Australian Standard Drinks Calculator
Add up the standard drinks in what you are drinking -- or what you drank last night -- and see how your total compares with the Australian adult drinking guidelines.
General information only, not medical advice. This tool cannot tell you whether you are safe to drive.
Calculator
1. Add your drinks
Tap a common drink to add it to your list.
Custom drink
Enter the volume and alcohol percentage (ABV) from the label.
Please enter a volume between 1 and 5000 ml and an ABV between 0.1 and 100%.
2. Your drinks list
Total standard drinks
0.0
Add drinks to see how your total compares with the Australian guidelines.
This is general information, not medical advice. Results are estimates based on typical serving sizes and the alcohol content you enter -- actual pours and products vary. This calculator cannot tell you whether you are safe to drive, operate machinery, or make any other safety decision. Alcohol affects everyone differently, and no number of standard drinks guarantees your blood alcohol level. If you have been drinking, do not drive. If you have questions about alcohol and your health, talk to your GP.
What is a standard drink?
In Australia, one standard drink contains 10 grams of pure alcohol, regardless of the type of drink. Because alcohol has a density of 0.789 g/ml, the number of standard drinks in any beverage can be calculated as:
standard drinks = volume (litres) × alcohol by volume (%) × 0.789
For example, a 425ml schooner of full strength beer at 4.8% ABV works out to 0.425 × 4.8 × 0.789 ≈ 1.6 standard drinks -- more than many people expect. A "drink" as poured at a venue or at home is very often more than one standard drink.
The Australian guidelines
To reduce the risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury, the Australian guidelines recommend that healthy adults drink no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day. The less you drink, the lower your risk of harm from alcohol.
The guidelines also advise that people under 18, and women who are pregnant, planning a pregnancy, or breastfeeding, should not drink alcohol at all.
Drinking within the guidelines does not remove risk entirely, and these numbers are not targets -- they are an upper limit for healthy adults. Some people, including those taking certain medications or managing health conditions, may need to drink less or avoid alcohol altogether.
Why this matters for hangovers
Hangover severity tracks closely with how much alcohol you drink in a session. Counting standard drinks -- rather than "drinks" -- is one of the most practical ways to pace yourself, because glass sizes and alcohol strengths vary so much. Knowing that a pint of full strength beer is over two standard drinks changes how a night adds up.