We all want our families to have access to clear information about the health and safety of the products they buy – especially products that may harm our children. However, in Australia, alcoholic products have never been legally required to carry a health warning about the risks alcohol can cause during pregnancy including miscarriage, stillbirth, low birth weight, pre-term birth and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). This is changing.
From 31 July 2023, alcoholic products sold in Australia will be required by law to display a visible pregnancy health warning. The evidence-based label was carefully designed to have high visibility and impact, in order to increase Australians’ awareness of the risks of drinking alcohol while pregnant.
![](https://fare.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Pregnancy-warning-label-June-2020-1024x235.png)
Since the decision in July 2020 for these warnings to be mandated, they have been appearing on alcoholic products. In June 2023, FARE commissioned a poll of 1,004 Australians asking whether they recalled whether they have seen the pregnancy health warning on alcoholic products. We found:
- Just over half of Australians (56.4%) reported that they have seen the pregnancy health warning on alcoholic products.
- People were more likely to recall seeing the warning if they had an alcoholic drink in the last 12 months (59.2%), than if they had not (38.2%).
- Recall of the pregnancy health warning was highest among people aged 18-25 years (79.1%) and 26-41 years (72.9%).