DrinkWise Australia today welcomed the Government’s response supporting voluntary health labelling on alcohol.
Hon. Trish Worth the Chair of the Board of DrinkWise Australia said “DrinkWise will continue to work with industry to ensure that health labels on alcohol, currently being used voluntarily, will be in place on all alcohol products within two years”.
“In July this year, Drinkwise Australia working in collaboration with its producer members who represent 80% (by volume) of the alcohol sold in Australia, took the lead in launching Australia’s first ever health information labels”.
The core message encourages consumers to ‘Get the Facts’ from the DrinkWise website (www.drinkwise.org.au) which provides evidence based information on alcohol to help people make informed choices when drinking.
This core message can be used alone on labels or in tandem with three other messages:
- Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix
- Is Your Drinking Harming Yourself or Others?
- It is Safest Not to Drink While Pregnant (an alternative to text is provided via a pictogram)
Delivering consumer health information messages via product labels and point of sale will enable DrinkWise Australia to engage directly with Australian drinkers.
“It’s widely recognised that labels alone will not change consumer behaviour and that they must be part of broader education initiatives to make an impact– which is why we have coupled the messages with a pointer to our website, and why we will continue to support them through our ongoing educational efforts”.
“This initiative expands our campaigns from television, online and print directly to the consumer. Delivering consumer information messages via product labels and at retail point of sale information will help us engage directly with Australia’s current drinkers”.
“DrinkWise has a whole of community approach and will continue to work with governments, communities and industry producers to provide practical resources that support and inform the community about moderate alcohol use”.
Education is at the heart of DrinkWise Australia’s activities. Changing our drinking culture so that consuming alcohol too young or to excess is considered undesirable involves greater community awareness about the issues associated with alcohol misuse.
