Talking Point: Alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 epidemic in Australia

Overview

Throughout 2020 public health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic led to massive disruption in the everyday lives of people around the world. Two longitudinal studies assessing the alcohol consumption of a convenience sample of Australians aged 18 and over measured the ways in which respondents changed consumption, harm and purchasing of alcohol throughout 2020.

One study focussed on drinking motives, stress and harmful drinking while the other focussed on location of consumption, purchasing patterns, distress and COVID-specific socio-economic factors. Results from both studies will be presented including state-based comparisons of changes in consumption and harm as lockdown laws differed between states.

About the presenter

Dr Sarah Callinan is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research at La Trobe University. She is the study director of the Australian arm of the International Alcohol Control Study and the database co-ordinator for a 32 country study of alcohol’s harm others co-ordinated with the World Health Organisation. Her primary research area of interest is drinking in the home.