Risky drinking 'widespread in defence'

A review of alcohol use in the defence force has found longstanding widespread risky drinking, especially among young male personnel. A review released on Wednesday by Defence Minister Stephen Smith highlights the need for a more comprehensive approach to alcohol consumption across defence, rather than the current focus on a few alcohol dependant "bad apples". The review, conducted by an independent panel comprising health and drug use experts, was one of a series commissioned by Mr Smith last year in the wake of the Australian Defence Force Academy "Skype scandal". Another review relates to use of social media with defence set to review its policies and education practices for use of media such as Facebook and Twitter. Mr Smith said drinking and inappropriate behaviour often went hand in hand and the panel had made a number of recommendations, starting with a defence-wide alcohol management strategy and moves to ensure alcohol, often available at low cost at defence facilities, is more expensive. In the review, the panel said alcohol supply reduction, including price controls, was an essential element of the ADF response to alcohol. "Alcohol use is common amongst ADF personnel and while many drink in moderation, there is also a high prevalence of drinking at hazardous levels at least on some occasions," it said, adding that this had existed in defence for a considerable time despite commendable efforts to bring it under control. The panel said that had a potential impact on defence capability and also inflicted collateral damage on defence's reputation at home and abroad. "Data obtained from this review suggest that 26.4 per cent of ADF members report consuming alcohol at hazardous or harmful levels," it said. Recruits drank more than civilians of the same age and risky drinking was highest among younger, lower-ranked male personnel. Defence force chief General David Hurley said the review pointed out that alcohol consumption was fairly deeply embedded in defence culture. "So it's challenged us in a number of areas to say 'Well how do you turn that around?'," he told reporters in Canberra. General Hurley said defence had already been doing some work to address factors driving harmful alcohol consumption among young people. "We wanted to move from being an observer of this to a leader of this at national level," he said. "We are going to take that work and look inside and say how does it apply to us." General Hurley said this was a delicate issue as defence's situation, where personnel live in their workplace, wasn't common across Australia. "We can't be paternalistic but we have a responsibility," he said.