Pressure is mounting for Australian governments to raise the legal drinking age to 21 to protect the health of young people whose brains are still vulnerable to the toxicity of alcohol at 18, leading health experts say.
Four professors of mental health and public health have joined a growing list of influential Australians to call for a new legal drinking age that would bring Australia in line with the US where people cannot buy alcohol until they are 21.
They say raising the age limit would protect young people from the brain damage that can be caused by too much alcohol and the harms associated with being drunk, such as car accidents and violence.
As a secondary teacher and parent, I agree that we need to be more proactive in protecting our youth from such harm. Raising the drinking age will not only help to protect our youth from brain damage but it will have a positive impact on many other areas of their development and potentially save them from making poor decisions that could have life-long implications.