Did you know that alcohol is a cause of cancer? In fact, alcohol use is associated with 3,500 new cancer cases and 1,000 cancer deaths in Australia each year. It makes no difference the type of alcohol you drink; the more you drink, the higher your risk.
In 2022, we surveyed the NSW community to see if they were aware of the link between alcohol and cancer. We found that only 59% were aware that alcohol is linked with cancer risk. While this level is still too low, it has risen since our last survey in 2019.
Despite this low awareness, our survey found that there was strong community support for a range of different policy actions to reduce alcohol-related harms. This included:
- More than three-quarters (77%) of participants supported cancer warning labels on alcohol packaging.
- 70% of people supported a government-funded public education program to increase awareness about the link between alcohol and cancer.
- More than 70% of people supported actions to reduce the impact of alcohol on young people, such as advertising restrictions on TV or on government-owned property, like public transport.
- More than 60% of participants supported restrictions on alcohol home delivery to stop vulnerable groups, such as children, from accessing alcohol.
Why is this important?
Demonstrating community support for better alcohol policy is important to convince politicians to take action. Our results show that people want more information about alcohol and cancer and support a public education campaign to deliver this. What’s more, support for an education campaign has increased to 70% from 61% of participants just three years earlier. Education campaigns in other Australian states have shown to be effective in raising the public’s awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer.
We’re calling on the new NSW government to invest in a comprehensive alcohol strategy aimed at reducing both the short and long-term harms associated with alcohol use. This includes a well-funded public education campaign to increase awareness of the Australian alcohol guidelines and reduce risky drinking in the community, restrictions on same-day home delivery and online sales to vulnerable groups such as kids and restrictions on alcohol advertising on state-owned property.
Research also shows that education campaigns prime the public to support further alcohol policy initiatives that aim to reduce harm. This means that support for the other alcohol policy measures needed, such as restrictions on alcohol advertising on state government-owned property and measures to make it harder for vulnerable groups to access alcohol is likely to increase further as more people become aware of the alcohol guidelines and the link between alcohol use and cancer.
Stats from the NSW Government show that more than a third of people in NSW over the age of 16 drink alcohol at levels that put them at risk of long-term harm. Given the already high support and the knowledge gap shown by our survey, it’s time for the NSW government to step up and help reduce the burden of alcohol in our community.
You can read the alcohol report of the NSW Community Survey on Cancer Prevention here.
For information on alcohol and cancer, click here.
