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Commentary

In 2017, 20.6% of secondary students surveyed who had consumed an alcoholic drink in the past week ('current drinkers') reported that they never intended to get drunk. While more male 'current drinkers' (24.8%) than female 'current drinkers' (15.0%) reported that they never intended to get drunk, the difference was not statistically significant.

The 2009 NHMRC Australian drinking guidelines recommend no alcohol consumption as the safest option for people under 18.

Please note that this indicator was updated in 2022 and replaces all previous versions.

The following estimates have a relative standard error between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution:

  • 2011, 2014 and 2017 females who reported they never intended to get drunk
  • 2011 females who reported they intended to get drunk a few times
  • 2014 and 2017 males who reported they intended to get drunk sometimes
  • 2014 males who reported they intended to get drunk most times
  • 2014 persons who reported they intended to get drunk every time
  • 2011 and 2014 males who reported they intended to get drunk every time
  • 2011 females who reported they intended to get drunk every time.

The following estimates have not been published due to a relative standard error greater than 50% or small numbers:

  • 2014 males who reported they intended to get drunk a few times
  • 2017 males who reported they intended to get drunk every time.

For the purpose of reporting the Australian Secondary Students' Alcohol and Drug survey data on HealthStats, if the 95% confidence intervals of the estimates do not overlap, they are considered to be significantly different.

Chart

Drank alcohol in the last month, ACT Secondary Students aged 12-17 years, by sex, 1996-2017

Data

To access the data, select "View source data" link at the bottom of the visualisation. This link will open up a data table that you can download.

Codes and sources

A copy of the Australian Secondary Students' Alcohol and Drug survey can be found in Data collections.

This page is managed by: ACT Health Directorate