NT tops risky drinkers

But national survey also finds we have most teetotallers

THE NT has the highest proportion of both risky drinkers and teetotallers in Australia, according to a national poll on alcohol consumption and awareness.

The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education’s annual alcohol poll 2020, released on Thursday, found 42 per cent of NT respondents drank more than four standard drinks on a typical occasion compared to a national average of just 28 per cent, and 52 per cent had consumed alcohol to get drunk in the past year compared to 45 per cent nationally.

The NT results were the highest of any state or territory. However, NT residents also made up the highest proportion of non-drinkers in the country, with 25 per cent responding they did not drink alcohol at all, compared to 21 per cent Australia-wide. They were also more likely to agree alcohol is the drug that causes the most harm to Australians, with 34 per cent in support compared to 23 per cent of all Australians.

FARE chief executive Caterina Giorgi said the NT’s high rates of risky drinking were driven by demographic factors such as a male-dominated population and higher proportion of blue-collar workers, and its above-average number of non-drinkers had probably developed in reaction to that.

“What normally happens in areas where there are high rates of risky drinking is we also see high rates of abstention,” she said. “That’s because the results of harm are so visible, some people go the other way and choose not to drink alcohol because they’ve seen in their communities the harm it can create.

“People in the NT are also more likely to say alcohol is the drug that causes the most harm … which shows it’s spoken about a lot more, and because it’s more visible people are more aware of the harms that result.”

The survey also found the NT was the only jurisdiction in which residents believed governments were doing enough to address alcohol harm, with slightly more Territorians saying they were than they weren’t.

Ms Giorgi said the result showed people were pleased with the government reforms brought in to address alcohol harm in the NT, such as setting a minimum alcohol floor price.

The FARE poll was conducted in January and February this year and surveyed more than 2000 people nationwide.