A meeting this week will see 500 Australian and international delegates discuss new ways to tackle prescription drug abuse.

A three-day conference of the Australian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs (APSAD) has kicked off, with the growing problem of the over-the-counter and prescription drug abuse among the key topics.

APSAD president Dr Rose Neild says using such drugs for chronic pain and other ailments can easily lead to addiction.

“People who are using over-the-counter codeine in large amounts may not actually present for help until perhaps they've had some adverse effect because of the other medications [being used] at the same time,” she told the ABC.

Dr Neild said the industry is responding, changing the way that medications are supplied, but still the addiction rates to some common drugs remain high.

“They've become pharmacist-only [dispensing], being taken off the shelf and out of supermarkets, this however hasn't been quite enough,” she said.

“The next step is going to be about policy makers, the changers of legislation, but right down to people who are writing prescriptions [and] down to people who are living in the community and are becoming aware that perhaps one of their family members is using a lot of over-the-counter or prescription medication and helping them to become aware there is a problem and getting them along for help.

“I see it as a very broad, whole-of-community approach that's needed.”

The experts will discuss the best ways to achieve early intervention for parents, so their children will not end up in state care.

“The issue here is about creating accessible intervention for these parents so that they're able to recover and continue to positively care for their children, so that we're not actually in the situation where we're looking to remove large numbers of children from their families,” Dr Neild said.

“The research bears up that early and sustained intervention is what makes the difference and that women who have had a history of substance abuse, given adequate support and programs, can parent as well as - dare I say - any of the rest of us.”