A survey of 4,000 high-school students on the central coast of New South Wales confirmed that parents are a main source of alcohol for under-18 teenagers.

A survey of 4,000 high-school students on the central coast of New South Wales confirmed that parents are a main source of alcohol for under-18 teenagers. Douglas Tutt, director of health promotion for Central Coast Health, speaking at the Alcohol and Drug Foundation winter school in Brisbane, presented findings showing that about 40% of the 12-17-year-old respondents had drunk alcohol in the week before the survey. Seventy per cent of those had had the drinks at home, at a friend's home or at a party. Most of the heavier drinking, which was by 15-17-year-olds taking seven or more standard drinks in a row, occurred in home settings and in the presence of adults. Only 3% of the minors surveyed had had drinks in a licensed venue and only 9% in a public place.

Geoff Munro, director of the Alcohol and Drug Foundation's Centre for Youth Drug Studies, said Australian society offered a 'self-reinforcing culture of excess' in relation to alcohol. 'It's really we adults who have the problem,' he said. 'We have created a society in which people think it's essential to drink to have a good time' (Sydney Morning Herald, 1/7/03, p.3).