Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS) research director Andrew Bruun said ice was a growing problem among “at-risk” or vulnerable children because it was becoming more available.

The “episodes of care” for children using crystal methamphetamine or ice as their main drug had grown from 11 to 33 per cent in the past 18 months.

The service supports most of its clients in outreach services like counselling, with a smaller proportion in its detox and residential rehabilitation centres.

“In our services methamphetamine as the primary drug of concern has increased three-fold,” Mr Bruun said, with 5512 “episodes of care” given to 1152 people in that time.

Most children who used ice started when they were between 16 and 18, with very few starting younger than 15, he said.

“We need to be doing a lot of work to prevent kids in that 12 to 15-year-old age group from crossing over from the typical drugs they use — cannabis and alcohol — into methamphetamine,” Mr Bruun said.

Tandana Place manager Mel Thompson said their ice-addicted clients had grown steadily for the past five years, from 10 per cent in 2010-11 to 84 per cent in the past 12 months.

The centre, a four-bed residential rehabilitation house for some of the state’s most vulnerable children, is the only one in the state for children younger than 16.

The average age at which children at Tandana Place started using substances had stayed at 12½ for the past five years, while the average age of ice users had fallen from about 17 to 14, she said. One child started using ice at 12.

Ice users came to the house with burnt holes in their teeth from ice pipes, short-term memory loss and painful stomach ulcers.

While most of their clients had been referred by Corrections Victoria or the Department of Human Services, Ms Thompson has also noticed ice addicts from supportive families being referred to rehab by their own parents in the past 18 months.

“We’ve had a lot of young people through here [who are] educated, in private schools. They have parents who have good jobs and genuinely care, sitting at this table crying ‘Please help me. I don’t know what to do’,” she said.

Ice was more accessible than other drugs because it was easier to make and source its ingredients: “If you’re growing cannabis you need an enormous space. Now people can set (ice) up in their laundry cupboard and make an absolute fortune.”