The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) was commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) to evaluate the effectiveness of the Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) Illicit Drug Diversion Initiative (IDDI) in rural and remote areas of Australia. This report presents the project findings. The purpose of this project is not to evaluate the individual diversion initiatives in each state and territory, but rather to report on the extent to which IDDI programs have been effective in rural and remote areas of Australia. The project focuses on the effectiveness of the IDDI in rural and remote areas, in recognition of the particular complexities in delivering an appropriate range of diversion and treatment services in these locations, and the relative lack of information about the effectiveness of IDDI programs in rural and remote Australia. The evaluation focuses on the time period since 2002, when a previous review was undertaken. The report is structured as follows. Chapter two outlines the project methodology and defines key terms such as ‘effectiveness’ and ‘rural and remote’ in the context of this study. Chapter three provides an overview of relevant drug diversion literature and contextual information about the characteristics of rural and remote areas, to delineate the key issues for exploration in the remainder of the report. Chapter four describes the IDDI programs currently operating in rural and remote Australia. Chapter five focuses on the inputs that have been put in place in rural and remote Australia through the IDDI. Chapter six presents available data about the current activities of IDDI-funded programs in rural and remote Australia – focusing on IDDI outputs. Chapter seven presents information about outcomes of IDDI-funded programs in rural and remote Australia. Chapter eight presents findings from the field work component of the study and draws out the key factors that appear to be enhancing or inhibiting effective program operation in rural and remote settings. Finally, chapter nine draws the findings from the multiple project strands together and presents key findings and issues for consideration. (Executive summary, Introduction, edited.)