Will raising the legal drinking age in Australia help reduce binge drinking, developmental problems and alcohol-related violence? A group of doctors at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians believe so. Second, the data show that raising the legal drinking age to 21 reduces the rate of alcohol-related harms among youth. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, several U.S. states raised the legal drinking age to 21, and assessments showed a reduction in alcohol-related traffic accidents.3 In 1984, the U.S. government passed legislation allowing it to withhold funding for highways if states did not pass age laws for the age of 21. By 1988, all 50 States had acceded to it. In the late 1970s, some states raised their minimum age to combat the incidence of impaired driving. During the colonial period under British rule, there was no drinking age. It was not uncommon to see young teenagers drinking in taverns. A common cultural food among young people is drinking, especially to get drunk. Almost two-thirds of 18- to 29-year-olds agreed with this statement, and one in five hospitalizations of people under 25 was alcohol-related. [22] 88% of Australians surveyed in 2010 had consumed alcohol before the age of 14. [ref.
needed] Among Australians who drink often, the majority seem to do so in moderation. 72.6% of respondents consume alcohol below the long-term risk of harm. [ref. needed] However, many Australians consume alcohol in harmful amounts. Every year, there are more than 42 million cases of excessive alcohol consumption. [ref. needed] Every month, 20.4% of Australians consume high-risk alcohol. [21] Australians who live in remote areas are more likely to drink at high risk than those who live in urban areas. [23] There are new calls to raise the drinking age in Australia from 18 to 21, with a rising rate of alcohol-related violence among young Australians. In South Australia, the main legislation governing the sale and consumption of alcohol is the Liquor Licensing Act 1997 (SA). The main purpose of the Act is to minimise the harms associated with alcohol consumption in South Australia.
Prime Minister Don Dunstan introduced the Age of Majority Bill in October 1970 and lowered the drinking age from 21 to 20 in 1968. [11] In 1971, South Australia had an alcohol drinking age of 18. [12] [13] Between 1836 and 1839, liquor licences were granted by the governor. So, would raising the legal drinking age help reduce alcohol-related harm in Australia? Let us take a closer look at the circumstances of this debate. Many people think that drinking alcohol gives them a sense of identity that can help them integrate into social networks. Some also believe that participation in social situations builds trust. [26] Some may resist being pressured to drink alcohol, but others turn to social networks where alcohol use is common to promote a sense of belonging and the formation of an identity. [27] Citing an increase in alcohol-related hospitalizations and the normalization of binge drinking among Australian adolescents, the group calls for prioritizing prevention. It does not have to be that way. History tells us that average alcohol consumption in Australia can change dramatically over time and that drinking practices are highly modifiable. In other parts of Asia, the minimum age for alcohol consumption varies. Malaysia (16), China (18), South Korea (19), Japan (20) and Thailand (20) are notable countries with different minimum age limits.
In March 1965, Merle Thornton and Rosalie Bogner tied themselves with a chain of dogs on the ramp of the Regatta Hotel in Brisbane to protest laws prohibiting them as women from drinking with men in public bars. [10] In 1965, South Australian winemaker Thomas Angove invented the wine can or wine barrel. [11] Over the next four decades, per capita wine consumption and beer consumption declined. [9] However, the market value of beer sales increased as sales of premium or brewery beers grew in popularity. In 2010, the National Drug Strategy Household Survey found that 7.2% of the Australian population drank alcohol every day. [15] It was found that men drank twice as often as women every day and were more likely to drink amounts that posed a health risk. A recent survey of teenagers in Australia showed a decline in binge drinking in the age group since 2005. [16] Another survey in Victoria found that rates of alcohol consumption among youth were increasing despite illegality. [17] In 2010, 18- to 29-year-olds were the age group most likely to consume harmful amounts. Spirits were the most consumed alcoholic beverages in Australia in the 1830s, with early conservative estimates showing that 3.6 litres of pure alcohol were consumed per person each year in New South Wales.
[5] In the 1830s, the temperance movement gained ground in the colony. Its influence reached its peak during World War I and the Great Depression. Between 1910 and 1928, the sale of alcohol was banned in the Australian Capital Territory. Four referendums on alcohol prohibition have been held in Western Australia, including one in 1911, 1921, 1925 and 1950. In 1837, laws were passed to prevent Aboriginal people from having access to alcohol, as excessive alcohol consumption became a problem. [6] Since then, some states have proposed legislation to lower the minimum drinking age to 18, but with little traction. Less difficult options include raising the drinking age to 19 or 20 to remove the legal purchase of alcohol by high school students. The peak of the temperance movement occurred during World War I and the Depression, when consumption in the English-speaking world dropped dramatically. But after World War II, there was a backlash against the anti-alcohol movement. Rates of alcohol consumption began to rise again, as growing prosperity and cultural changes such as the changing role of women and European immigration shaped the way we drank. Wisconsin was the first U.S. state to adopt a minimum drinking age in 1839.
It prevented the sale of wines or spirits to persons under the age of 18 without parental consent. Its main objective will be to create a healthier and safer consumer culture in Australia. Drink Wise provides information on how to deal with teenage drinking, binge drinking, drunk driving, the effects of alcohol on pregnancy, and school dropouts. It fights against evidence-based measures such as increasing the alcohol tax. [55] The drinking age has been the subject of intermittent public discourse since it was unilaterally lowered to 18 in all states and territories in the 1970s. Opponents of raising the minimum drinking age point out that an 18-year-old is legally of legal age and therefore capable of making their own decisions and taking responsibility for them. There are many initiatives, funded primarily by the federal government, to address the binge drinking crisis. Health experts cite evidence that the age of 21 is necessary to protect young adults from alcohol dependence. States that have raised the minimum drinking age to 21 have seen a decrease in the number of car accidents. This limit remained constant until the late 1960s and 1970s.
Meanwhile, many states have lowered the minimum drinking age to 18. But as the major alcohol manufacturers expanded their product lines, increased the quantity they produced, increased the sophistication and diversification of their advertising, and allied themselves with major sports and the mainstream media, civilized consumption of beverages did not remain the norm for a significant portion of the population.
