What is binge drinking?

“Binge drinking”, is commonly understood to mean intentionally drinking enough alcohol to get drunk. It involves drinking heavily on one occasion or over several days or weeks. However, binge drinking is not scientifically defined, and there is no single accepted definition.

A commonly used proxy measure of binge drinking is the consumption of five or more standard drinks on one drinking occasion.

Source: National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (2019). Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol.

Drinking Occasion: A period of time during which a person consumes one or more drinks containing alcohol and their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) does not return to zero.

Standard Drink: A drink that contains 10 grams (or 12.5 millilitres) of alcohol.