‘Drinking Patterns in Australia, 2001-2007′ is a report that was produced by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, with funding from DrinkWise Australia.  The Report was released in December 2010.

Using data from the three previous National Drug Strategy Household Surveys, the report looks at trends in alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harm, alcoholic beverage of choice, and under-age drinking. Using the 2007 data, it also explores factors that are associated with short-term risk or high-risk drinking behaviour.

The Report found that consumption at the population level has remained stable over the six year period, with around 83% of the population aged 14 and over identifying themselves as recent drinkers – with 7 in 10 young people (14-17) identifying parents or friends as the source of alcohol. It also found those who perceive their drinking habits to be harmful to their health were nearly five times as likely to engage in risky drinking behaviour compared with those who rated their drinking as non-harmful. This suggests that there are groups of people that may understand the exposure that they have to harm, but are unable or unwilling to reduce their consumption.

An electronic copy of this report is available under ‘resources’ on this page. Free hard copies can be requested via info@drinkwise.org.au.