Ask your friends and colleagues about young Australians and alcohol and I bet they'll say something about a generation out of control or a binge-drinking epidemic.
The media regularly brings the worst outcomes of young people’s drinking to our attention and points to a problematic drinking culture supposedly unique to young Australians. Little wonder people believe things have never been so bad.
The reality is startlingly different. Data recently released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows alcohol consumption in Australia has reached its lowest point since the early 1960s, having declined steadily since the mid-2000s. Survey data suggests this decline has been driven almost entirely by reductions in youth drinking.
According to the National Drug Strategy Household Survey, the proportion of 12- to 15-year-olds who reported any drinking in the past year halved, from 35% in 2004 to 18% in 2013. Over the same time, drinking by 16- to 17-year-olds fell sharply as well, from 81% to 59%.
In case you think there must be something wrong with this survey, results from the Australian Secondary Students Alcohol and Drug Survey show similar trends. Between 2002 and 2011, drinking in the past week fell by more than half for 12- to 15-year-olds (from 29% to 11%) and nearly as sharply for 16-17 year olds (48% to 33%).
Rates of heavy drinking have fallen as well. Teenagers in Australia are drinking less alcohol now than they have at any time since these surveys began in the early 1980s.
