Annual alcohol poll 2016

The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education has published its Annual alcohol poll 2016: attitudes and behaviours. According to their surveys, 56% of people who drink to get drunk expect to feel happy and 31% expect to feel a sense of social belonging.  The reality is quite different though, as when asked how they actually felt after the last drinking episode, only 28% felt happy and 15% achieved the sense of belonging. Conversely, 29% of drinkers reported feeling tired and 17% were sick after the last time they were drunk, despite predicting much lower responses before the event.

Since the 2015 poll, there has been an increase in the proportion of people surveyed who believe that Australia has a problem with alcohol - up from 75% to 78%.  29% of Australians reported that they have been affected by alcohol-related violence, and 23% of parents with a child under 18 reported that their child had been harmed or put at risk of harm because of someone else’s drinking.