The Australian Football League Grand Final weekend "has just come and gone," the time of year when the anti-alcohol brigade "ramps up their attempts to shame" anyone who enjoys a drink while watching sports, according to a column by Alcohol Beverages Australia Exec Dir Fergus Taylor for the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. The opposition's reasoning is the "need to protect children from being influenced into underage drinking," but the facts it presents to support this claim do not "stack up." Adolescents are "not being influenced to start drinking" earlier in life -- whether through advertising, marketing, sponsorship or otherwise. To the contrary, official Federal Government statistics show that underage drinking has been in "steady decline" for more than a decade. The fact that this decline has "occurred during a period when alcohol advertising and sponsorship has been increasing" and expanding onto new digital platforms like social media is a "clear indication" that ads and sponsorships are "not detrimental." Australian Institute of Health & Welfare data released on Sept. 28 shows that fewer people aged 12-17 years old "are drinking alcohol" and the proportion in this age group abstaining from alcohol has "risen significantly" to 82%, a 10% jump in the last three years. Alcohol advertising is "vigorously regulated." Rules ensure alcohol beverage ads "only ever portray mature adults drinking responsibly" and in moderation and specify that they "in no way target or appeal to children." Sponsorships also "include education programs" about alcohol consumption and behavior (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 10/2).
