Are you a responsible drinker?

Every year, FARE’s alcohol poll examines Australia’s complex relationship with alcohol, and provides us with a detailed picture of our drinking culture.

This year’s findings showed us that 92 per cent of drinkers classify themselves as responsible drinkers.

Yet at the same time, over a third of Australia drinkers are drinking to get drunk and three out of every four Australians believe Australia has a problem with alcohol.

At the launch event in Melbourne, we spoke with the experts and took to the streets to unpack these findings.

Dr Paul Harrison, Senior Lecturer in consumer behaviour at Deakin University says “it’s very easy to say you’re a responsible drinker; other people aren’t responsible but I am. Even the term ‘responsible drinker’ is a little meaningless, it doesn’t really mean a lot for a lot of people.”

FARE’s Director of Policy and Research Caterina Giorgi agrees: “The alcohol industry in their messaging will say ‘drink responsibly’. But there’s clearly no guidelines around that, it doesn’t mean anything… it’s not going to shift behaviours at all.”