LEADING mental health advocate Ian Hickie has called for the Prime Minister to push for the drinking age to be raised to 19 to break the connection between school leaving and drinking.

The call comes as school leavers prepare for the annual binge-drinking ritual of schoolies, which Professor Hickie has criticised as ''ludicrous'' and ''a very dangerous activity''.

He says the drinking age of 18 is unacceptable and cites the mounting evidence that the brains of young people even into their 20s are particularly susceptible to damage from alcohol abuse.

The call has won the backing of the chairman of the Australian National Council on Drugs, John Herron, who said the council would discuss the proposal at its next meeting later this month.

''I think Ian's suggestion of breaking the nexus between drinking and school leaving is a very valid one,'' Dr Herron said, adding he was speaking personally and not as chairman of the council. The move was particularly needed given the unfolding evidence of the toxic effect alcohol had on teenagers' brains.