The sobering conversation that’s facing a nation
SOBER in the Country founder Shanna Whan asks the same thing of every crowd she addresses.
‘‘Raise your hand if you don’t know a single person impacted by alcohol, whether that’s harm, addiction or accident,’’ Ms
Whan asked a regional
Australia audience in Canberra last week.
Not a single hand appeared in a room of hundreds, as has been the case in her more than seven years of work to tackle the alcoholcentric culture of country Australia.
‘‘Despite that, I remain the sole advocate driving this discussion across rural and regional Australia from a lived experience point of view,’’ Ms Whan said.
‘‘Why? Because it’s a bloody hard conversation to have.
‘‘But we all know someone impacted by grog. We’ve all lost someone to drinkdriving. We’ve all experienced our own battles at one point or another and yet we keep on insisting that conversation be wrapped up and tucked away in the dark.
‘‘That’s exactly why we need to bring it to light.’’
Ms Whan, who survived a 25year battle with alcoholism, founded Sober in the Country to share the message ‘‘It’s OK to say no to beers in the bush’’.
She was named the 2022 Australian of the Year local hero.
Whan said the national charity operated with one other staff member and limited funding, while alcohol harms killed one person every 90 minutes.
‘‘Why are grassroots organisations on the ground in the bush — going upstream speaking the language of the people in the bush, making real impact — continually overlooked,’’ she asked the Regional Australia Institute national summit.
Sober in the Country needed $500,000 a year to cover operating costs. Its goal was to visit every state to share the stories of country people who have tackled alcoholism.
‘‘Alcohol is the binding, concurrent thing that pops up in every single area of rural and regional mental health . . .
‘‘It’s a ghost, a mongrel thing sitting there at the base of all of those things.’’ — AAP