One in every five Australians are responsible for three-quarters of the nation's alcohol consumption, a new report suggests, with one million people downing an average of eight standard drinks a day.

Key points: A million Australians are consuming, on average, eight drinks a day

A million Australians are consuming, on average, eight drinks a day Top 5 per cent are drinking in excess of 36 litres of pure alcohol per person per year

Top 5 per cent are drinking in excess of 36 litres of pure alcohol per person per year About 10,000 kids in the child protection system due to carers' drinking

The report, by the not-for-profit Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, said the alcohol industry was relying largely on a small slice of the population drinking heavily to keep it afloat.

While many Australians drank moderate amounts of alcohol, it was the drinking habits of about a fifth of the population that was causing concern, said chief executive Michael Thorn.

"About four million Australians are consuming about three-quarters of the available alcohol," he said.

"About a million Australians drink, on average, eight standard drinks a day - four times what health authorities recommend [is] good for you.

"The top 5 per cent are drinking in excess of 36 litres of pure alcohol per person per year."

Mr Thorne added: "What the alcohol industry has done in this country is create a very alcogenic environment, where alcohol features so strongly in what people do every day.

"It's socially acceptable to drink; it's almost socially acceptable to get drunk these days."

About 10,000 kids in protection due to drinking

Mr Thorn said the alcohol industry resisted public policy changes that could affect the way alcohol was taxed in Australia, and also changes to alcohol's availability and marketing.

"They fiercely resist these, and argue that most Australians are responsible drinkers. The fact is, they're not," he said.

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"Four million of them are drinking way in excess of what's good for them."

Mr Thorn said the harm of drinking heavily, including the health risks, was clear.

"Around the country there is very strong community concern about one-punch injuries, for instance, in our night time entertainment precincts," he said.

"We also know that that alcohol figures significantly; it's a major contribution to family and domestic violence.

"More than a million kids are living in households where their carers' drinking is a concern, and about 10,000 of those children are in the child protection system as a consequence of their carers' drinking."