A new report has found Australians are experiencing severe liver disease from alcohol use at younger ages, prompting calls for action to reduce harm.
Rates of alcohol-associated hepatitis, or liver inflammation, increased drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic and have remained significantly higher than pre-covid levels.
The report from the Burnet Institute, commissioned by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), investigated alcohol-related liver disease in Victoria, including hepatitis, cirrhosis and the most common type of liver cancer.
It shows increasing numbers of Australians, including those in their 30s, are being diagnosed with alcohol-associated hepatitis, a life-threatening condition. The report found 40 per cent of people hospitalised for alcohol-associated hepatitis in Victoria, between 2017- 2024, were under 46 years old.
FARE CEO Ayla Chorley said, “One of the greatest privileges in life is to grow old. This new research is giving us a glimpse into the reality doctors are seeing on hospital wards, in that people in their 30s are losing their lives to alcohol-related liver disease. This is devastating,” she said.
“Every single person who dies because of alcohol is a life lost too soon, leaving behind a family and community.”
“This data tells us that reducing alcohol use significantly reduces harm. Cutting out alcohol can have a huge impact to reverse the effects of liver disease, if it’s caught early.”
Rachel Allen has advocated for greater awareness, treatment and support for young people since her son Dylan died from alcohol-related liver disease in 2022.
“When we think of a 26-year-old, we imagine someone just beginning their life and looking towards the future. Instead, our family was visiting Dylan in hospital and confronting the reality of his condition,” she said.
“Dylan’s life mattered. I want people to understand alcohol dependence is not only a medical diagnosis, but a lived experience involving fear, isolation, stigma and repeated attempts to recover. My hope is that by sharing his story, we can build a system that responds sooner, treats the whole person and never allows stigma to determine the quality of care someone receives.”
The study also found people diagnosed with alcohol-related liver cancer in Victoria are younger than those diagnosed with other forms of liver cancer.
Professor Jessica Howell from the Burnet Institute said, “Our data clearly show the multiple ways that alcohol can cause severe liver disease, from acute severe liver inflammation to liver scarring (cirrhosis) and liver cancer,”
“One of the striking findings from our data is that women are catching up to men in terms of liver-related harms from alcohol, particularly hospital admissions for alcohol-related hepatitis. Alcohol services that are specifically designed to meet the needs of women may help improve engagement of women in alcohol services.”
Women are being diagnosed at an increasingly high rate, now accounting for 1 in 3 cases of alcohol-associated hepatitis in Victoria. The number of women admitted to hospital sharply increased during the pandemic and has remained higher than post-covid levels.
The number of men admitted to hospital with alcohol-associated hepatitis is more than double the rate it was before COVID-19.
Associate Professor Michael Livingston from the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University said, “This data adds to the evidence that alcohol harms in Australia increased sharply during the pandemic and have not declined to earlier levels,”
“It’s a critical time to implement evidence-based policies at the population level and to improve screening and access to treatment in clinical settings.”
Ms Chorley added, “This study adds to growing evidence of harm from alcohol. Last month, a federal government inquiry laid bare the extent of alcohol harm in Australia and made several recommendations governments can act on right now to reduce harm, this includes addressing prolific alcohol advertising and regulating rapid home delivery.”
Australia’s alcohol guidelines recommend adults drink no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day.
