Quality of life and disability are important indices that may help change the perception, treatment and care of those with alcohol or drug dependence problem. A cross-sectional survey was done among 25 drug and 25 alcohol dependents consecutively admitted to a community based residential withdrawal service in Melbourne, Australia to assess their quality of life and disabilities using the World Health Organisation Quality of Life (WHOQoL)-Bref and the World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Scale (WHODAS) questionnaires. The quality of life of the sample population was found to be significantly poorer than the general population. The scores on quality of life and disability measurements in the group of patients with alcohol dependence were similar to the other drug dependent group.