Local Federal MP Bruce Billson has thrown his support behind a new campaign "Hangover For Life" to highlight the harmful effects of the misuse of alcohol.

The "Hangover For Life" campaign has been organised by the not-for-profit group arbias which highlights that some Australians are consuming too much alcohol which is causing alcohol-related brain damage.

Mr Billson said statistics which revealed one in eight Australians were now at risk of an alcohol- related brain damage because of massive binge drinking were "deeply disturbing".

"Unfortunately, there is a lot of dangerous drinking going on in the community. It's not a question of how much you have to drink to create permanent brain damage; it's a question of how little," he said.

"Alcohol-related brain damage is horrific. It affects the way people think, feel and behave and it also impacts on the lives of those near and dear to them. People living with alcohol-related brain injury often exhibit challenging or difficult behaviour," he said.

Mr Billson said reducing the level of alcohol abuse was a shared responsibility and he had lobbied hard to secure additional resources to assist people with drug and alcohol problems in our region.

In 2005, the Australian Government provided $660,000 in funding over three years for Odyssey House to run a new drug and alcohol treatment service based in Frankston.

The Odyssey Peninsula Short Term Engagement Program (OPSTEP) which has been in operation for a year, provides up to 12 clients at a time with intensive case management, support and residential accommodation.

Manager of OPSTEP, Peter Matthews, said of the 65 people who had been referred to OPSTEP alcohol abuse was the predominant problem.

"The average age of people in OPSTEP is about 30. Most of the people who have come through our doors have been successful in their treatment and have gone back to their daily lives.

"We have had a number of people who have failed to finish the program, usually after being discharged for consuming alcohol or unacceptable behaviour.

Mr Matthews said he had worked with people who have alcohol related brain damage which affected short term memory, problem solving, learning new information and adapting to change in behaviour patterns.

"Working with clients who have a long-term drinking history, you start wondering about the client's capacity to process the information they are given, in these types of cases we need to modify their treatment," Mr Matthews said.

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