Facts and Figures

• 37% of road injuries in males and 18% in females are attributed to alcohol, as are 12% of male and 8% of fem-ale suicides. Alcohol is also implicated in 47% of assaults, 44% of fire injuries, 34% of fall injuries and drownings and 16% of child abuse incidents.

• In 2001, approximately 72,302 hospitalisations were attributable to the misuse of alcohol and the financial burden of alcohol misuse to the community has been estimated to be $4.5 billion per year, including lower productivity due to lost work days, road accident costs and legal and court costs, as well as health costs.

• Although per capita alcohol consumption has declined in Australia over the past two decades, more young people are drinking alcohol, drinking at an earlier age and increasingly adopting harmful drinking patterns.

• In 2001 the average initiation age for drinking alcohol was 17.1 years; at least two-thirds of the alcohol consumed by young people under 25 years of age poses a risk of short-term or acute health consequences.

• The rate of adults drinking has increased by almost 3% since 2001.

• Two million Australians consume alcohol at rates con-sidered “risky” or “high risk”.

• More males (15%) than females (12%) drink at harm-ful levels, but more women have contributed to the overall increase.

• Young people engage in more risky behaviour when they drink; 25% of people aged 18-24 experienced an alcohol-related injury, compared with 18% of adults.

• The proportion of people drinking at a risky/high-risk level has increased from 8.2% in 1995 to 10.8% in 2001 and 13.4% in 2004-05.

• In 2004-05, 15% of adult males and 12% of adult females reported drinking at a risky/high-risk level, while 55% of males and 43% of females reported drinking at a low-risk level.

• Short-term risky/high-risk consumption equates to 7 or more standard drinks for males and 5 or more standard drinks for females on any single occasion.

• Data from the 2004-05 NHS show that among people aged 18 years and over, 48% of males and 30% of females consumed alcohol at risky/high-risk levels in the short term on at least one occasion in the last 12 months. These figures are comparable with data from the NDSHS which show that in 2004, among people aged 14 years and over, 40% of males and 31% of females consumed alcohol at risky/high-risk levels in the short term.

• According to the 2004-05 NHS, among people aged 18 years and over, 12% of males and 4% of females had consumed alcohol at risky/high-risk levels in the short term at least once a week over the previous 12 months.

• Young people, when intoxicated, are more likely to indulge in risky behaviour such as swimming, driving, unsafe or unwanted sex, verbal or physical abuse.

• Among teenagers aged 14-19 years drinking at risky/high-risk levels in the long term, 77% of boys usually consumed regular strength beer, while 85% of girls usually consumed bottled spirits and liqueurs.

• In 2004-05, around half of all Indigenous adults (49%) reported having consumed alcohol in the week prior to the interview, of whom one-third (16%) reported drinking at risky/high-risk levels in the long term.

• The proportion of Indigenous adults who reported drinking at risky/high-risk levels was similar to that for non-Indigenous adults.

• Some lifestyle-related health risk factors can be associated with risky/high-risk level of drinking. The effects of alcohol are often worsened by other risk factors, such as smoking and dietary factors.

• Drinking heavily over a long period of time can cause harm to a person’s brain and liver functioning and contribute to depression, relationship difficulties and hence quality of life. It can also increase the risk of developing cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, cognitive problems, dementia and alcohol dependence.

• Alcohol is the second largest cause of drug-related deaths and hospitalisations in Australia (after tobacco).

• It has been estimated that 31,132 Australians died from alcohol-caused disease and injury between 1992 and 2001; of these 75% were male and 25% female. From 1993-94 to 2000-01, there were over half a million hospitalisations due to risky and high-risk drinking in Australia.

• The estimated economic cost of alcohol misuse to the Australian community in 1998-99 totalled $7.6 billion, and this estimate includes associated factors such as crime and violence, treatment costs, loss of productivity and premature death.

• Excessive alcohol has been found to be an important factor in a third of all road deaths in Australia; in 50% of cases of domestic physical and sexual violence; in 40-70% of violent crimes, and 70-80% of night-time assaults; in homicide (affecting 34% of offenders and 31% of victims); as the third greatest problem faced by 15-24 year olds, and linked with violence, crime, vandalism and destruction of property.

• Over 80% of all alcohol consumed by 14-17 year olds is drunk at risky or high-risk levels for short-term harm. In 2004, almost a third of 12-15 year olds drank alcohol, and this figure rose to three quarters for 15-16 year olds. Furthermore, 17.1% of young people aged 12-17 drank at risky or high-risk levels for short-term harm within the past 12 months.

• Over the ten years 1993-2002, an estimated 501 underaged drinkers died from alcohol-related injury caused by risky or high-risk drinking, and in 1999/00, there were 3,300 14-17 year olds hospitalised for alcohol-related conditions.