But leading drug and alcohol harm reduction group, the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association, hope the results of ACIC's National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program report can pave a way to better drug reduction services.

The ACIC released its seventh National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program report on Monday with regional Victoria recording the highest average regional consumption of MDMA and oxycodone in the country.

Regional Victoria also had the second highest average regional consumption of heroin.

The wastewater collected and tested in December, 2018, covers about 54 per cent of the population.

In the whole of Victoria, 359.4kg of heroin was consumed between August, 2017 and August, 2018. Nationally, 750kg was consumed.

Ten sites in Victoria were monitored in December, 2018, including eight regional sites.

VAADA executive officer Sam Biondo said there was a well-founded understanding that drug consumption continued in rural areas.

"Methamphetameme took control (in rural areas) a number years ago but I was surprised to hear heroin (use had increased), we are not getting reports of consumption at that level," he said.

The consumption of alcohol, nicotine, cocaine and cannabis have decreased in regional Victoria.

The use of Fentanyl and MDA also increased in regional sites.

Mr Biondo said organisations needed to look beyond what was being found in this type of research.

"It's fine to be doing wastewater analysis. It tells us what has happen but not why or what should be done," he said.

"(What should be done) has to lie in the realms harm reduction and (drug) services. The war on drugs was lost years ago. Generally across Australia we are pursuing a continued battle with drugs.

"But in many ways we have progressed with a lot of harm reduction (services)."

ACIC chief executive Michael Phelan said the program provided gives insight into the trends and emerging issues of drug consumption across Australia.

"The Australian community continues to consume illicit drugs at concerning levels and the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program is providing an important, unified and consistent guiding tool for developing holistic drug responses," Mr Phelan said.

"We are only now starting to realise the full benefits of the ongoing program."

Mr Biondo said we could learn more about harm reduction from the success of international programs.

"Portugal and Holland are losing (almost) no lives at all to heroin and have much more reduced rates of death and consumption because they are focused on treatment. That takes a bold step," he said.

"Places like Switzerland, where they have taken a progressive decriminalisation approach, has seen a reduced number deaths to a point where consumption patterns down and supervised (drug use) facilities are questioning whether they need to continue."

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