A national survey conducted by the Australian National University, published earlier this month, found that Australians are consuming alcohol more during the pandemic than they did in the three previous years.

City Mission alchohol and other drugs and housing operations manager Stephen Hill said there had been a noticeable fall in referrals to Missiondale, located at Evandale, in April and May but that they were slowly starting to increase.

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"When we look at the reduced number of referrals, there's a breaking point somewhere," he said. "And we're expecting that to coincide with the relaxation of all the stimulus package options."

"We've been doing some restructuring and planning around how we're going to manage [increased referrals] so we can get people straight onto the pathway so that when they've made a decision to do something about [their addiction] they don't get distracted or ... or delay."

Meanwhile, Tasmania's peak drug and alcohol sector body has expressed concern that a reduction of available beds in the state government-run medical detoxification unit could lead to a clogged waiting list for residential rehabilitation services.

The number of beds in the Inpatient Withdrawal Unit at St Johns Park in Hobart has been cut from nine to six because of physical distancing restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before being admitted to a residential rehabilitation facility, people grappling with substance abuse problems are often required to undergo a medically supervised detox at the withdrawal unit.

Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drugs Council of Tasmania chief executive Alison Lai is worried that the reduction in available beds in the unit could lead to rehabilitation waiting lists blowing out.

"That is going to impact how quickly we can get people in to the residential settings," she said.

Ms Lai said the lack of detox services in the North and North-West of the state was a "long-standing issue".

"Having reduced capacity moving forward only located in the South may pose a challenge for us in order to make sure we can transfer people into residential rehabilitation when they need it," she said.

A Statewide Mental Health Services spokesperson said infection control measures put in place under coronavirus-related protocols had meant six beds were available in the withdrawal unit.

"There was no admission decline during this period, and there has been no impact on discharge to residential facilities," the spokesperson said.

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