SOCIAL IMPACT

At Sober in the Country, our lifesaving work is having a huge social impact and creating social change

For more than 10 years, we’ve been working tirelessly to change the conversation around booze in the bush. And, today, people and organisations are listening to and trusting our message all around Australia. We are now respected as the trusted voice advocating for the physical and mental health of rural Australians affected by alcohol harm. 

We're achieving this life-saving social change through:

  • awareness raising and advocacy
  • peer support and connection – via our Bush Tribe online peer support group
  • educational activities and speaking engagements
  • Social Media engagement
  • partnering with Australia's leading Alcohol and Drug (AOD) organisations
  • sharing and amplifying the stories of real and relatable Australians whose lives have been transformed by cutting back or cutting out booze – via The Amplification Project, and more.

Why Sober in the Country's work is vital for the physical and mental health of our rural and remote Australians.

Rural people experience disproportionately high levels of alcohol harm, which in turn affects their physical and mental health in many ways, including higher rates of depression, suicide and alcohol-related medical conditions (e.g. liver failure) as well as contributing to the high rate of farm accidents.

This is due to many factors characteristic of rural and remote areas, including lack of venues for recreation, stoic attitudes about help-seeking, economic and employment disadvantage, and inadequate access to healthcare professionals and alcohol treatment services.  The stats below – from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey + National Rural Health Alliance Inc. – say it all.

  • Alcohol harm and addiction is directly linked to declining mental health, farm accidents, suicide and domestic violence in rural and remote Australia.
  • A farmer dies by suicide every 10 days in Australia.
  • 6,000 Australians die each year from alcohol-related illness or injury.
  • Rural Australians are 150% more likely to experience alcohol harm and only 17% of those impacted will get help.
  • About 33% of the Australian population (6.6 million people) live in rural and remote areas;  alcohol consumption and its associated harms are consistently higher in rural and remote areas than in urban areas.
  • Rural and remote Australians living with addiction face both social and geographic isolation.
  • Alcohol harm costs $36 billion annually.

Just a few of the ways we’re making an impact all around Australia:

Sober in the Country has the largest social media following of any Australian charity or organisation in the Alcohol and Drug space. 
We have an average organic reach of 800,000 on our social media, which regularly exceeds 1,000,000 for our most popular content.
The television shows, panels and podcasts that feature Sober in the Country and/or our founder Shanna Whan have been viewed/heard by millions.
Our Bush Tribe online support group – with more than a thousand members from all over Australia – is nationally recognised as a non-judgemental safe haven offering invaluable peer-support. 
Our #OK2SAYNO hashtag and message is nationally recognised, from remote stations to small towns.
Our Amplification Project videos – that share the aspirational stories of hope from real Australians whose lives have profoundly improved after cutting back or cutting out booze – have been widely viewed and shared.
Our founder, Shanna Whan, was awarded the Australian of the Year’s Local Hero award in 2022 and also won Marie Clare’s Advocate of the year that same year. She has been a finalist for several other awards over the years. Her recognition has grown our profile and national credibility exponentially.
Shanna has been invited to be a keynote speaker all around Australia (including at the Opera House), and she was one of 10 Australians invited to attend the funeral of Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
Sober in the Country is now respected as “the voice for rural Australians” and lived-experience experts. We are regularly invited by other organisations in the Alcohol and Drug space to contribute our knowledge and unique rural perspective to their projects.
We work alongside key national leaders in the Alcohol and Drug space including:
  • FARE Australia
  • AOD Foundation
  • Hello Sunday Morning
  • SMART Recovery Australia
  • Alcoholics Anonymous
  • Turning Point
  • Trademutt
  • TIACS
  • Clean Slate Clinic
  • The Department of Home Affairs
  • Regional Primary Health Networks (PHNs), and more.
We have officially partnered with Clean Slate Clinic and SMART Recovery Australia to close the gaps in the bush: our contribution has helped bring safe remote Telehealth home-based alcohol detoxes to rural and remote Australians affected by alcohol harm with no other access to this vital clinical support.
We have gained the support of key leaders in Agriculture across sectors including:
  • beef
  • cropping
  • horticulture
  • mining
  • cotton, and
  • dairy.
Sober in the Country has the largest social media following of any Australian charity or organisation in the Alcohol and Drug space. 
We have an average organic reach of 800,000 on our social media, which regularly exceeds 1,000,000 for our most popular content.
The television shows, panels and podcasts that feature Sober in the Country and/or our founder Shanna Whan have been viewed/heard by millions.
Our Bush Tribe online support group – with more than a thousand members from all over Australia – is nationally recognised as a non-judgemental safe haven offering invaluable peer-support. 
Our #OK2SAYNO hashtag and message is nationally recognised, from remote stations to small towns.
Our Amplification Project videos – that share the aspirational stories of hope from real Australians whose lives have profoundly improved after cutting back or cutting out booze – have been widely viewed and shared.
Our founder, Shanna Whan, was awarded the Australian of the Year’s Local Hero award in 2022 and also won Marie Clare’s Advocate of the year that same year. She has been a finalist for several other awards over the years. Her recognition has grown our profile and national credibility exponentially.
Shanna has been invited to be a keynote speaker all around Australia (including at the Opera House), and she was one of 10 Australians invited to attend the funeral of Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
Sober in the Country is now respected as “the voice for rural Australians” and lived-experience experts. We are regularly invited by other organisations in the Alcohol and Drug space to contribute our knowledge and unique rural perspective to their projects.
We work alongside key national leaders in the Alcohol and Drug space including:
  • FARE Australia
  • AOD Foundation
  • Hello Sunday Morning
  • SMART Recovery Australia
  • Alcoholics Anonymous
  • Turning Point
  • Trademutt
  • TIACS
  • Clean Slate Clinic
  • The Department of Home Affairs
  • Regional Primary Health Networks (PHNs), and more.
We have officially partnered with Clean Slate Clinic and SMART Recovery Australia to close the gaps in the bush: our contribution has helped bring safe remote Telehealth home-based alcohol detoxes to rural and remote Australians affected by alcohol harm with no other access to this vital clinical support.
We have gained the support of key leaders in Agriculture across sectors including:
  • beef
  • cropping
  • horticulture
  • mining
  • cotton, and
  • dairy.

Our 2024 Social Impact Statement is coming soon.
So watch this space!

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO FIND OUT ABOUT?

THE AMPLIFICATION PROJECT
OUR #OK2SAYNO MOVEMENT
OUR INSPIRING STORIES