Employers in Australia have a pivotal role in supporting their leaders and employees to understand changing attitudes to alcohol and drinking in Australian culture, and the negative impact alcohol may have on workplace culture and performance.

It’s time to tackle the issue of alcohol in the workplace directly by educating and supporting leaders and employees to understand how alcohol impacts their emotional, mental and physical health. It is also time for employers to accept that not all team members' choose to drink alcohol. A genuinely inclusive workplace recognises and caters for this diversity.

Despite our country’s history of regular and excessive drinking we are starting to see changes in behaviour amongst teenagers and young adults, who drink significantly less than previous generations at the same age.

In 2023, over 400,000 Australians planned to stop drinking, with 50% identifying as millennials. Sales of zero-alcohol products have grown more than 150 per cent in the last 24 months, with even further increases expected in the next five years.

What steps can your organization take to develop policies, implement practices, and encourage behaviours that discourage excessive drinking?

Attendees leave with a range of benefits including:

• A better understanding of alcohol’s impact on their sleep, mental health, fitness and immunity
• Tools and strategies to be more mindful around their use of alcohol
• New ideas for work events that are not centred around drinking alcohol
• More consideration and acceptance for colleagues who aren’t drinking
• That their workplace is inclusive and supportive of different drinking choices