Drug & Alcohol Rehab on the Gold Coast: the honest guide

Clinically reviewed byNerea Encinas SánchezDirector of the centre, MSc General Health PsychologyRegistered psychologist, COPAO AO13857

Checked for accuracy on 28 July 2026. Next review due July 2027. This page is general information about our programme and is not a substitute for advice about your own situation.

The picture on the Gold Coast

The Gold Coast has a well-developed public alcohol and other drug system, run through Queensland Health and delivered alongside long-standing community and charity services. Most people begin not with a residential bed but with a phone call or an assessment, and are then matched to the level of care they actually need: counselling, a supervised detox where it is clinically safe, a residential rehabilitation programme, day programmes, outpatient support, or peer support. Assessment is usually made by a GP, a psychiatrist, or the service's own intake team, and public services in Queensland are generally staffed by allied health professionals and mental health nurses working as part of a multidisciplinary team, with pathways for people with co-occurring mental health disorders and, where needed, culturally specific support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Cost is rarely the barrier that people fear it will be, because the public and community routes are free or low cost.

Speak to a clinician about treatment from Gold Coast

Confidential, no obligation, and no referral fee is paid to anyone for sending you here.

Speak to a clinician+44 1202 653136

Free drug and alcohol services in Gold Coast

Start here, before you consider paying for anything. These services are free, they are local, and for a great many people they are enough on their own. We publish them because a centre that only tells you about its own programme is not giving you the full picture.

Checked 28 July 2026. Commissioned services are retendered periodically, so confirm the current provider with the authority before you travel to an appointment.

AA and NA meetings in Gold Coast

Mutual aid meetings are free, they run most days, and there is no waiting list, no referral and no assessment. You can walk into one this week. They work alongside whatever else you choose rather than instead of it, and plenty of people use them and nothing else.

What actually happens at a first meeting

You do not have to speak, and you do not have to give your surname. Most meetings open with a reading, someone shares for a while, and others speak if they want to. It lasts about an hour, and it is free, though a basket goes round for the room hire. Nobody takes a register and nobody will ask you to commit to anything.

An open meeting can be attended by anyone, including family. A closed meeting is for people who think they may have a problem themselves. If the first group does not suit you, the next one along will feel different, because each has its own character. The usual advice is to try three before deciding it is not for you.

We link the official finders rather than print a timetable, because meeting times and venues change and a stale listing sends someone to a locked door. Checked 28 July 2026.

Residential rehab on the Gold Coast

Unlike some areas, the Gold Coast does have residential rehabilitation options of its own. There are two main local routes, and it is worth being clear about who each one suits, including the length of stay and the level of care on offer.

• Mirikai, run by Lives Lived Well at Bilinga, is a live-in therapeutic community that is largely subsidised, so it costs far less than a private hospital. It is designed for people aged 18–35, and places are limited, so waiting times are common. Enquire on 1300 727 957.
• Currumbin Clinic is a private mental health hospital at Currumbin that runs an inpatient rehabilitation programme for addictive disorders. It is private, funded through private health insurance with hospital psychiatric cover or paid for directly, and is the more expensive local route. Its number is 07 5534 4944.

In short, if you are within the age range and can wait, the subsidised local option may be the best value anywhere. If you need a private inpatient bed quickly, have hospital cover, and want detoxification and rehab available on-site, the local private hospital may suit you. Treatment abroad becomes worth considering mainly when neither of those fits, for example if you are over 35 and want a residential stay you can start soon, or if distance from the environment tied to the habit would genuinely help, and it is not a substitute for a hospital detox where one is clinically needed first.

What treatment costs on the Gold Coast

Cost depends entirely on the route, not on how serious the problem is.

• Public and community services (ADIS, Gold Coast Health, Lives Lived Well): free or low cost, funded through Medicare and government contracts.
• Subsidised residential (Mirikai): a modest client contribution rather than a commercial fee, because the programme is largely funded.
• Private hospital inpatient (such as Currumbin Clinic): the most expensive local route, with published programme fees commonly running into the tens of thousands of dollars for a month-long stay; private health insurance with hospital psychiatric cover, or Department of Veterans’ Affairs cover, may offset part of the hospital cost. Some people also look at their own savings, including the early release of superannuation on compassionate medical grounds, though eligibility rules are set by the relevant Australian authority and are outside what we can advise on.
• Treatment abroad (Sierra Recovery, Spain): a published, fixed £9,900 for a 28-day residential programme, roughly AUD $19,000–20,000 depending on the exchange rate on the day, with any hospital detox and flights budgeted separately.

Cost ranges checked the date above. These are indicative ranges drawn from providers’ own published information and public directories, not quotations, and every service sets its own fees.

Considering residential treatment abroad?

Sierra Recovery, Málaga, Spain

Most people who look abroad are not chasing sunshine. They are trying to get far enough away from the people, the places and the routine that keep the drinking or the using going, because they have already discovered that stopping while all of that is still fifteen minutes away does not hold. That distance is the whole point, and it is the one thing a clinic near Gold Coast cannot give you.

Sierra Recovery is a working farmhouse on forty hectares of olive groves in the Málaga countryside, about forty five minutes from the airport and roughly three hours from most UK airports. It is small, the team is English-speaking, and the same clinicians treat you from the first day to the last. What follows is what that actually buys, stated plainly enough that you can compare it with anything else you are considering.

What matters when comparing	Sierra Recovery
Is it actually licensed	A registered health centre entered in the Registro Andaluz de Centros, Servicios y Establecimientos Sanitarios (the Andalusian register of health centres, services and establishments) under N.I.C.A. 67331, authorised by the Junta de Andalucía. You can look it up yourself on the public register.
What it costs, in full	£9,900 for the 28-day residential programme, published on the site up front. All rooms are individual. You get an itemised written quotation before admission.
Who pays whom	No referral fees are paid or accepted, in either direction. Nobody earns a commission for sending you here, which is worth checking about any centre you are comparing.
What the clinical work is	Three group sessions a day five days a week, individual therapy three times a week, and a seventeen-module psychoeducation curriculum. The approach adapts the method of PROMIS Clinics, treating addiction in the United Kingdom since 1986.
Where the limits are	It is not a hospital and not a detox unit. Where a medically supervised detox is clinically needed it is completed in an appropriate medical setting before admission and billed separately. Qualified nurses are part of the team throughout the stay.
Who you speak to first	Our admissions team, all of them clinicians, working to the standards set by our clinical director. The assessment is free, and if a service closer to home suits you better, we will say so.
What happens afterwards	Aftercare is agreed before you leave: a session every week for a full year, online or in person at the PROMIS clinics in London, which is more than 48 sessions in the twelve months after discharge. A written handover goes to your GP so nothing has to be explained from scratch.

Every figure above is published elsewhere on this site and can be checked. See pricing, regulation and licensing and the programme.

Which option is right for you

Start with ADIS or a free community service if you are unsure, if cost is the barrier, or if you want to stay near family and work. Lives Lived Well if you want counselling, a day programme or outpatient support you can arrange yourself without a GP. Mirikai if you are aged 18–35, can wait for a place, and want a subsidised residential rehab stay, this may be the best value anywhere. Currumbin Clinic if you need a private inpatient bed quickly and have private health insurance with hospital cover. Treatment abroad only if the local residential routes do not fit, distance would help, and you can travel and do not need an immediate hospital detox. Some people also look further afield within Queensland, including services around Brisbane, if a Gold Coast rehab place is not available quickly enough. Use AA or NA alongside whatever you choose as part of a supportive environment for lasting change. If you would like to talk any of this through, our admissions team will give you an honest view, including when a Gold Coast rehab option would serve you better than we would.

Sources and verification

• Queensland Government, Alcohol and Drug Information Service (ADIS), free 24/7 support on 1800 177 833
• Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service, public alcohol and other drugs service (via GP, ADIS or 13 HEALTH)
• Lives Lived Well, community alcohol and drug services and the Mirikai residential programme, Gold Coast (self-referral 1300 727 957)
• Currumbin Clinic, private hospital inpatient addictive-disorders programme, Currumbin (07 5534 4944)
• Alcoholics Anonymous Australia · Narcotics Anonymous Australia, meeting finders
• Australian private residential price ranges, compiled from published provider and directory figures (not endorsements)
• Junta de Andalucía register, Sierra Recovery, N.I.C.A. 67331 · Sierra pricing

All figures dated 25 July 2026. Each price should be confirmed on the provider’s own page before you rely on it.