A meeting of the region’s drug and alcohol experts in Warrnambool this week put forward early ideas to combat underage drinking. 

Deakin University’s Professor John Toumbourou has been carrying out surveys at Warrnambool bottle shops monitoring the sale of alcohol to underage buyers. He said a generation could be deterred from drinking in their teenage years if classes on the impacts of alcohol were brought forward into primary school. 

“We do have some work that’s done in primary schools but it’s not very effective and what we really need to do is to back it with information to parents...and that’s not happening enough,” Professor Toumbourou said. 

“We think do it in primary school and repeat it in secondary school. There’s evidence from school surveys of 30 per cent of young people in grade six using alcohol in the community - that’s Warrnambool data (taken in 2006). We have brought it down but most of it was supplied by parents. 

“I think we need to plan on those younger age groups because the problem has crept into younger age groups. You need to have education but you also need to deal with the actual law. 

“The law says that adults shouldn’t sell or supply alcohol and that is still happening.” 

Alcohol education is traditionally carried out in years eight and nine at secondary school.

The meeting of experts at Great South Coast Medicare Local heard the south-west has one of the state’s highest underage drinking rates. 

South West Healthcare’s Dr Daryl Pedler said attention was still fixated on dealing with alcohol at emergency stages in adults. 

“We really are dealing only with the people at the far end of the spectrum,” Dr Pedler said. 

The experts said gradual cultural change around alcohol could be achieved in a similar way to tobacco. 

Western Region Alcohol and Drug Centre (WRAD) director Geoff Soma said expanding alcohol awareness in year six was “worth a trial”. 

“The rule I use is a trial. Introduce it to an educational year and you do follow ups to see if there has been any impact,” Mr Soma said. 

“What’s currently in place is not working.” 

But Warrnambool Primary School principal Peter Auchettl dismissed the idea. 

“In our particular setting in our school with our students I wouldn’t see a need to include it in the curriculum,” Mr Auchettl said. 

“At the end of the day it’s not our decision. If it is deemed necessary...then it would have to come from central office.”