AUDIT-C alcohol screening test

What your score actually tells you

The AUDIT-C is a screening tool, not a diagnostic one. Its job is to identify the population of drinkers whose drinking is likely to be causing harm or moving toward harm — the people for whom a longer conversation with a GP, addiction medicine specialist, or psychologist is going to be useful. A high score does not mean you have alcohol use disorder; it means the probability of alcohol use disorder is high enough that further assessment is warranted.

The thresholds are gendered because women metabolise alcohol differently from men — at the same blood alcohol concentration, women have higher peak levels and more cumulative tissue exposure for any given quantity of alcohol consumed. The Australian Alcohol Guidelines and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) reflect this in their lower recommended consumption thresholds for women.

What to do at each score band

Lower-risk (0–2 women / 0–3 men)

Your drinking is unlikely to be causing direct harm right now. The Australian Alcohol Guidelines recommend no more than 10 standard drinks per week and no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day — to keep risk low across the lifespan. If you are pregnant, the safest course is no alcohol at all. If you have a family history of alcohol problems, your individual risk profile is higher than the population average and stricter limits are warranted.

At-risk (3–4 women / 4+ men)

You are drinking at a level where alcohol-attributable harm becomes meaningful in a population sense. Risk of cancer (especially bowel, breast, oesophageal, and head-and-neck cancers), cardiovascular disease, and liver problems begins climbing. A conversation with a GP — bulk-billed in most cases — is the cheapest, lowest-friction next step. They can write a Mental Health Care Plan, refer you to a psychologist, or refer to an addiction medicine specialist if needed.

Likely alcohol use disorder (5+)

This score range is consistent with alcohol use disorder under DSM-5 criteria. The good news: alcohol use disorder is one of the most treatable forms of addiction. Public detox and rehab in Australia is free for Medicare-eligible people, and there are well-established medications (naltrexone, acamprosate, disulfiram) that significantly improve outcomes when combined with counselling and peer support.

Important safety note: if you are drinking heavily every day, do not stop suddenly. Severe alcohol withdrawal can cause seizures and delirium tremens, both of which can be fatal. The first phone call to make is your state alcohol and drug line or your GP — they will arrange a medically supervised taper or detox.

What the AUDIT-C does not measure

The AUDIT-C is a quantity-and-frequency screen. It does not measure harm. You can have a high AUDIT-C score and be a heavy social drinker whose life is otherwise fine; you can have a low AUDIT-C score and have a profoundly disordered relationship with alcohol that comes out in binges. For a more comprehensive picture, the full 10-question AUDIT, the Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire (SADQ), or a clinical interview is the next layer.

Frequently asked questions

Is the AUDIT-C confidential?

Yes. The tool runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript. No answers are submitted, stored, transmitted, or shared. We do not see what you input. There is no account, no email capture, and no follow-up unless you specifically request a callback at the end of the test.

Is AUDIT-C the same as AUDIT?

AUDIT-C is the 3-question consumption-focused short-form of the original 10-item AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) developed by the World Health Organization. AUDIT-C is what most Australian GPs use as a first-pass screen because it takes under a minute and identifies the same population as the full AUDIT for hazardous drinking.

What does the score actually mean?

AUDIT-C scores out of 12. A score of 0–2 (women) or 0–3 (men) sits in the lower-risk band; 3–4 (women) or 4+ (men) is at-risk drinking; 5+ correlates strongly with alcohol use disorder under DSM-5 criteria. The thresholds are gendered because alcohol metabolism differs.

I scored high — what do I do?

A high AUDIT-C score is a screening signal, not a diagnosis. The next step is a conversation with a GP, your state alcohol & drug line, or a request for a free callback through this site. Public detox and rehab is free for Medicare-eligible Australians. Critically — never stop drinking cold-turkey if you are drinking heavily every day. Severe alcohol withdrawal can cause seizures and needs medical supervision.

Can I take this for someone else?

You can, and the result is still useful as an indicator, but the diagnostic value drops since you are guessing at their typical pattern. A more useful tool for "is my partner / parent / adult child drinking too much?" is the loved-one conversation framework on our talking-to-a-loved-one article.

How accurate is AUDIT-C?

AUDIT-C has good sensitivity (around 86%) and reasonable specificity (around 72%) for hazardous drinking compared to gold-standard clinical interviews. It performs well across age, gender, and ethnic populations in Australia. Like any screening tool, it produces some false positives and false negatives — which is why follow-up with a clinician is the next step at any moderate-to-high score.