parental supply of alcohol message guide

Title: Parental Supply of Alcohol Message Guide

Topics: Alcohol, Parenting, Underage alcohol supply

Published: February 2024

Partner: Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF)

This message guide provides practical, research-tested advice for organisations and advocates communicating about parental supply of alcohol, underage drinking and alcohol harm among young people.

Developed by Common Cause Australia for the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, the guide draws on extensive Australian message research with parents and carers. The research included analysis of more than 2,200 examples of public discourse about parental supply of alcohol, eight focus groups with parents of teenagers, and quantitative message testing with more than 1,700 parents and carers across Australia.

The guide explores the beliefs and assumptions that shape how parents think about supplying alcohol to teenagers and identifies the values, frames and messages most likely to encourage parents to keep their children alcohol-free.

What you'll find in the guide

The guide provides practical recommendations for developing more effective alcohol and health communications, including how to:

• use values and emotion to make messages more persuasive;

• communicate about the risks of teenage and underage drinking without relying on fear;

• respond to common beliefs about introducing children to alcohol at home without inadvertently reinforcing them;

• focus on positive solutions and strengthen parents’ confidence in their ability to influence their teenagers;

• use accessible, down-to-earth language rather than expert or health-promotion jargon; and

• frame the harms of alcohol in ways that resonate with parents and carers.

It also includes a research-tested message framework covering several ways of talking about alcohol and young people, including brain development, mental health, alcohol industry marketing, cancer risk and the messages adults send young people about the role of alcohol in having fun, relaxing and socialising.

This resource is designed for health promotion organisations, alcohol and other drug organisations, public health practitioners, campaigners, communications professionals and others working to reduce alcohol harm among young people.