What is harm minimisation?

The main aim of the Rethinking Drinking resources, including this website, is to provide practical help to students, teachers and parents on how to minimise the harms associated with alcohol misuse. 

Harm minimisation is a philosophy which underlies many health promotion programs, particularly those focusing on alcohol and other drug use. Harm minimisation programs aim to reduce the harmful effects of a behaviour while recognising that not all people who engage in a risky behaviour will stop completely.  Many government health promotion programs addressing alcohol use are based on harm minimisation principles.

A harm minimisation approach accepts that alcohol use occurs and does not aim to eliminate the use of alcohol but, rather, to reduce harm which may result from its use. Harm minimisation encompasses a range of strategies for dealing with safe, minimal use of drugs. The World Health Organisation and the Australian National Drug Strategy, as well as recent education documents, recognise harm minimisation as a most appropriate framework for school alcohol education. Harm minimisation does not condone or condemn use.

The harm minimisation approach has been shown in a large number of studies and evaluations to be successful in reducing the harmful effects of alcohol.  For example the Australian National Drug Research Institute undertook a randomised control study of a drug education program based on harm minimisation and found that students exposed to this program demonstrated lower rates of alcohol-related harm over time compared with those in the control condition.

The resources on this website are based on a harm minimisation approach which recognises that young people and their families have a range of different beliefs about alcohol use and patterns of consumption.  These beliefs may come from different cultural views or religious beliefs about alcohol or may just be the result of individual and family behaviours and practices.

These resources do not advocate any specific pattern of alcohol consumption for young people.  They are designed for use in Alcohol Information Nights that support and encourage discussion about different patterns of alcohol use, including non-use, and aim to provide parents and students with information about the harms associated with alcohol consumption and strategies to reduce those harms.

This means that the resources are suitable for use by schools which have students from families with different views on alcohol use, including families where alcohol use is accepted for all members, including young people, and families where no-one consumes alcohol. 

For more information on harm minimisation and the Australian Government's policy framework for reducing the harms associated with drug use, visit www.nationaldrugstrategy.gov.au.