Sober lifestyle grows in popularity, with more Australians giving up alcohol

Ten years ago, teenager Ezrah Waith was in a bustling nightclub on the Gold Coast’s glitter strip, with lights flashing and music pumping, when he had an epiphany.

“I just remember standing in the middle of Sin City and realising I didn’t need alcohol to be myself,” Ezrah said.

It was almost sacrilege in the schoolies’ capital of Australia, where drinking alcohol is a veritable right of passage for many.