Alcohol Beverages Australia says a media release by the ANU that says Australians are drinking more during COVID-19 is misleading.
The release follows the ANU conducting a study that focused on self-reported drinking frequency and level of alcohol consumption, comparing it with consumption before the spread of the coronavirus.
Co-author Professor Nicholas Biddle, from the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods, said the study found drinking was “slightly higher for males” and “substantially higher for females”.
The ABA noted that what’s missing from the ANU media release, but found buried in the report, is a very different story about Australians drinking during the coronavirus crisis.
ABA CEO Andrew Wilsmore (above) said: “The ANU survey results show that more Australians have reduced their drinking (27%) than those who have increased (20.2%).
“And the change is more pronounced among those who have reduced their drinking, with 12% of them saying that it decreased by a little, and 15% saying it decreased by a lot.
“Of those whose drinking increased, just 3.5% said it had increased by a lot and 16.8% saying it increased by a little. For nearly half of those drinking more (45.8%), the increase had only been 1-2 standard drinks in a week.
“For males, 23.7% said their alcohol consumption had decreased, and 15.5% of the total sample said their alcohol consumption increased.
“For females, 21.2% said their alcohol consumption had increased, compared to 18.1% of the sample who said their consumption had increased.”
The ANU report states “this provides reasonably strong evidence that people do not feel that their alcohol consumption has increased since the spread of COVID-19”.
And the report warns “This final point highlights the need to ask balanced questions, rather than just asking for changes in one direction, as has been reported in the media from other surveys during the COVID-19 pandemic”.
The ABS reported last week that spending in liquor retail fell by 12.4% in April, seasonally adjusted.
