Foundation for Alcohol Research finds 40 per cent of Aussies drink to get drunk
AUSTRALIANS drink themselves drunk and more than a quarter can't recall what happened the night before, the latest snapshot of Australia's drinking culture reveals.
The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education's annual poll has revealed 40 per cent of Australians - 4.5 million people - drink to get drunk and almost a third (31 per cent) feel guilty afterwards.
The poll, to be released today, also reveals 75 per cent of Australians believe the nation has a problem with excess drinking or alcohol abuse and 78 per cent believe it will continue or worsen over the next decade.
Foundation chief executive Michael Thorn said the shocking figures were a warning sign of preventable future health problems.
"We are buying ourselves a major health problem down the track unless we change the way we drink," he said.
Mr Thorn said binge drinking and lack of awareness about the link between alcohol and chronic illnesses such as cancer would lead to increased health costs.
Alcohol cost the nation $10-$12 billion a year, while the cost of alcohol-related illness topped $36 billion a year, he said.
The poll also shows people want to curb their troubled culture - 61 per cent said health information labels should be placed on alcohol and 64 per cent called for an alcohol advertising ban before 8.30pm. Eighty per cent believed pubs and clubs should close by 3am.
Mr Thorn said the figures were more concerning among Generation Y, with almost two-thirds drinking to get drunk.
He said much of the blame lay with the alcohol industry, which appeared "hell bent on increasing profits at everyone else's expense".
Mr Thorn said it was up to governments to legislate to prevent and reduce the social and health problems alcohol created.
"We understand alcohol so well that the sorts of resources available to government are well documented: increase the price of alcohol, restrict its availability and limit advertising," he said.
The poll also found 57 per cent of drinkers "pre-loaded" - drinking at home before heading out to a pub or club. While at a venue, 18 per cent said they felt uncomfortable if they did not have a drink in their hand.