DrinkWise had a great year in 2023, largely driven by increased partnership opportunities with government, community organisations, media and the industry.
These partnerships are critical to the DrinkWise whole-of-community approach, whereby the combined efforts of multiple stakeholders will lead to better overall outcomes (as opposed to individual or exclusionary approaches). Opportunities allowed new audiences to be reached, increased awareness of positive attitudinal and behavioural changes towards alcohol and more sustainable in-situ (venue) alcohol education messaging.
New and expanded programs in 2023 saw DrinkWise activate initiatives in conjunction with: the Parliamentary Friends of Preventative and Public Health (Federal); a range of alcohol support services, the Queensland Government; Queensland Hotels Association; Clubs Queensland; New South Wales Government; New South Wales Police; South Australian Government; South Australia Police; AHA South Australia; the University of Adelaide; and the Australian Wine Research Institute. These initiatives were in addition to the ongoing work to extend DrinkWise messaging through opportunities with DrinkWise contributors, the AHA and Retail Drinks Australia.
In 2024, as we see the overwhelming majority of Australians that choose to drink do so in moderation and responsibly, it allows the DrinkWise messaging to evolve to reflect those positive cultural changes. Reinforcing those improved behaviours is important and will see a refresh of some existing successful campaigns, such as How to Drink Properly and You won’t miss a moment if you DrinkWise.
Importantly, some of these cultural changes (such as the changing consumption habits of those attending Schoolies) have sparked the interest of media, allowing more stories that highlight how things have changed for the better. This causes the broader community to rethink their relationship with alcohol and understand the need to cut back if consuming at risky levels – or abstain if underage, pregnant or having trouble managing consumption and behaviour.
It is also apparent through underage and adult abstinence rates that the notion of pressure to consume is disappearing. The community at large is – and should be – confident to not drink if that is their choice and should be supported in that decision. Likewise, people taking active steps to reduce their overall alcohol consumption, through options such as lower-strength or zero alcohol alternatives, should be encouraged to continue to moderate.
This, again, reflects the essential nature of partnerships. DrinkWise has been able to increase its presence in a variety of ways because of the willingness of media, sporting organisations, support services, government, academic institutions, community organisations and industry recognising that supporting a consistent message around alcohol education and moderation will have better results.
Of course, we still have a proportion of people that consume at risky levels, which is why ongoing education is critical. DrinkWise will continue to explore each and every opportunity to reach those people in an effort to help them cut back or abstain so that we can continue to see reductions in risky alcohol consumption.
This article was written by Simon Strahan, CEO, DrinkWise and originally appeared in the 2024 Leaders Forum issue of National Liquor News.
