This week FARE was thrilled to host the incredible Shanna Whan from Sober in the Country. Shanna is an insightful, honest and courageous advocate for alcohol harm reduction, especially in the bush. This is rooted in her own lived experience with both alcohol addiction and support services in rural Australia.  

Sober in the Country is a conversation-turned national charity founded by Shanna, who describes herself as a rural woman and recovered alcoholic that, with the support and encouragement of her husband Tim, rebuilt her life from Ground Zero and then decided to go public with her struggle with alcoholism so she could help others in the bush. 

During the visit, Shanna shared her story with our team to help inform the work we do every day and highlight the realities of alcohol in rural Australia, the lack of support that can be available, and the isolation this brings. We discussed strategic partnerships within the health space, as well as advocacy, policy direction, and supporting people in the bush.  

It’s important that our work at FARE is built on a foundation of world-leading research and policy development, as well as the voices of those in the community with lived experience, so we thank Shanna for taking the time to visit, share and collaborate with us this week. 

Pregnant Pause continues to build a supportive community behind pregnant Canberrans to help them achieve an alcohol-free pregnancy. It takes a village, and in 2021 we are proud to continue adding even more community heroes to our network across the ACT. 

At FARE we’re passionate about clear, consistent and empowering information on the importance of going alcohol-free during pregnancy or when planning a pregnancy. There is no safe amount, no safe time and no safe type of alcohol during pregnancy. 

The Pregnant Pause team – including all our current Community Heroes – are looking to expand the network across Canberra. If you or someone you know operates a business or service that would make a great community hero, please reach out via our website below. 

The journal of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care has just published an editorial highlighting the importance of governments following scientific evidence, rather than corporate for-profit influence.  

The article describes a recent study of alcohol-related admissions to Alice Springs hospital, saying the findings reinforce what we know about the impact of availability on alcohol harm. It goes on to suggest that Australian governments know this, from numerous studies, committees, frameworks, inquiries, and guidelines, yet the alcohol industry continues to push back against scientific evidence, such as opposing volumetric alcohol taxes.  

The Northern Territory Government is praised for being the only Australian government to implement the evidence-based policy of minimum unit price for alcohol sales.

However, they are also criticised over the ongoing Dan Murphy’s development legislation changes.  

Under pressure from Woolworths, the NT Government rushed through legislation moving the goalposts of liquor licensing so a previously rejected application for a Dan Murphy megastore could be re-assessed in a 30-day rush without consideration of the impact on the community, who strongly oppose the megastore on their doorstep. 

Cancer Council Victoria have published a study in the Social Science & Medicine journal, which found that alcohol harm reduction television advertisements that included messages promoting low-risk drinking guidelines strengthened drinkers’ intentions to reduce their alcohol consumption. 

Study author, Dr Emily Brennan from Cancer Council Victoria, said the results demonstrated that educating people about how much they should be drinking and why they should want to reduce their intake could be an effective way to motivate them to drink within the guidelines. 

In response to the study’s publication, Cancer Council Victoria have called on the Australian Government to invest in campaigns highlighting the harms caused by alcohol and promoting the new low-risk alcohol guidelines. 

The National Health and Medical Research Council’s new alcohol guidelines (found here) recommend that, if you drink alcohol, you should drink no more than 4 standard drinks in a day, and no more than 10 standard drinks a week to lower your risk of harm.