Drinkwise

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DrinkWise Australia is an organisation that employs social marketing strategies and develops educational initiatives aimed at addressing issues related to drinking culture and underage drinking. The organisation's approach is to provide information and resources to the community, emphasising responsible alcohol consumption. It operates based on a framework that encourages collaboration between the alcohol industry and community entities.

Contents

DrinkWise's philosophy is founded on industry leadership and community partnerships. It is currently funded by voluntary contributions from alcohol industry participants and has in the past received both Coalition and Labor Government funding to support its work. [1]

The organisation is governed by a board of Australians with diverse professional backgrounds [2] including policing, public health, education, community service, academia, research and marketing. DrinkWise's alcohol industry contributors are also represented on its board.

History

DrinkWise Australia was established in 2005 and then received $5 million in funding from the Federal Government as announced by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing in the then Australian Government, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP. [3]

Board Members

Under the DrinkWise constitution, the board must comprise eight (8) community members and six (6) industry representatives with the Chair being a community member. Current board members as of December 2023 are:

Community directors:

Industry directors:

Activities

Campaigns

To date, DrinkWise Australia has launched a range of social marketing campaigns and initiatives including Kids Absorb Your Drinking, Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix, Drinking – Do it Properly and "You won't Miss a Moment...if you DrinkWise".

Kids Absorb Your Drinking

Launched in June 2008, the Kids Absorb Your Drinking campaign was created to raise awareness of the importance of role-modeling behaviour of parents about their consumption of alcohol. In a 2008 media release, DrinkWise cites research that supports the view that there is a strong positive correlation between the way parents drink and how their children grow up to drink.. [4]

Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix

In 2010 the Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix campaign informed parents on emerging clinical research undertaken by Professor Ian Hickie at the Sydney University Mind and Brain Institute that indicated that alcohol can cause damage to the developing adolescent brain. [5]

Drinking – Do it Properly (18–24 year-old Campaign)

In 2014, DrinkWise Australia launched an Australian first campaign designed to influence young adults (18–24 years) to moderate the intensity and frequency of binge drinking occasions. The campaign was developed in response to the prevalence of poor drinking choices by young Australians aged 18–24 years. DrinkWise commissioned quantitative and qualitative formative research as well as multiple rounds of concept testing research to ensure the campaign cut through with young adults. [6]

Commissioned research

Where a knowledge gap has existed, DrinkWise Australia has commissioned independent academic research:

Criticism

Some health and academic commentators have noted that DrinkWise is the Australian version of the global alcohol industry-supported public relations organisations, [14] [15] [16] following the example of the tobacco industry. [17] In 2009 fifty-eight scientists and health professionals expressed their opposition to DrinkWise by signing a letter stating that they will not seek or accept funding from them, and called on other researchers and community agencies to consider their own positions. [18] These researchers strongly oppose the perceived conflict of interest between a body that is linked to an industry that profits from the consumption of alcohol, and that also purports to funds research aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm.

In 2018 thousands of posters warning pregnant women about the dangers of alcohol have had to be removed from the walls of hospitals and GP clinics around Australia because they contained misleading and inaccurate information about the risks of drinking alcohol while pregnant. The posters were distributed by Tonic Health Media and were later replaced with updated posters. [19] [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcoholism</span> Problematic excessive alcohol consumption

Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated there were 283 million people with alcohol use disorders worldwide as of 2016. The term alcoholism was first coined in 1852, but alcoholism and alcoholic are sometimes considered stigmatizing and to discourage seeking treatment, so diagnostic terms such as alcohol use disorder or alcohol dependence are often used instead in a clinical context.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol abuse</span> Substance abuse of alcoholic beverages

Alcohol abuse encompasses a spectrum of alcohol-related substance abuse, ranging from the consumption of more than 2 drinks per day on average for men, or more than 1 drink per day on average for women, to binge drinking or alcohol use disorder.

The long-term effects of alcohol have been extensively researched. The health effects of long-term alcohol consumption on health vary depending on the amount consumed. Even light drinking poses health risks, but atypically small amounts of alcohol may have health benefits. Alcoholism causes severe health consequences which outweigh any potential benefits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drinking culture</span> Aspect of human behavior

Drinking culture is the set of traditions and social behaviours that surround the consumption of alcoholic beverages as a recreational drug and social lubricant. Although alcoholic beverages and social attitudes toward drinking vary around the world, nearly every civilization has independently discovered the processes of brewing beer, fermenting wine, and distilling spirits, among other practices. Many countries have developed their own regional cultures based on unique traditions around the fermentation and consumption of alcohol, which may also be known as a beer culture, wine culture etc. after a particularly prominent type of drink.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Minimum Drinking Age Act</span> 1984 U.S. law which indirectly raised the nationwide minimum drinking age to 21

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol advertising</span> Promotion of alcoholic beverages

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Alcohol education is the practice of disseminating disinformation about the effects of alcohol on health, as well as society and the family unit. It was introduced into the public schools by temperance organizations such as the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in the late 19th century. Initially, alcohol education focused on how the consumption of alcoholic beverages affected society, as well as the family unit. In the 1930s, this came to also incorporate education pertaining to alcohol's effects on health. For example, even light and moderate alcohol consumption increases cancer risk in individuals. Organizations such as the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in the United States were founded to promulgate alcohol education alongside those of the temperance movement, such as the American Council on Alcohol Problems.

Alcohol has a number of effects on health. Short-term effects of alcohol consumption include intoxication and dehydration. Long-term effects of alcohol include changes in the metabolism of the liver and brain, several types of cancer and alcohol use disorder. Alcohol intoxication affects the brain, causing slurred speech, clumsiness, and delayed reflexes. There is an increased risk of developing an alcohol use disorder for teenagers while their brain is still developing. Adolescents who drink have a higher probability of injury including death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Binge drinking</span> Form of excessive alcohol intake

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol in New Zealand</span>

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The alcohol industry, also known as Big Alcohol, is the segment of the commercial drink industry that is involved in the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The industry has been criticised in the 1990s for deflecting attention away from the problems associated with alcohol use. The alcohol industry has also been criticised for being unhelpful in reducing the harm of alcohol.

The legal drinking age varies from country to country. In the United States, the legal drinking age is currently 21. To curb excessive alcohol consumption by younger people, instead of raising the drinking age, other countries have raised the prices of alcohol beverages and encouraged the general public to drink less. Setting a legal drinking age of 21 is designed to discourage reckless alcohol consumption by youth, limiting consumption to those who are more mature, who can be expected to make reasonable and wise decisions when it comes to drinking.

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Alcoholism in adolescence, though less common than in adults, presents a unique set of dangers due to the developing brain's vulnerability to alcohol's effects. Alcohol can cause harm and even damage to a person's DNA. "Alcohol consumption is recognized worldwide as a leading risk factor for disease, disability, and death" and is rated as the most used substance by adolescences. Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and psychological changes, usually a time in a person life in which they go through puberty. Combining these transitional stages and the intake of alcohol can leave a number of consequences for an adolescent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June Oscar</span>

June Oscar is an Australian Aboriginal woman of Bunuba descent, Indigenous rights activist, community health and welfare worker, film and theatre, and since 2017 and as of February 2022 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.

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References

  1. "About". DrinkWise.org.au. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  2. "DrinkWise Board of Directors". DrinkWise.org.au. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  3. "Department of Health - DrinkWise Australia". Health.gov.au. 9 May 2006. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  4. "Parents campaign". DrinkWise.org.au. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  5. "DrinkWise Australia | Kids and Alcohol Don't Mix". Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  6. "DrinkWise Australia | Drinking: Do it Properly". Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  7. Borlagdan, J., Freeman, T., Duvnjak, A., Lunnay, B., Bywood, P.T., Roche, A.M. (2010). From Ideal to Reality: Cultural contradictions and young people’s drinking. National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction, Flinders University, Adelaide.
  8. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2010. Drinking patterns in Australia, 2001-2007. at. no. PHE 133. Canberra: AIHW.
  9. Ward, B., Snow, P., James, E., Griffith, J. 2010. The influence of parents and siblings on children’s and adolescents’ alcohol use: a critical review of the literature.
  10. Hickie, I.B., Whitwell, B.G. 2009. Alcohol and the Teenage Brain: Safest to keep them apart, Brain and Mind Research Institute Monograph 2009-2.
  11. Lindsay, J., Kelly, P., Harrison, L., Hickey, C., Advocat, J., Cormack, S. 2009. What a Great Night’; The Cultural Drivers and Drinking Practices among 14-24 year old Australians.
  12. International Centre for Alcohol Policies 2010. Routledge. Expressions of Drunkenness (400 Rabbits). Edited by Anne Fox and Mike MacAvoy.
  13. McIlwain, G., Hommel, R. Griffith University 2009/3. Sustaining a Reduction of Alcohol Related Harms in the Licensed Environment: A Practical Experiment to Generate New Evidence.
  14. Miller, P.G., Kypri, K. (2009) Why we will not accept funding from DrinkWise. Drug and Alcohol Review; 28, 324–326
  15. Miller, P.G., Kypri, K., Chikritzhs, T.N., Skov, S.J., Rubin, G. (2009) Health experts reject industry-backed funding for alcohol research. Medical Journal of Australia; 190 (12): 713-714
  16. Melissa Sweet (24 August 2009). DrinkWise – making a splash but is it a bellyflop?. Crikey. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  17. Bond, L., Daube, M., & Chikritzhs, T. (2009). Access to Confidential Alcohol Industry Documents: From ‘Big Tobacco’ to ‘Big Booze’. AMJ 1(3), 1-26.
  18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. Esther, Han. "'Utterly wrong': What happens when the alcohol industry makes pregnancy warning posters". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  20. Julian, Koplin. "Revised DrinkWise posters use clumsy language to dampen alcohol warnings". The Conversation.