Drinkwise

Drinkwise is an Australian alcohol industry funded organisation that funds alcohol related research and conducts public education activities.

Introduction

According to its own website ^[1] Drinkwise is an 'evidence-based not-for-profit research and social change organisation that fosters innovative approaches towards developing and maintaining a safer drinking culture in Australia. Its vision is to create an Australia in which drinking in moderation is acceptable and 'drinking to get drunk' is unacceptable. The Drinkwise philosophy is founded on industry leadership, community partnerships and recognition that alcohol abuse and misuse is a significant problem confronting the Australian community. Drinkwise claims to have embarked upon the 'first ever' long-term social change program in responsible alcohol consumption, activating behavioural transformation via generational change. A wide range of health and social professionals have refused to deal with Drinkwise because of its industry friendly agenda. Drinkwise claims to be an independent, not-for-profit organisation. Its Board members come from a diverse range of professions, and its Chair and the Drinkwise Australia Executive are independent of the alcohol industry.'

History

Drinkwise was established in 2005 by the alcohol industry and received $5 million from the Federal Government in the 2005-2006, as announced by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing in the then Australian Government, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP (Media Release). Six out of 13^[2] members of the board are some of the most senior people in the Australian alcohol industry. Current (2011) community representatives on the Drinkwise Board include:

Board Members

• The Hon. Trish Worth, ^[3] Chair. Also currently a member of the National Preventative Health Agency Advisory Council (Media Release) and member of the Board of Management of the National Centre for Education and Training on addiction (Media Release), and is a former Australian Government Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Family Services 1997-98 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs 1998-2001, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Aging from November 2001 to October 2004.
• Mr Neil Comrie ^[4] AO, APM. Currently the President of Victorian Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board and leading the Victorian Government’s 2010-11 Flood Warnings and Response Review and is Implementation Monitor of the Bushfires Royal Commission Interim Report. Mr Comrie is a former Victorian Police Commissioner from 1993-2001.
• The Hon Rob Knowles AO. Currently Chair of Mental Health Council of Australia, Chair of the Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia, Chair of the Royal Children's Hospital Campus Council, and a member of the Board of the Brotherhood of St Lawrence. Mr Knowles is a former Minister for Health, Aged Care and Housing in the Victorian Government and was a commissioner on the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission, which reported to teh Australian Government in June 2009.
• Professor Richard Smallwood AO. Currently Emeritus Professor of Medicine, University of Melbourne and is a former Australian Chief Medical Officer and a former Chair of many eminent bodies including the National Blood Authority and the National Health and Medical Research Council and in 2000 was a Vice President of the World Health Assembly in Geneva.
• Professor Robert Goldney, MB, BS, MD, FRCPYSCH, FRANZCP. Currently Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, University of Adelaide whose work has resulted in over 300 publications in the Australian and International literature. He is a past president of both the International Association for Suicide Prevention, and the International Academy for Suicide Research.
• Mr Terry Slater BSc, BEc, MPH, FAIM. Currently Chair of Research Infrastructure Ltd and former Acting Chair of the Board and Chief Executive of the National Food Authority.; and
• Professor Linda Brennan PhD (Melb), BBus(Mktg) (Mon), DipMR (AMSRS), DipTAS (Melb), DipFLM (Melb. Currently Professor of Advertising at RMIT University.

Of these, none, are currently receiving funding from the alcohol industry, although payment for their role at Drinkwise remains undisclosed apart from the paid Chair, Ms Worth.

Activities

Campaigns

To date, DrinkWise Australia has launched three multi-faceted social marketing campaigns - Kids Absorb Your Drinking, Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix and Under Your Influence. All three aim to empower parents to positively influence their children’s future drinking behaviour so that the next generation considers intoxication as unhealthy and undesirable.

Kids Absorb Your Drinking

Launched in June 2008, the Kids Absorb Your Drinking campaign marked DrinkWise Australia’s initial step towards engaging generational change in attitudes to alcohol. It sought to highlight parent’s own drinking behaviour and attitudes towards their own drinking. In a 2008 Media Release, DrinkWise cites research that supports the view that there is a strong positive correlation between the way parents drink and how their children grow up to drink. Children form their attitudes towards alcohol a long time before they’ve had their first drink by observing how their parents and other adults around them drink. The key to this campaign was to hold a mirror to parents’ drinking occasions and to allow them to reflect on (and possibly moderate) their own drinking or attitudes to drunkenness. Specifically this campaign sought to raise awareness that parents have the opportunity to positively influence their children’s future drinking behaviour, from a very early age, through their own attitudes and drinking patterns. The approach was adult to adult in conversation and tone.

Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix

According to the DrinkWise website, Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix focuses on parent’s attitudes and behaviours to their kids drinking. Launched in August 2009, it captures a common scenario that occurs in the home when teenagers start to ask their parents about alcohol. Its aim was to alert parents to new information - that alcohol can cause lasting damage to the growing adolescent brain - to give them a reason to put aside any existing beliefs they had about introducing alcohol to their children and to encourage them to delay their children’s introduction to alcohol. This campaign strategy was to reinforce to parents their role as parents (not friends). It empowers parents with facts and tactics as supported by the DrinkWise website and other resources. This new information resulted from the review completed by Professor Ian Hickie at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Research Institute, for DrinkWise about the potential damage to the developing brain should alcohol be introduced early to this age group.

Under Your Influence

The Under Your Influence campaign was launched on 30 May 2011 and according to the media release DrinkWise has formed a partnership with The Sport Australia Hall of Fame to develop a campaign that picks up on the role parents and other influential adults play as role models. The campaign encourages parents to model responsible drinking behaviours and to engage with their children on the issues associated with alcohol. Videos featuring the Ambassadors of The Sport Australia Hall of Fame, Professor Ian Hickie of the Brain and Mind Research Institute and Accident and Emergency physician Dr Andrew Rochford, are used to foster a conversation about the role of parents in influencing their childrens’ attitudes and behaviours toward drinking. The Under Your Influence website and social media platform enables parents and others concerned about these issues to share stories and ideas, ask questions and generally discuss with others in the community. This is in recognition that these online conversations and engagements have the capacity to influence a more informed and positive drinking culture for the future.

Research

In November 2010, DrinkWise Australia launched the report titled, From Ideal to Reality: cultural contradictions and young people’s drinking. The report examines the socio-cultural influences on 14 to 24 year old Australian’s drinking and is the result of qualitative research undertaken by NCETA. This study was co-funded with the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and builds on an earlier literature review also co-funded with Government in 2008. Of particular note, the study found that young people would prefer to face the negative consequences of being drunk than the social exclusion associated with staying sober, as those who choose not to drink have to come up with several reasons why they are not drinking. To fit in, young people expect that all members of the group will drink to the same level of intoxication, however, exclusion is not just applied to those who don’t drink - it is also a potential consequence for those who drink too much.

In December 2010, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released the DrinkWise funded Drinking Patterns in Australia Report. The Report is based on an analysis of data from the three most recent National Drug Household Surveys, and looks at trends in alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harm, alcohol beverage of choice, and under-age drinking. Using the 2007 data, the report also explores factors that are associated with short-term risky or high-risk drinking behaviour. The report found that consumption at the population level has remained stable over the six year period, with around 83% of the population aged 14 years and over identifying themselves as recent drinkers – with 7 in 10 young people (aged 14-17) revealing their source of alcohol coming from parents or friends. It also found that those who perceive their drinking habit as being harmful to their health were nearly five times as likely to engage in risky drinking behaviour compared with those who rated their drinking as non-harmful. This suggests that there are groups of people that may understand the exposure that they have to harm, but are unable or unwilling to reduce their consumption.

In February 2011, DrinkWise released a literature review that examined the Influence of Parents and Siblings on Children’s and Adolescents’ attitudes and behaviours towards Alcohol. A consortium consisting of Monash and Deakin Universities undertook this review that was co-funded with the Australian Government, to document and critique the existing evidence (available up to 2009) concerning the role of parents’ and older sibling’s behaviours, attitudes and use of alcohol in influencing their children’s/siblings’ attitudes, behaviour and use of alcohol, within the broader social environment. The review found that parents have an influence on children’s and adolescents’ alcohol use through role modeling and the quality of their relationship with their children. It also found that campaigns directed at parents are likely to influence not only their own children but their friends as well and this may reduce negative peer pressure.

Alcohol and the Teenage Brain – Safest to Keep Them Apart. Professor Ian Hickie, Executive Director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute at the University of Sydney reviewed the evidence regarding alcohol and the teenage brain. His opinion piece that was published in 2009 identified that alcohol can disrupt brain development during the critical phase of growth that occurs from around 12-13 years of age until our early twenties. As the brain shapes itself throughout adolescence it needs the most positive and alcohol free environment to thrive. Professor Hickie's advice for parents and influential adults is to avoid introducing alcohol to teenagers for as long as possible.

What a great night: The cultural drivers of alcohol consumption among young people. A consortium consisting of Monash and Deakin Universities undertook this research project that was published in 2009 to identify the most salient cultural drivers of low risk and risky alcohol consumption by Victorian youth, located in inner and outer suburban settings plus provincial and rural locations in Victoria. The results from this project reveal young people view drinking positively and as central to Australian culture and identity. Friendship and the ease of access to cheap alcohol make drinking an attractive activity, whilst the key deterrents are risks of drink driving, parental pressures and the responsibilities of work and study. Most young people did not agree with the stereotypes of youth drinkers as ‘out of control’ and do not feel that the new drinking guidelines applied to them. It was also found that sporting clubs play an important role as community hubs where families spend leisure time. The serving of alcohol to under-age members in the presence of parents was flagged as a grey area and clubs nominated training, education and surveillance as key to responsible club practices around alcohol consumption.

Expressions of Drunkenness (400 Rabbits). The International Centre for Alcohol Policies (ICAP), with the support of DrinkWise Australia, launched the book 'Expressions of Drunkenness (400 Rabbits)' in July 2010. The book is the 10th in a scholarly series on alcohol in society published by ICAP, and provides its readers with an understanding of the historical origins of drunkenness; the biological explanations of intoxication; the language used to define this phenomenon; and modern day drinking patterns. Understanding why people get drunk, and how the settings such as a particular social setting trigger this behaviour, helps governments to develop best practice policies and better enables industry to adopt best practice approaches. The book delves into the reasons why people purposefully pursue the ‘pleasure’ of drunkenness, and how factors such as a lowering of the age at which drinking to excess has become acceptable, potency of drinks and social acceptance of risky drinking behaviour have an impact on levels of drunkenness.

Sustaining a Reduction of Alcohol-Related Harms in the Licensed Environment. This project was undertaken by Griffith University to develop a comprehensive prevention model that was capable of reducing alcohol related violence and aggression, and a scientifically defensible research design to test the model in a variety of licensed environments in Australia and New Zealand. This report was published in 2009 and includes a review of the literature on prevention of alcohol related violence and examines the lack of scientific evidence of sustainable reductions of harm, public disorder and violence around licensed environments. It identifies the rationale and components of a comprehensive prevention model and concludes with a description of the process for both implementing, supporting, monitoring and evaluating the trial at multiple sites. This report provides a sound evidence base and scientific design to progress with a trial at multiple sites.

Achievements

DrinkWise launched its ‘Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix’ campaign nationally in 2009, which highlighted the impact of alcohol on the developing teenage brain and encouraged parents to delay the introduction of alcohol to their children. The Campaign tracking results has revealed that there is good awareness of the Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix advertisement and the Campaign messages are resonating with parents and influencing their behaviours: • 70% strongly agree that drinking alcohol affects the development of a teenager’s brain; • 84% disagree that it’s ok for their underage child to drink alcohol as long as they supply it; • 34% of parents have thought more about the issue and discussed the ad with their children and partner/spouse.

The 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey Report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in July 2011 has found a significant decline in the number of minors drinking alcohol and the Institute’s spokesperson has publicly indicated in the Australian on 27 July that this is a sign that the advertising campaigns are working (Article).

Criticism

According to its critics,^[5][6][7]. Drinkwise is the Australian version of the insidious global alcohol industry supported ‘social aspects/ public relations’ organisations (SAPROs), following the example of the tobacco industry ^[8]. It promotes industry friendly alcohol-related harm interventions such as school education and TV advertising, and avoids ‘old fashioned methods’ such as higher taxes on alcohol, presumably because of the inconvenient old-fashioned truth that they work. Fifty-eight scientists and health experts listed at http://www.webcitation.org/5gbwQWf9J expressed their opposition to Drinkwise by signing a letter stating that they will not seek or accept funding from them, and called on other researchers and community agencies to consider their own positions. These researchers strongly oppose the conflict of interest between a body that is linked to an industry that profits from the consumption of alcohol, and that also purports to fund research aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm.

The Honourable Trish Worth responded to the 50 academics' interest in Drinkwise’s activities by personally writing to many of them, stating that "some of my Board members feel they have been defamed”. She did not tell her correspondents how their observations were inconsistent with the facts [6]. A strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) is a lawsuit that is intended to intimidate and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defence until they abandon their criticism or opposition. Winning the lawsuit is not necessarily the intent of the person filing the SLAPP. The plaintiff’s goals are accomplished if the defendant succumbs to fear, intimidation, mounting legal costs or simple exhaustion and abandons the criticism. A SLAPP may also intimidate others from participating in the debate.

References

1. ^ http://www.Drinkwise.org.au
2. ^ DrinkWise Australia Media Release 5 May 2011
3. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trish_Worth
4. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Comrie
5. ^ Miller, P.G., Kypri, K. (2009) Why we will not accept funding from Drinkwise. Drug and Alcohol Review; 28, 324–326
6. ^ Miller, P.G., Kypri, K., Chikritzhs, T.N., Skov, S.J., Rubin, G. (2009) Health experts reject industry-backed funding for alcohol research. Medical Journal of Australia; 190 (12): 713-714
7. ^ http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2009/08/24/drinkwise-making-a-splash-but-is-it-a-bellyflop/
8. ^ Bond, L., Daube, M., & Chikritzhs, T. (2009). Access to Confidential Alcohol Industry Documents: From ‘Big Tobacco’ to ‘Big Booze’. AMJ 1(3), 1-26.