What is alcohol?

Alcohol usually refers to drinks, such as:

• beer
• wine
• spirits — such as whisky

These drinks contain a chemical called ethanol. Alcohol is a legal drug that is a depressant.

Depressants are a type of drug. They slow down messages that are sent between your central nervous system and your body. This means that alcohol can prevent your body from functioning properly.

How does alcohol impact my body?

When you drink alcohol, it’s absorbed into your blood stream through your stomach and small intestine. It then quickly travels to all parts of your body — including the brain.

Alcohol generally only takes a few minutes to reach your brain.

How quickly you absorb alcohol depends on different factors, like:

• your age and sex
• your body size, weight and composition
• your experience with alcohol
• if you have taken medicines or other drugs
• your liver health

The more you drink the greater the amount of alcohol in your blood. This is called your blood alcohol concentration (BAC).

You cannot lower your BAC by:

• vomiting
• taking a cold shower
• drinking coffee or other caffeinated drinks

The only way to lower the alcohol in your blood is time. Your liver is the main organ that removes alcohol from your bloodstream. Your liver generally takes about one hour to break down one standard drink.

This means that if you drink a lot, you might still have alcohol in your body the next day.

What is a standard drink?

It can be hard to work out exactly what a standard drink is. This is because the number of standard drinks change depending on:

• what alcohol you are drinking
• how much you are drinking

One standard drink contains 10 grams of pure alcohol (the same as 12.5ml of pure alcohol).

This amount of alcohol is found in (approximately):

• 30ml of spirits (1 nip or shot)
• 100ml wine
• 285ml full-strength beer or cider
• 375ml mid-strength beer
• 425ml light-strength beer

So, you must measure standard drinks by the amount of alcohol they contain, and not by the number of drinks you have.

Check the label of any bottle, can or cask of alcohol. The label will tell you how many standard drinks it contains.

How can alcohol impact me?

Alcohol is a major cause of death, disease, and injury in Australia. Many people drink alcohol to relax and socialise. Some people drink alcohol in amounts that are harmful to their health.

Drinking too much alcohol can negatively impact:

• your physical and mental health
• your actions
• your decision-making

Excessive alcohol consumption is a major factor in accidents, violence, and crime. Even if you feel fine after drinking, alcohol can impact your concentration, judgement and how quickly you can react.

This can place you at higher risk of accidents:

• while driving
• when using heavy machinery

According to the National Drug Household Survey in 2022 to 2023:

• about 1 in 3 Australians put themselves at risk of injury or harm while drinking alcohol
• more than 1 in 5 Australians aged 14 years or older had been a victim of an alcohol related incident, including verbal or physical abuse

There are many short and long-term health effects of alcohol consumption.

What are the short-term health effects of alcohol?

In the short term, drinking too much alcohol can cause side effects, including:

• headaches
• dizziness, nausea and vomiting
• loss of coordination and balance
• accidental injury (to yourself or others)
• alcohol poisoning (which can be fatal)
• fatigue (tiredness)
• hangover

Hangover

After drinking alcohol, you can get a hangover, which can cause unpleasant symptoms like:

• headache
• thirst, dizziness, and light headedness
• nausea, vomiting and aching tummy
• shakiness
• tiredness

These symptoms happen because of how alcohol affects your body. Hangovers can vary between people.

Time is the only way to remove alcohol from your body. So, there are no cures for a hangover. But there are things you can do to ease your symptoms while you wait for the hangover to end.

• Drink water to treat dehydration.
• Try to eat some simple food.
• Take a shower or do some exercise.
• Take pain relief if you have a headache or other pain.
• If you can, go back to bed to sleep through the hangover.

The best way to avoid a hangover is to drink less, or not at all.

Don't drink more than your body can cope with. If you're not sure how much that is, be careful. Drink in moderation.

To reduce your chances of getting a hangover:

• practice safe drinking by pacing yourself
• don’t drink on an empty stomach — eat before and during the drinking period
• drink water between alcoholic drinks

What are the long-term health effects of alcohol?

Drinking too much alcohol can also impact your physical health in the long-term.

Regular alcohol consumption can:

• result in unhealthy weight gain which can contribute to other health problems
• increase your risk of diabetes

The brain

Drinking too much can affect your memory in the long-term.

It also increases your risk of having a stroke and developing dementia.

The heart

Heavy drinking increases your blood pressure and can lead to:

• heart damage
• heart attacks

The liver

Long-term drinking also puts you at increased risk of:

• liver cirrhosis (liver scarring)
• other liver conditions like liver failure

Fertility

Regular heavy drinking reduces male testosterone levels, sperm count and fertility.

In females, drinking too much can affect your periods.

Long-term drinking can also impact your sexual performance.

Mental health

The side effects of drinking include alcohol dependence.

The risk of alcohol dependence is higher in people with mental health conditions.

Drinking can also increase your risk of mental illnesses, such as depression or anxiety.

It can also increase the risk of suicide.

Cancer

Even consuming a small amount of alcohol increases your risk of cancer. Alcohol increases the risk of cancers of the:

• mouth
• throat
• oesophagus (food pipe)
• stomach and bowel
• liver
• breast

Pregnancy and breastfeeding

People who are planning a pregnancy or are pregnant should not drink alcohol. Alcohol increases the risk of harm to your unborn baby.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a condition caused by alcohol exposure during pregnancy.

If you’re breastfeeding, the safest option is to not drink alcohol, as a small amount will be present in your breastmilk.

How much alcohol can different people drink safely?

No amount of alcohol is safe.

Drinking more than the recommended alcohol intake can increase your risk of harm. According to the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Guidelines, healthy adults should drink:

• no more than 10 standard drinks a week
• no more than 4 standard drinks in any 1 day

Follow these guidelines to reduce your risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury.

Alcohol and teenagers

People under the age of 18 years are at higher risk of alcohol-related disease or injury. Even a small amount of alcohol can be harmful.

Your brain continues to develop into your twenties. Drinking alcohol can interrupt your brain development and:

• make studying harder
• inhibit your performance in sports and hobbies
• make it harder to process emotions
• place you at risk of mental health conditions

To reduce the risk of harm, the guidelines state that children under the age of 18 years should not drink alcohol.

The laws that cover alcohol and children vary between states and territories and may sometimes change. For more information, visit the Alcohol and Drug Foundation.

You can encourage your young person to avoid alcohol by talking to them about:

• the harms of alcohol
• how to deal with peer pressure related to alcohol or binge drinking
• alcohol laws and the potential consequences of breaking them

It’s also important to praise them when they show a responsible attitude towards alcohol.

You can set a good example by drinking alcohol responsibly.

Binge drinking

Binge drinking is when you drink a lot of alcohol on one occasion. This could mean:

• drinking heavily in a short period of time
• drinking a lot over multiple days

Binge drinking can increase your risk of harm. You can read more about binge drinking.

How does alcohol affect my driving?

Because of the effects of alcohol on your body, drinking and driving increases your risk of having a car accident. Alcohol contributes to around 1 in 3 deaths on roads in Australia.

Australian law requires fully licensed car drivers to have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05% or less when driving. The laws regarding BAC are different depending on the type of driver’s license you have.

To prevent drinking and driving, plan before you go out. If you are going out with friends, work out who will drive everyone home. If no one wants to be the nominated driver, you can:

• make sure you have money for a taxi or rideshare
• plan to take public transport

Resources and support

For trusted information about reducing the risk of alcohol use you can consult the NHMRC Alcohol Guidelines.

You can read more about drinking and driving on the Department of Health and Aged Care website.

Read more about the best tips for drinking safely.

You can also use these calculators to work out how much you are drinking:

• Standard Drink Calculator by Your Room
• How much are you really drinking? by The Right Mix

If you or someone you know needs support for alcohol use, you can:

• visit your doctor or local community health service
• contact Alcoholics Anonymous Australia on 1300 222 222
• visit the Alcohol and Drug Foundation website for more information
• contact DrugInfo on 1300 85 85 84
• try The Daybreak App, developed by Hello Sunday Morning, which can support you to change your relationship with alcohol

Young people (aged 12 to 25 years) can contact headspace on 1800 650 890 or chat online.

You can also call the National Alcohol and Other Drug hotline on 1800 250 015. This hotline provides free and confidential advice about alcohol and other drugs. It will automatically direct you to the Alcohol and Drug Information Service in your state or territory.

You can also call the healthdirect helpline on 1800 022 222 (known as NURSE-ON-CALL in Victoria). A registered nurse is available to speak with 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.