Australia’s Youth Addiction Crisis Needs Action, Not Advertising
April Long, CEO SMART Recovery Australia
New proposed rules for free-to-air television in Australia could allow alcohol advertising from 10am even on weekends and during school holidays. As the CEO of SMART Recovery Australia and someone with lived experience of intergenerational addiction, I’m speaking out because this change isn’t just irresponsible- it’s dangerous.
When we talk about alcohol ads on television, we’re not talking about harmless marketing. We’re talking about messages that reach into Australian homes, into living rooms and into young minds.
I am alarmed by Free TV Australia's proposal, which would mean an additional 800 hours of alcohol advertising every year. Already, one in three children in Australia see alcohol ads on TV. This is not harmless. Research shows that 90% of adults with addiction began problematic using substances before the age of 18.
I know this story intimately. Addiction isn’t just a theory to me. It’s not a policy brief or a line in a report. It’s something I was born into. I grew up in a family shaped by trauma, violence and addiction. My dad struggled with alcohol and drugs and was imprisoned. By 16, I was living in a young women's refuge and many of us there used substances to cope with trauma and family violence. We were using them to escape, to soothe the wounds that no one else could see. It was our coping mechanism, it was our reality.
But what changed my life wasn’t luck. It was a community of support. And that’s exactly what SMART Recovery builds every day, one meeting at a time.
Today, I’m proud to lead SMART Recovery Australia, an organisation that now supports more than 450 meetings every week across the country including 16 youth meetings reaching over 160 young people weekly. We are growing because the need is growing. Young people are crying out for support that actually meets them where they are at.
We help people manage addictive behaviours in a safe, non-judgmental environment. Around 70% of all SMART Recovery participants attend to address alcohol use, and many of our young participants are grappling with early exposure and the lifelong consequences of alcohol harm.
That’s why we’re urging the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to reject this proposal and instead stand with frontline services, public health experts, and families across the country. To stand with young people because Australia is facing a youth addiction crisis.
National surveys show that 1 in 6 adolescents are struggling with some form of addiction whether it’s alcohol, vaping, gaming, or drugs. These numbers represent real young people, like the ones I see every day. They are smart, creative, hurting, and hopeful. What they need is protection, not profit-driven promotion of harmful products.
We believe in giving young people real choices, real support and real hope. Because addiction is behaviour and we can all change our behavior if we are given the tools and resources.
We need to protect young people, not profit from their vulnerability. We need to fund programs that work and not allow harmful industries to take up more space in their lives. Every young life matters. Every future counts. And no one should be left to face addiction alone.
This is more than a policy debate. This is about more than a change in broadcasting schedules. It’s a question of values. Do we value young lives, or do we value alcohol industry profits?
Let’s stop pushing ads into loungerooms where children are watching. Let’s start backing solutions that work.
We must choose prevention over profit, protection over promotion and community over chaos.