The National Alliance for Action on Alcohol (NAAA) says new alcohol guidelines released today underpin the importance of protecting children from alcohol advertising.
The guidelines from the National Health and Medical Research Council focus on harms from alcohol products and recommend that children and young people under 18 years of age should not drink alcohol.
Co-chair of NAAA, Ms Jane Martin, said the guidelines emphasise there is no 'safe' level of alcohol consumption for children and that beginning alcohol use at an early age will increase their risk of short-term and long-term harm.
"The guidelines serve as another critical reminder that protecting children from alcohol advertising must be a public health priority."
"The alcohol industry is extremely clever when it comes to their advertising tactics and ensuring the next generation of drinkers is always in the pipeline."
"Alcohol advertising is unavoidable in places where young people can see it including online and at sporting events."
"We know that the more alcohol advertising young people see, the more likely they are to start using alcohol products at a younger age and to drink more if they are already using alcohol," said Ms Martin.
Ms Martin said despite the unrelenting nature of alcohol promotion there were easy steps that could be taken by governments to protect children from exposure to alcohol advertising which would reinforce the NHRMC guidelines and safeguard the nation's youth.
"Legislated controls on the volume, content and placement of all forms of alcohol advertising across all media and the phase out alcohol sponsorship of sports teams, sporting events and music events are all key components of a strategy to negate alcohol industry attempts to create new customers and retain them into the future."
