Most of Australia’s top 70 Instagram personalities are under the influence of the alcohol industry, with almost three-quarters featuring alcoholic drinks in their accounts in the past year.

However, a study published by VicHealth on Tuesday found only one-quarter of those endorsements fully disclosed that they were a sponsored alcohol collaboration with a brand. Influencers ranged from reality television personalities to models.

The findings particularly concern health experts because Australia is still without a national alcohol strategy and has not had one since 2011. The latest strategy was supposed to be published in December, and there are questions around the influence of alcohol companies in developing it.

There were 477 mentions of alcohol by Australia’s top 70 Instagram influencers over 12 months, Vichealth found, and 12% were likely sponsored mentions. Of those 61% were disclosed and 39% were undisclosed, meaning they did not feature a hashtag such as #sponsored #ad or #collab or use the “paid partnership” option for brands.

“Alcohol brands prefer to partner with mega and macro influencers to deliver an average of three posts for a sponsored campaign, which are usually in the form of the influencer posed with a bottle of the alcohol in question,” the report found.

Macro influencers were defined as having between 10,000 and 100,000 followers, and mega influencers had 100,000 or more.

“Cocktails, wine and champagne are by far the most popular types of alcohol featured editorially and in sponsored posts,” the report found. “There is evidence that influencers use alcoholic drinks as a prop of sorts to add glamour and sophistication to their images.”

The most mentioned brand among top Australian influencers was Aperol. Chambord ran a #ChambordQueen campaign in January that also featured prominently, and Grey Goose vodka ran an event pop-up and influencer campaign around Australia between October and February with the hashtag #celebrategreygoose. Nineteen influencers from Australia took part in the promotion. Meanwhile, Beefeater Gin Pink ran a promotion picked up by influencers using the hashtag: #OnWednesdaysWeDrinkPink.

Several top Australian female influencers featured alcohol editorially in their posts frequently, more than 20 times in a year.

“These influencers feature glasses of wine or cocktails in a highly stylised and curated posts symbolising a fashionable and enviable lifestyle,” VicHealth found.

VicHealth’s acting chief executive, Dr Lyn Roberts, described the industry’s use of social media as “underhanded” and said the alcohol industry was employing tactics of big tobacco, using high-profile influencers to make their products appear glamorous and sophisticated to young people.

“What’s most concerning is that influencers and brands can get away with not disclosing paid content, making it really hard for young people to discern when they’re being sold an ad,” she said.

“We also know that young people who like or follow alcohol brands on social media are twice as likely to drink at risky levels than those who don’t.”

Julia Stafford, a research fellow with the alcohol programs team at the Public Health Advocacy Institute of WA, said influencers, social media platforms and alcohol brands should not regulate themselves. A lack of national alcohol strategy was exacerbating the issue.

“Unfortunately in 2019 we are still having to push, with some success but not enough, for proper regulation of traditional media,” she said. “Commercial and free-to-air television and outdoor ads are still so poorly regulated and here we are now talking about social media, which is a part of everyday life, and governments are playing catch-up to deal with it.”

She was unsure if social media advertising would be incorporated in the national alcohol strategy.

“I hope it will be, but we have not been overwhelmed with encouragement from what we’ve heard about the strategy so far, especially given the role of the alcohol industry in influencing that strategy,” she said.