Public attitudes towards alcohol control policies

In August 1989 we surveyed a household sample of 500 adults from 84 randomly selected census collector districts in metropolitan and rural New South Wales about their support for 'alcohol control policies' that aim to reduce the prevalence of alcohol-related problems by lowering population alcohol consumption. There was very little support for policies which increased the price or reduced the availability of alcohol. There was moderate support for controls on alcohol advertising, and substantial opposition to policies that would reduce the price of alcohol or increase its availability. Approval for alcohol control policies was more likely to be expressed by women and by persons whose self-reported alcohol consumption was low. If these findings from New South Wales are representative of Australian attitudes then proponents of alcohol control policies face a major task in persuading the public to support them.