Alcohol part of everyday regional life for young people

This is the reality for many young people in regional NSW.

"I think Dubbo and regional areas have a really big drinking culture," 20-year-old Jordan Ross said.

"You see a lot of it very regularly - a lot of people out on Friday, Saturday night, partying, drinking, things like that."

Ms Ross, a member of Dubbo Regional Youth Council, said underage drinking was "very common" and that consuming alcohol was synonymous with socialising.

It was promoted by family as much as friends.

"I think people start drinking from a pretty young age - 15 to 16 years old, I'd say. I think it's family impact, family belief," Ms Ross said.

"[Teenagers] start drinking at home then they go around to parties and drink. Then drink at pubs when they turn 18. After a footy game, you go drink with the footy team."

COVID-19 lockdowns had also had a "big impact" on the culture of drinking.

"You're at home, what more can you do? Can't have any friends over; you can only drink and watch TV," she said.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported alcohol-induced deaths increased by 17 per cent between 2018 and 2021.

The data showed the rate for Sydney was 4.5 per 100,000, while for the rest of NSW it was 7.2.

Another Dubbo youth council member and former hospitality worker, Brooke Williams, said she started drinking at an early age.

She said monotony and troubled childhoods were among the reasons young people turned to alcohol.

"I think youth use drinking as a mask to hide things that may be going on at home, mental health issues and even boredom," the 24-year-old said.

"If people are bored it's their way to socialise so they're not at home. It's something to keep the mind busy and occupied."

Now a member of the NSW government's Regional Youth Taskforce, Ms Williams doesn't remember alcohol awareness programs at school, but drugs were talked about in physical education classes.

"I don't think they cover alcohol in the extent that it needs to be," she said.

"Alcohol is more normalised in Australia than drug use so I don't think it's dived into as much," Ms Williams said.

"I believe there should be an alcohol awareness program implemented as part of school curriculum."

Regional cities like Dubbo have some programs for at-risk young people and the youth council is looking for ways to help reduce underage drinking.

An alcohol and other drugs rehabilitation centre was announced for the central west centre in 2020, but the facility is yet to be built and is not scheduled to open until 2024.

On the South Coast bar owner Bloss McClelland made the move from Wollongong to Eurobodalla to open her own business.

She noticed the drinking culture to be a much "quieter" problem in her new home town.

Alcohol, she said, was "extremely accessible" for a drug that was illegal to buy for under-18s.

"Down here in a small town the drinking culture is still a huge problem, if not more of a problem because it is quieter," Ms McClelland said.

"Because there's less places to go out and drink, it's more drinking at home and more of those anti-social behaviours combined with serious drinking problems."

The 29-year-old has worked in hospitality since the age of 12 and believes young people in regional areas need more infrastructure and activities to engage them.

"People are always going to drink but I feel like it's the younger ones that are bored that are creating problems by not having anything to do," Ms McClelland said.

And a lack of school education around alcohol harm helped normalise it.

When asked which party or candidate offered the best solutions at the upcoming NSW election, Ms McClelland said Eurobodalla Shire Council was doing a "phenomenal job".

A council spokesperson said Eurobodalla's youth committee had been hosting social events as well as awareness campaigns about mental health and domestic violence to engage young people.

Alcohol and Drug Foundation strategic programs manager Eleanor Costello said action must be taken by schools, parents and governments.

"If you look at the sort of drugs that are most likely to cause harm, alcohol, obviously, comes up as number one.

"That's not surprising because if you look at how alcohol is ingrained into the Australian culture and how it's advertised and promoted, [it] makes sense," Ms Costello said.

In its alcohol surveillance report 2019-20, NSW Health found hospitalisations attributed to alcohol had increased in the past decade. Men were 1.5 times more likely to be hospitalised.

In 2021, Cancer Council research showed only 55 per cent of NSW residents knew that alcohol abuse could lead to cancer.

Ms Costello said a lack of things to do played a part in alcohol use among young people, as did a lack of family, financial and emotional support.

Australia's main drug and alcohol harm prevention organisation, the foundation is introducing a pilot program called "Planet Youth" in Lithgow and the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.

Funded by the federal government, the scheme works with parents, schools and community services to identify risk factors and guide adolescents away from substance use before a problem develops.

Originally from Iceland where it "drastically" reduced alcohol use, the program has been adapted and rolled out in 30 countries so far.

Ms Costello said little steps like removing alcohol from school events can also help.

"A lot of schools will have raffles with alcohol to raise money or they'll get parents along to events that [involve alcohol] because it's what makes parents turn up," she said.

"It's a whole school policy that actually looks at creating a safer environment in the school where kids aren't exposed to alcohol in that way so it doesn't become part of their everyday life."

People from the lowest socio-economic groups are much more likely to die from alcohol-related causes.

For families and young people without cash to burn, community outreach programs like Midnight Basketball, which teaches sport and life skills, could help towns in regional NSW.

While the NSW 2021-22 budget included $330 million for drug and alcohol services, Ms Costello said the government needed to recognise the factors that lead young people to alcohol harm and intervene before it's too late.

More activities for young people, parental role modelling education, better communication with children, and access to support were all important to preventing the situation getting "critical", she said.

"We know prevention works and we want more prevention."

The Greens are calling on the NSW government to ban alcohol advertising on state property, including public transport, and refuse to allow sporting clubs to display alcohol sponsorship when playing at government-owned sporting fields.

"Alcohol advertising works - that's why liquor companies pour millions into convincing people to drink more," Greens' health spokeswoman Cate Faerhmann said.

"Until we restrict alcohol advertising we will not be able to significantly reduce the harms that alcohol causes."

A spokesperson for the Regional Health Minister Bronwyn Taylor said the Coalition made a $500 million investment in drug programs following the ice, or methamphetamine, inquiry and supported a range of health and drug alcohol treatment and education programs.

NSW Labor was contacted for comment.

I have been a court reporter in Dubbo since November 2022.

In most cases I cover in the courtroom the defence lawyer has something to say about the background of the offender: using alcohol, drugs, or having a childhood environment where those things were prevalent.

It is not fair for young people in regional areas to lose their lives literally and metaphorically (in prison) due to something preventable. Alcohol harm is an issue that needs attention and intervention.