Among adults aged 18 years or more in the 1995 National Health Survey, Indigenous males and females in non-remote areas were more than twice as likely as their non-Indigenous counterparts to report that they were currently smoking. Non-Indigenous males and females were more likely to report never having smoked, and also more likely to report having quit smoking.

In the same survey, Indigenous males and females aged 18 or more were less likely than non-Indigenous adults to report that they consumed alcohol within the week prior to interview, but those who did were more likely to drink at levels that placed them at high risk, according to the National Health and Medical Research Council.