While alcohol reduction campaigns ask us to check our relationship with alcohol, emphasising the role it can play in causing violence and disease, this research has found many Australian women view alcohol in a different way. Many don’t see alcohol as only a bad thing and have complex reasons for their relationships with alcohol.

With COVID-19 evoking health, social and economic challenges at incomparable scales, potentially fracturing mental stability, this article provides insight useful to policy makers and health professionals to support resilience as the pandemic continues.