Harm to Others

The overall effects of alcohol-related harm also extends to the social and economic costs to families, communities and society at large. Alcohol use or intoxication is implicated in domestic and public violence, unemployment, financial problems and poverty, drink driving, traffic accidents, industrial and work accidents, fires, falls, and suicide.

As mentioned above, when ranking alcohol’s harm in Australia, alcohol was the drug that had the greatest harm to others. While harms to others is less quantifiable than individual harms, evidence suggests that 22.2% of Australians had experienced an incident due to someone else’s alcohol use. Specifically, 18.7% had been verbally abused, 7.3% had been physically abused, and 11.4% had been fearful.