Poms party harder in Australia
January 16, 2007
British backpackers drink twice as much in Australia as they do at home, a new survey has found.
The finding might come as no surprise to many, but perhaps of more concern is the potential damage the hard-drinking backpackers inflict on themselves.
The study of 1,008 UK nationals was conducted by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at the University of NSW and the Centre for Public Health at John Moores University in Liverpool, England.
One of the report's authors, Paul Dillon of the NDARC, said the backpackers studied had been in Australia for a year or more and were based in Sydney or Cairns during 2005.
"The image of the hard-drinking, hard-playing UK backpacker appears to be reinforced by the results of this research," Mr Dillon said.
"All the things that we see within the Australian culture around alcohol exist with this group we are bringing into the country.
"Backpackers, by their very nature are going to be more likely to be risk takers anyway and they are not just doing it for the week, they are doing it for the whole year."
Mr Dillon said the number of domestic and international backpackers jumped by 25 per cent between 1999 and 2003, and accounted for 11 per cent of overseas visitors.
UK nationals were the largest single source of backpackers, accounting for 27 per cent.
But a whopping 40 per cent of those interviewed in the survey reported drinking five or more times a week when in Australia.
Only 20 per cent of them said they did the same thing back home.
As for drug-taking, three per cent used cannabis, 2.7 per cent took ecstasy and 0.7 per cent methamphetamines while 55 per cent admitted to using at least one illicit drug.
Those most likely to take drugs while backpacking were regular club goers based in Sydney who were travelling without a partner or spouse, had been in Australia for at least four weeks and drank or smoked at least five days a week.
But most UK backpackers were "totally gobsmacked" at the price of drugs in Australia where a tablet of ecstasy sells for about $35. At home it was only around STG1.00 ($A2.51), Mr Dillon said.
Liverpool's John Moores University, in the UK, has been involved in several studies on risk behaviour and youth travel, mostly examining short vacations for British backpackers in holiday destinations such as Ibiza.
The studies found young UK backpackers often used drugs on short holidays but their alcohol consumption dramatically increased on a longer backpacking trip.
"When you go on a plane now to Ibiza you get given literature about drinking and drug use and sexual health," Mr Dillon said.
"Australia is seen as a safe destination but when you talk about over 10 per cent of overseas visitors being backpackers, how much do we actually do about trying to reduce harm?
"I don't think we do anything."
AAP
