Despite regular reports of a growing binge drinking culture, a new survey shows most Australians drink responsibly, with the vast majority having no more than five alcoholic drinks a week.
The Salvation Army survey of 629 people showed that on average, 77 per cent of people reported having between zero and five drinks a week, with 23 per cent drinking more than six.
The results are an improvement on 2002, when Salvation Army research showed 70 per cent of people drank fewer than six drinks a week and 31 per cent drank more than six.
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Releasing the survey on Monday, Salvation Army Major Brad Halse said it showed that generally Australians were drinking at responsible levels.
"I think we wouldn't shy away from that, yes, that the majority of people are drinking responsibly," Major Halse said.
"There's still a very significant group of people however who are not and the impact for them is high and the impact for the broader community is high."
Major Halse said other promising indicators included that just over one in three people said the most alcohol they had drank in one session in the month prior was between one and three drinks.
The survey, which interviewed people in August aged 14 and over nationwide, also showed that in the week prior, 80 per cent had had at least two alcohol-free days.
Major Halse said it appeared that community awareness campaigns about alcohol-related problems such as domestic violence, road trauma, assaults and sexual abuse were starting to influence people to reduce their drinking.
But he said the Salvation Army was yet to see a decline in the demand for alcohol-related support services and that the fall in drinking had not been as dramatic as the fall in smoking rates of the past 20 years.
Salvation Army Victorian drug and alcohol rehabilitation services coordinator Kathryn Wright said extreme alcohol use began with moderate drinking and challenged people to consciously decide whether they needed to drink.
The survey showed 73 per cent of people sometimes or often drank to celebrate, 67 per cent to be sociable, 57 per cent to go with a meal, 55 per cent to relax or wind down, 22 per cent out of habit, 14 per cent to get drunk and eight per cent to stop feeling down or depressed.
Major Halse said the Salvation Army used its annual alcohol awareness campaign and surveys to encourage people to drink more moderately for family, health and financial benefits.
He said while there was a risk that a significant number of people would get tired of hearing "another survey" telling them they needed to drink less, the social costs of extreme alcohol abuse were too great to ignore.
He likened it to problem gambling, where only two per cent of the population found it difficult to gamble within safe limits, but still caused enormous social and economic costs.
"We applaud those people who drink responsibly, who teach their children to drink responsibly, who minimise it, but there's still such a high cost for the minority, but a significant minority, who are not on top of it."
