Tag: Alcohol
-
Preventive health is important, just not when it comes to alcohol
Michelle Jongenelis When the WA Government announced the appointment of Australia’s first dedicated Minister for Preventative Health, the public health community praised the move. Finally, a government in Australia was taking prevention seriously. Fast forward 12 months and nothing could be further from the truth. While other states have been…
-
Alcohol cut backs don’t dry out tourism, research finds
Tanya Chikritzhs For many, alcohol is tightly woven into Australia’s tourism identity. From winery tours to pub crawls, alcohol is often sold as part of the experience. Some believe that restrictions on alcohol sales in regional towns aimed at curbing alcohol-related problems may discourage visitors and undermine local economies. This…
-
Drones with fast food and alcohol are on the way, but at what cost?
Victoria Farrar Drones are becoming more prevalent in our everyday lives, and it’s anticipated that drone delivery of fast food and alcohol will be the next big use for drones in our society. Judging by the geographic reach of drone food delivery, which is already available in parts of Brisbane…
-
Calling time on tobacco vending machines
Dr Christina Watts, Dr Natalia Lizama and Professor Suzan Burton Many of us know someone who only smokes when they drink. Perhaps they’re a former smoker, are currently trying to quit, or only feel compelled to smoke when they’re at the pub. This isn’t merely anecdotal – there is strong evidence…
-
Sober curiosity on the rise amid growing concern about alcohol
Jasmine Lykissas The Australian legend of a man with a beer permanently in hand has shaped our country’s culture for the past two centuries. Drinking was transported to Australia during colonisation, when boatloads of prisoners from the Irish and British Isles would commiserate and celebrate with bottles of rum. Alcohol…
-
Pre-mixed alcohol products are driving a deceptive wellness trend in alcohol
Bella Sträuli, The George Institute for Global Health If you visit a local bottle shop this Christmas season, you could be forgiven for believing that some of the pre-mixed alcohol options on the shelf are good for you. With claims like ‘low sugar’, ‘low calorie’, ‘low carb’, ‘vegan’, and ‘gluten…
-
Hard-hitting WA campaign helps shift attitudes on alcohol during pregnancy
Hollie Harwood, Public Health Association of Australia Research shows that around 35 percent of pregnant women in Australia drink at least some alcohol during pregnancy, despite the health recommendation being abstinence during pregnancy. However, new research published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health last week shows…
-
Data shows improvements in Alice Springs following alcohol restrictions
Dr John Boffa, Chief Medical Officer Public Health, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Adjunct Professor of Primary Health Care, Charles Darwin University; and Edward Tilton, Senior Health Policy Adviser, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress The highly charged topic of alcohol-related violence in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) made headlines late last year, after the…
-
National alliance urges five key steps to reduce harms from alcohol
Introduction by Croakey: If the Australian Government is to achieve the stated goal of a 10 percent reduction in the harmful use of alcohol by 2028, some significant policy changes are needed, according to Hannah Pierce, Executive Officer for Alcohol Change Australia. Below she outlines five evidence-based areas where the Government can…
-
Minimum Unit Pricing for Alcohol: Lessons from Scotland for Australia
Dr Mark Robinson, Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland and School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow; Dr Sarah Callinan, Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe University, Australia and Dr Nicholas Taylor, National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University Five years after Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP)…
-
New Alcohol. Think Again campaign: What’s your poison?
Danica Keric, Cancer Council WA and Tahnee McCausland, Mental Health Commission Editor’s note: In the second of a series of Western Australia-based blogs, Danica Keric from Cancer Council WA and Tahnee McCausland from the Mental Health Commission outline a new state-wide campaign aimed at reducing alcohol harms. In June 2023,…
-
Parliament debates influence of unhealthy product ads on children
Malcolm Baalman, PHAA Senior Policy and Advocacy Advisor Yesterday, key members of federal Parliament with health experience – including an Assistant Minister – agreed that action is urgently needed to meet community expectations about protecting children from advertising of unhealthy products including junk food, alcohol, and gambling. The debate (p.61 onwards)…
-
To reduce harm from alcohol, we need Indigenous-led responses
Lorelle Holland, The University of Queensland; Andrew Smirnov, The University of Queensland; Natasha Reid, The University of Queensland; Nicole Hewlett, The University of Queensland, and Tylissa Elisara, The University of Queensland Alcohol management in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities has been a deeply divisive issue, as seen recently in…
-
The rise of dark advertising: gambling, alcohol, junk food ads bombarding people in Australia
Melanie Parker, PHAA Note: Article updated on 26/01/2023 to correct first table, sixth paragraph, and fourth-last paragraph. After experts voiced concerns about a lack of transparency of social media companies on how people are targeted by unhealthy product advertisers, we decided to investigate how often our own profiles were…
-
‘I take it with a pinch of salt’: why women question health warnings linking alcohol with breast cancer
Belinda Lunnay, Torrens University Australia; Paul Ward, Torrens University Australia, and Samantha Meyer, University of Waterloo Up to one in ten cases of breast cancer in Australia is linked to drinking alcohol. Midlife women are already at increased risk for breast cancer because of their age, and tend to drink…
-
Public health measures can help balance the Budget
Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin – PHAA CEO This post is the second in our series of articles exploring the PHAA’s 2022-23 pre-Budget submission, The Public Health Crisis Budget. Read the first post here. Government revenue, primarily gathered through taxes, is and always has been, a fundamentally political issue. Governments need…
-
Every Moment Matters: The campaign to raise awareness of the risks of drinking alcohol while pregnant, planning a pregnancy, or breastfeeding and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
Sarah Ward – Foundation for Alcohol Research & Education (FARE) It’s the largest national campaign about alcohol, pregnancy, and breastfeeding that Australia has seen. Every Moment Matters emphasises the message that ‘the moment you start trying, is the moment to stop drinking alcohol’. I have been lucky enough to…
-
Tonight I’ll be having…poison! On-demand alcohol delivery services and the danger they pose to public health
Dr Michelle I Jongenelis, Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director, Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change In case you were worried about how you would survive when you can’t get to the bottle shop, fear not! UberEats has launched a campaign to make sure you know just how easy it is to…
-
Freedom from lockdown but shackled to alcohol: How Australia’s glorification of alcohol is damaging to public health
Dr Michelle I Jongenelis – Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director, Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change I write this piece knowing that many in Australia will not respond favourably to the words that follow. I may be called a ‘party pooper’, a ‘killjoy’, or a ‘wowser’. Someone who is complicit…
-
The worrying impact of COVID on cancer screening and detection
Public Health Association of Australia While the COVID-19 pandemic has dominated our lives and public health efforts over the past 18 months, there is still a need to be urging Australians not to ignore the other ‘Big C’. Cancer remains one of the biggest killers in Australia, but with so…
-
Australia’s leading cause of preventable, non-genetic disability is not required to carry a warning: is that about to change?
Food safety ministers are being urged to prioritise the health of families and the community when they meet on 17 July to vote on an effective pregnancy health warning for alcohol products. Alcohol is the leading cause of preventable non-genetic developmental disability in Australia. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) affects…
-
Alcohol minimum unit price reduces harm in the Northern Territory
An evaluation of the initial impacts of an alcohol minimum unit price in the Northern Territory has found that alcohol-fuelled harms have significantly reduced and it’s helping to create healthier and safer NT communities.