Do you want to see a better drinking culture in Victoria? One where people can say no to a drink when they feel like stopping, where drinking to get drunk isn’t seen as acceptable or normal?

Most Victorians drink. Alcohol is a part of most social occasions. The problem is, the more you drink the more likely you are to suffer from an injury, aggression or accident and do or say things you may later regret. If you drink too much too regularly, your chance of getting a disease increases too.

VicHealth is looking for bold new ideas that decrease the amount Victorians drink, particularly those that already drink heavily, or increase the acceptability of saying no to a drink, or drinking a bit less.

We want to help you trial your ideas, and are offering an investment pool of $300,000 which will be shared amongst the handful of successful projects.

In collaboration with the crew from Doing Something Good, we're inviting you to come along to this forum to:

• explore and build understanding around some of the key issues concerning alcohol in Victoria
• uncover and share our collective insights
• learn about innovative approaches and solutions
• identify opportunities for collaboration

Confirmed speakers include:

• Dr Michael Livingston, Centre for Alcohol Policy & Research – the big picture on alcohol consumption and its negative impacts
• Prof. Mike Reid, RMIT – on media and messaging for problem drinking interventions
• Inspector Dale Huntington, Victoria Police – on the impacts of our current drinking culture and past and present interventions to address them
• Dr Sarah MacLean, Centre for Alcohol Policy & Research – on young people’s differing perceptions and alcohol consumption behaviour
• Dr Nicholas Carah, University of Queensland – on how alcohol brands influence popular culture
• Sarah Saunders, VicHealth – on social marketing campaigns and changing behaviour
• Victoria Cullen, Squareweave – on UX (user-experience design) and behavioural economics
• Mark Stone, Australian Drug Foundation – on the Good Sports program: supporting sporting clubs to change their culture and reduce high risk drinking
• Rodger Watson, Designing out Crime Research Centre – on applying design thinking to environments to change behaviour

If you are up for a challenge and want to play a part in improving Victoria's drinking culture, be sure to register today.

For more info, visit challenge.vichealth.vic.gov.au or email alcohol@vichealth.vic.gov.au

Can't make the event? No worries! Join the conversation on Twitter using #VHInnov

Please note - Photography and/or filming may take place at this event for use in VicHealth publications and promotions including online/social channels.