Alcohol in Australia

A RECENT study and official government analysis confirm common knowledge: Australia Day is the worst day of the year for drunken violence. But if the national holiday is a celebration of our national character, what does this say about us?

If you made it out for the flags and fireworks this year, you probably got an eyeful of this phenomenon. So at SuperLiving we thought it was a good time to examine the roots of the problem and what can be done about it.

High alcohol consumption used to be a defining characteristic of Australia. But as the average Aussie drinks about 10 litres of pure alcohol per year, we rank just a little more lush than the US and at least a couple litres less boozy than Russia and much of Europe. The guilty vodka guzzling of Eastern Europe, the omnipresent table wines of the Mediterranean and brewpubs of the Anglo-Celtic isles have statistically pushed Australia down the list – but alcohol consumption and alcohol abuse are not the same thing. And from a historical perspective, our nation seems to have been largely built on this inherited old-world vice.   

To explain the continental origins of heavy drinking in Australia may at first seem a justification for irresponsibility; a cultural and genetic excuse to pursue alcohol abuse without the burden of personal accountability. “We can’t help it; it’s ingrained in our history.”

But the study of the effect of alcohol on society can offer a sobering perspective on an emotional issue we don’t usually tackle academically. Understanding how alcohol washed up on our shores with the First Fleet can be an effective first step not only in moulding public policy, but in mastering personal demons as well.  

The history of habit

Hard drinking as a cultural norm was imported from Europe at the time of Australian colonisation. These were the days which won Australia its reputation for boorish over-drinking, an era for which some estimates count close to 15 litres of pure alcohol as being consumed per person, per year. Beer was difficult to make at this time so the main form of alcohol was spirits, especially rum.

To better understand the cultural influence of alcohol in Australian history, SuperLiving caught up with historian Ross Fitzgerald, author of Under the Influence: A History of Alcohol in Australia and My Name is Ross: An Alcoholic’s Journey.

Fitzgerald sees a powerful effect of alcohol on Australian politics and societal development. He evokes the 1918 Darwin Rebellion and the forced fleeing of Darwin administrator John Gilruth because “he had the temerity to put up the price of beer and restrict it.” He also suggests the 1975 unseating of Gough Whitlam was partially due to Whitlam's criticism of the governor-general’s drinking.

But the shining example of alcohol’s stranglehold on our history remains the famous Rum Rebellion of 1808, an event that puts booze at the crux of Australia’s only successful coup d’état.

“The New South Wales rum corps overthrew Governor William Bligh because he tried to protect the small settlers against the monopolists and the members of the military who traded in alcohol,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s unusual for the military to have control of alcohol which was used as a currency. And it’s unusual to have a governor overthrown over alcohol – but Bligh has been given an unnecessarily bad press here in Australia because he really did try to protect the small settlers against the monopolists and the military.” 

Although initially employed as a currency and even as a legitimate substitute for food and water, alcohol in colonial Australia left its most enduring cultural mark as a convention of manhood.

The ritual of excess

Slowly, Australia has evolved into a more wine-and-dine alcohol culture, where food and conversation set the pace of drinking, not last-calls and macho group swilling. But even though we’ve shed much of that bawdy reputation and declined in overall consumption, we still have our regular stirrings of destruction, loosely veiled as irreverent camaraderie and celebration. And nothing illustrates this colonial hangover more than Australia Day.

Official statistics for high-risk drinking in Australia reflect familiar social patterns. For both men and women, the middle age group (45-54 years) proves the most susceptible to excessive drinking. Indigenous Australians report more high-risk drinking than non-indigenous people in almost all age groups. And short-term risk consumption (also known as binge drinking) is at least a weekly indulgence for 12% of men and 4% of women.

These numbers are unlikely to surprise many people, but the recent increase in binge drinking among young women is truly startling. The Australian Bureau of Statistics is tracking this surge and cites that 11% of women aged 18-24 binge drink at least once a week (almost triple the national average for women).

For Fitzgerald our trends of recklessness and the alcohol-fuelled violence of Australia Day are closely tied to product image and availability.
   
“There’re a whole lot of 24-hour, seven-days-a-week licensing outlets in Sydney, Newcastle and Melbourne for example,” he said. “And there’s an absolutely clear statistical correlation between the pubs and clubs and bars open after midnight. For each hour they’re open after midnight, there’s an exponential increase in serious injury and physical and sexual assault within a range of about five kilometres.”

But although government restrictions can be placed on alcohol distributors, Fitzgerald admits legislation will not be enough.

“It’s extremely difficult to control with policy, but stopping the nexus between advertising, alcohol, sex appeal and sport would be a useful start,” he said. “The connection between sex and alcohol and sporting prowess and alcohol is very dangerous. It’s part of the culture in general.”