the same evidence-generation space for substance-use harm reduction.

Regional players

• Alcohol Change UK: UK charitable body funding and disseminating research on alcohol harm; operates with a comparable evidence-to-policy mission but is primarily UK-facing rather than Australian.
• European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA): EU agency providing epidemiological evidence on drug use and harms across European member states; comparable function to NDRI's EDRS/NAIP-style surveillance work but at a supranational rather than Australian national level.
• Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA): Canadian national body providing evidence-based analysis on substance use harms and policy; comparable mission and outputs (surveillance, policy advice) but operates primarily in a different national jurisdiction than NDRI.

Direct peers

• Turning Point: National addiction treatment, research, and education centre (affiliated with Eastern Health and Monash University) that conducts clinical and epidemiological research on alcohol, other drugs, and gambling — directly overlapping NDRI's research domain.
• Burnet Institute: Australian medical research institute with major programs in public health, alcohol and other drug harm reduction, and infectious disease; comparable mission around translating research into policy and harm-reduction outcomes.
• Centre for Alcohol Policy Research (CAPR), La Trobe University: Australian research centre focused specifically on alcohol policy research, including minimum unit pricing evaluations, with overlapping subject matter, methodology, and policy-maker audience relative to NDRI.
• National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC): UNSW-based centre for alcohol and other drug research, the closest Australian counterpart to NDRI in mandate, methodology (epidemiology, policy evaluation, surveillance), and stakeholder base (government, public health, academia).

Emerging players

• Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE): Australian not-for-profit that commissions and disseminates alcohol-harm research and advocates for evidence-based policy; adjacent and ecosystem-connected to NDRI rather than a research producer in its own right.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ndriau
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/NDRIau
• Facebookfacebook.com/NDRIau
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/curtinuniversity

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about National Drug Research Institute