This evidence review confirms that understanding early drinking behaviour is important, with young people’s patterns of drinking continuing into adulthood. This demonstrates that targeting youth drinking can have implications not only for adolescents’ development in the short-term but also long-term health and wellbeing.

The insights in this report provide particular insights into young people and their views around alcohol culture and late night entertainment.

Young people are more likely to start drinking alcohol earlier and at risky levels as a direct result of alcohol companies targeting them via advertising, this review by Curtin University has found.

The New South Wales School Students Health Behaviours Survey (2014) reported a substantial reduction in students aged 12–17 years reporting that they had ever consumed alcohol, from 82.7% in 2005 to 65.1% in 2014. Similar downward trends are reported nationally and internationally. Although overall consumption is declining, national recommendations maintain that it is safest for...

Executive summary The Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol recommend that “for children and young people under 18 years of age, not drinking alcohol is the safest option”. However, in Australia the majority of children have tried alcohol by the age of 12 and there is a perception among many adolescents and...