Health chief urges light beer excise cut

Excises should be removed on light beer to cut alcohol-related crime and health complications, VicHealth chief executive Todd Harper says.

The tax system offers the best chance to encourage drinkers to change their drinking habits, Mr Harper said in a statement on Friday.

Excises should be taken off beer with less than 2.7 per cent alcohol, he said.

"With a rising tide of binge drinking and associated violence and crime, it's essential that we shift our drinking culture towards lower alcohol alternatives," he said.

"There is little consistency in determining how different alcohol products are taxed throughout Australia.

"The amount of tax we pay for alcoholic beverages varies enormously, depending on the product type, rather than the amount of alcohol they contain."

The current tax on a standard drink of light beer with two per cent alcohol is 19 cents but taxes levied on a standard glass of wine with 12 per cent alcohol is only 5 cents, he said.

Changing the prices of low-alcohol beer could change drinkers' habits and limit the incidence of harmful alcohol consumption, studies in Australia and overseas had shown, Mr Harper said.

Less than seven per cent of all beer sold in Australia is light beer, he said.

Changing the excise on light beer should be part of the federal government's review of the tax system, Mr Harper said.