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Assessing the wisdom of funding DrinkWise

Wayne D Hall and Robin Room
Med J Aust 2006; 185 (11): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00736.x
Published online: 4 December 2006

Will DrinkWise truly act independently to reduce alcohol-related harm?

The Australian Government recently awarded $5 million to “DrinkWise” to educate the public about responsible drinking.1 DrinkWise is a putatively independent body that was originally funded by the alcohol industry, whose representatives occupy six of its 12 board positions.2 DrinkWise’s stated mission is to change the “drinking culture” of Australia; its slogan is: “Moderation is always in good taste”.


  • 1 School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD.
  • 2 Australian Education and Research Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre, Melbourne, VIC.


Correspondence: w.hall@sph.uq.edu.au

Acknowledgements: 

We would like to acknowledge the assistance of Sarah Yeates in locating literature cited in this article.

Competing interests:

Wayne Hall is funded by an Alcohol Research and Education Fund grant to study the cost-effectiveness of alcohol control policies. Robin Room receives Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation funding for the Australian Education and Research Centre for Alcohol Policy Research at Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre.

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  • 2. Drinkwise Australia. Foundations for change [promotional brochure]. 2006. http://www.drinkwise.com.au/about/FoundationsforChange.aspx (accessed Nov 2006).
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  • 9. Foxcroft D. International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP)’s latest report on alcohol education: a flawed peer review process. Addiction 2005; 100: 1066-1068.
  • 10. Fillmore K, Kerr W, Stockwell T, et al. Moderate alcohol use and reduced mortality risk: systematic error in prospective studies. Addict Res Theory 2006; 14: 101-132.
  • 11. Stockwell T, Heale P, Chikritzhs T, et al. How much alcohol is drunk in Australia in excess of the new Australian alcohol guidelines [letter]? Med J Aust 2002; 176: 91-92. <MJA full text>
  • 12. Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy. National Alcohol Strategy 2006–2009: towards safer drinking cultures. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, 2006. http://www.alcohol.gov.au/internet/alcohol/publishing.nsf/Content/nas-06-09 (accessed Sep 2006).

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