In 2003, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) was directed by the NSW Government to undertake a randomised controlled trial of the Compulsory Drug Treatment Program (CDTP). This proved impossible because the number of offenders eligible for the program was never large enough to conduct a meaningful randomised controlled trial. The number of offenders dealt with on the program was also too small to evaluate its effect on rates of re-offending. The evaluation was therefore limited to assessing the impact of the CDTP on the health and wellbeing of participants, measuring changes in perceived coercion, affective reactions, treatment readiness and therapeutic alliance, gauging participant satisfaction with various aspects of the program, and monitoring participants’ drug use whilst on the program.

The research involved a series of face-to-face interviews with CDTP participants. Baseline interviews were conducted with 95 participants at the commencement of their time on the program. Three followup interviews were conducted as close to the time that participants finished Stages 1, 2 and 3, as was practicable. By the time data collection ceased, 78 per cent of the baseline sample (74 participants) had completed Stage 1 and participated in one follow-up interview (end of Stage 1), and 41 per cent of the baseline sample (39 participants; for some measures information is missing for one participant so N = 38) had completed both Stages 1 and 2 and participated in two follow-up interviews (end of Stages 1 and 2). Of the baseline sample, 13.5 per cent (13 participants) had completed all three follow-up interviews (end of Stages 1, 2, and 3). Due to the small number of participants who had completed Stages 1, 2 and 3 and participated in all three follow-up interviews, changes from baseline through to the end of Stage 3 were not investigated.