Aussies told to have no more than 10 drinks a week

Australians should have no more than 10 alcoholic drinks a week, according to the latest advice from the leading national health body.

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) said people should have no more than four standard drinks on any given day.

Women who are pregnant, or planning to get pregnant, should not drink at all. Not drinking is safest for the babies of women who are breastfeeding.

"We're not telling Australians how much to drink," NHMRC CEO Professor Anne Kelso said in a statement.

"We're providing advice about the health risks so that we can all make informed decisions in our daily lives."

The new recommendations come 11 years after the NHMRC last issued advice about drinking.

In 2009, the NHMRC recommended no more than two standard drinks a day, or four drinks a day on a single occasion.

Children under 18 should not drink at all.

The less you drink, the less your risk of harm.

The NMHRC guidelines on drinking for children or pregnant women has not changed at all.

Australia's Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said healthy adults who follow the guideline drinking recommendations have a less than one in a hundred chance of an alcohol-related death.

"Every year there are more than 4000 alcohol-related deaths in Australia, and more than 70,000 hospital admissions," Professor Kelly said.

"Alcohol is linked to more than 40 medical conditions, including many cancers."

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A standard drink would be a can of mid-strength beer, a 285mL of full-strength beer (also known as a middy, a pot, a half-pint, a ten or a handle), a glass of wine or a shot of spirits.

The council also issued suggestions for how to reduce the impact of alcohol.

It included eating food before and while drinking, checking the labels of cans and bottles to see how many standard drinks it contains, and avoiding using alcohol to deal with stress, anxiety or poor sleep.

The council also recommended drinking water rather than alcohol when you are thirsty.

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