• Alcohol consumption is a major risk factor contributing to the burden of disease in Australia. • The National Preventative Health Taskforce recommends the long-term goal of reshaping Australia's drinking culture to produce healthier and safer outcomes. • A study of the cost-effectiveness of interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm in Australia suggests that policymakers could achieve over 10 times the health gain if they reallocated the current level of investment. • The optimal package of interventions identified in the study comprises, in order of cost-effectiveness, volumetric taxation, advertising bans, an increase in the minimum legal drinking age to 21 years, brief intervention by primary care practitioners, licensing controls, a drink-driving mass media campaign, and random breath testing. • Australia has a window of opportunity to significantly expand activities to reduce alcohol-related harm. It is important that federal and state governments take this opportunity to reform alcohol policy in Australia.