New research out of Bendigo suggests that stigma around the highly addictive drug influences whether parents and their children get support.

Lead researcher Bernadette Ward says it is likely creating particular challenges for health workers.

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"People are very fearful of what might happen if they disclose that (drug use)," she said.

"It's a real barrier to us supporting this population so that we have less methamphetamine-related harm in our community."

Researchers check in with about 800 people twice a year and recently talked to all who were parents.

Of them, 25 per cent were living with children, most were women.

"They are more likely to be mothers than fathers and they are less likely to use services that those who do not," Dr Ward said.

She said it was too soon to say for sure why that was the case because the study was the first major systematic study of its type to include regional Victoria.

"Those mothers might be managing very well and not need services. Alternatively, they might not want to say anything for fear of having their children taken away," Dr Ward said.

The project's researchers have consistently found the stigma for people living in regional areas was greater than in metropolitan areas.

"Even in towns as big as Bendigo people know each other a lot more," Dr Ward said.

"If you think about that 75 per cent of parents (in our group) who don't have children living with them, what we are doing now just isn't working."

Community concern about methamphetamine use may have increased over time but it can still be unclear whether more people are using the drug in regional Victoria, Dr Ward said.

"What we do know is that in the past decade it has become purer, so the effect is greater now than it was if you used the same dose back then," she said.

A recent Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report released last month found a fourfold increase in Australian deaths involving methamphetamine and other stimulants.

Dr Ward's team has begun working with service providers and people from the research group to see what methamphetamine users might find helpful.

"We need to focus on supporting those parents so that we can support children to have better outcomes," she said.

A small trial program could be some way off because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has effectively halted face-to-face meetings with people taking part in the study.

Researchers are concerned that doing anything other than meeting with people face-to-face might erode the trust they have built up with participants.

Dr Ward's study was conducted primarily by Monash University and Burnet Institute researchers.

The paper is expected to appear in the academic journal Drug & Alcohol Review.

For help with drugs and alcohol contact The National Alcohol and Other Drug hotline on 1800 250 015.

People can also book a counsellor by calling the Australian Community Support Organisation's consumer intake assessment line on 5445 1600 and asking to use the Bendigo Community Health service.