Availability of high alcohol pre-mixed drinks is rising faster than any other alcohol beverage in Australia, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the Australian reported April 15.

Supplies of low- and mid-strength beers decreased last year, while the availability of heavily marketed "alcohol pops" outpaced growth in full-strength beer, which remains the most consumed alcohol in the country. Supply of distilled spirits remained steady.

"What we've seen is an onslaught of advertising, particularly for the pre-mixed drinks, the ready-to-mix alcohol pops," said Gino Vumbaca, executive director of the Australian National Council on Drugs. "That's obviously where the big growth areas are in the alcohol industry."

Vumbaca suggests industry changes in marketing and production, as well as Labor Government intervention – higher taxes on high-alcohol drinks, for example.

Vumbaca continued, "It's time to stop treating alcohol as just another thing on the grocery shelf. It's not – it's a drug."