Attachment 3: Turn Down the Tap Media Kit
Turn Down the Tap - At a Glance
Alcohol in Central Australia
- Alcohol causes more than $15 billion worth of damage in Australia every year.
- People in Alice Springs drink 70% more than the national average.
- The whole community is seriously affected by alcohol misuse through preventable violence, accidents and increased health costs.
- There are more alcohol-caused deaths in the Indigenous population in Central Australia than anywhere else in the country. These include suicide, liver disease and assaults.
- The hard evidence is that alcohol consumption is most effectively reduced by supply reduction: limiting the hours when it can be obtained and increasing the purchase price of the cheapest and most damaging forms of alcohol.
- The ‘Turn Down the Tap’ group proposes take-away grog free days and a minimum price benchmark on alcohol.
- Research indicates supply reduction strategies that have community support are most effective.
- The proposed measures will be of minor inconvenience to the general population, but great benefit to those who have serious alcohol problems.
- The current national recognition of the enormity of alcohol issues in Central Australia represents an opportunity to introduce effective measures to prevent the damage done by the abuse of alcohol. Supply reduction strategies have been proved to work quickly to improve the quality of life of the whole community.
Turn Down the Tap - Background Information
Background
For a happier, healthier Central Australia we need to ‘turn down the tap’ and stem the rivers of grog which cause misery and destruction both in Alice Springs and on surrounding communities.
Experience shows that the best way to reduce the damage caused by grog is to make alcohol harder to get for problem drinkers. These measures cause only minor inconvenience to most drinkers but greatly reduce the damage caused to - and by - problem drinkers.
Many murders, suicides and car accidents can be attributed at least in part to drunkenness. Alcohol is also a major factor in chronic diseases like cirrhosis of the liver and diabetes. Aside from the terrible human costs of the death or injury to family and friends, the financial costs of medical treatment for grog-related harms in Central Australia are enormous. Across the country alcohol misuse costs $15 billion every year.
Why new Laws?
It is widely understood that grog causes enormous problems in Alice: the newspaper headlines are a constant reminder of this fact. Some public policy approaches to the problem have worked well, but others have been more about politics than action. For example, publicity campaigns urging people to ‘drink responsibly’ have proven largely ineffective. Further, the new requirement for people purchasing more than $100 worth of alcohol to provide identification is both inconvenient and ineffective.
A new report from Australia’s National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) underscores the fact that the two most effective ways of reducing alcohol-related harms are (i) restricting the hours and days on which grog can be purchased and (ii) increasing the price of the cheapest, most damaging alcohol . The NDRI report ‘Restrictions on the Sale and Supply of Alcohol: Evidence and Outcomes’ also found that restrictions which are community-backed and community-controlled have the greatest chance of success.
The NT Licensing Commission restrictions which commenced in Alice Springs in October 2006 are further evidence of the value of good alcohol policy. These restrictions, which made damaging grog more difficult to get, resulted in a sustained reduction in hospital presentations and assaults relating to alcohol. They also resulted in an overall an reduction in the amount of alcohol consumed in Alice.
The top line on the graph shows the number of presentations at Alice Springs
Hospital between October 2005 and February 2007. The line just below it shows
presentations of Aboriginal people, with the line at the bottom showing presentations
of non-Aboriginal people. The positive effect of the supply restrictions introduced
in October 2006 is clear.
Source Alice Springs Hospital
What do we Want?
The “Turn Down the Tap” rally on November 14 will call for :
- The closure of take-away liquor outlets in Alice Springs on at least one day each week.
- Increases to the price of the most damaging beverages through a minimum price benchmark.
The minimum price benchmark strategy will have almost no effect on the vast majority of alcohol purchasers, as it will only affect the price of the cheapest fortified wines and casks.
The “Turn Down the Tap” group has no in-principle objection to the discounting of alcohol, provided the minimum price benchmark is maintained.
The event will be held on Wednesday 14 November, 2007. People will meet at the Alice Springs Town Council lawns at 10am and march to the Uniting Church lawns in the Todd Mall to hear the concerns of community members.
Who are we?
The group endorsing the event includes the Central Australian Youth Link-Up Service (CAYLUS), Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Western Aranda Health Aboriginal Corporation, Mt Theo Yuendumu Substance Misuse Aboriginal Corporation, Yuendumu Women’s Centre, Pintubi Homelands Health Service, Ngaanyatjarra. Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council, Waltja Tjutangka Palyapayi Aboriginal Corporation, the Peoples Alcohol Action Coalition (PAAC), Mission Australia and the Central Australian Aboriginal Alcohol Programs Unit (CAAAPU).
Media Alert: Alice Springs rally to demand stricter grog laws
13 November
Tomorrow in Alice Springs Indigenous people from surrounding communities will join with residents of the town in a rally to support further restrictions on take-away alcohol.
The march will be led by Warlpiri women from the Yuendumu community who will perform traditional dances. The Western Desert Dialysis Choir will also be part of the event.
A large crowd will gather on the Uniting Church lawns in the Todd Mall to hear speakers such as Barbara Shaw from the Alice Springs Town Camp Womens group, Mildred Inkamala from Hermannsburg, representatives from the NPY Womens Council, MK Turner from Alice Springs, Andrew Spencer Japaljarri a long term policeman from Kintore, and Australian Greens Senator, Rachel Siewert.
Attached to this media alert is a three-page background briefing document which explains the issues and the case for take-away grog free days.
Media representatives are invited to seek further information from two of the nations foremost researchers into alcohol misuse:
Names and contact details removed
Media Release: Minister Burns’ call for more research an “unnecessary delay” say community groups
12 November 2007
A meeting of the People’s Alcohol Action Coalition on Friday described NT Health Minister Chris Burns’ call for more research before introducing a two-day a week ban on take-away alcohol in Alice Springs as an unnecessary delay. The group says there is already clear evidence to support the introduction of take-away free days.
Tennant Creek’s ‘thirsty Thursday’ restriction saw a drop
of over 20% in the consumption of alcohol in the Barkly region, and a significant
reduction in alcohol-related hospital presentations*. The evaluation of the
trial found that a majority of community residents felt that the restrictions
had been worthwhile, and supported their retention.
Mr Blair McFarland of CAYLUS, one of the organizations supporting the rally,
stated “We support the intention by both Territory and Federal government
to seriously address the alcohol issue in Alice Springs and the region. Other
proposals, such as requiring ID in order to purchase alcohol, will have a
positive effect in the medium term, but why wait?
Residents of Alice will recall the many newspaper stories about the tragic consequences of alcohol abuse in our community. The existing evidence is that some minor inconvenience to responsible drinkers will provide lasting benefits to the whole community.”
On Wednesday 14 November there will be a public action in Alice Springs calling for further restrictions on the sale of take-away alcohol.
*Alcohol Restrictions in Tennant Creek - Menzies School of Health Research Darwin, October 2000
Names and contact details removed
Media Release: Aboriginal Communities Call for Stronger Grog Laws
7 November 2007
Remote Indigenous communities, fed up with the damage that alcohol does to their culture and their lives, are staging a rally to call on political parties, state and federal, to support stronger grog laws in Alice Springs.
The call is supported by a broad base of Indigenous organisations and other community groups including Tangentyere Council, CAYLUS, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Western Aranda Health Aboriginal Corporation, Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi, The Mt Theo Program, NPY Women’s Council, Yuendumu Womens Centre, Pintubi Homelands Health Service (Kintore), and the Peoples Alcohol Action Coalition (PAAC).
The group is calling on government to ‘Turn Down the Tap’ to minimise the harm done by alcohol through creating new laws to stop sales of takeaway alcohol two days a week, and to institute a minimum price on the most dangerous sorts of alcohol.
Most Aboriginal communities in the NT were long ago declared ‘dry’
at the request of the residents. The ‘rivers of grog’ that the
Minister for Indigenous Affairs Mal Brough speaks of rise in towns like Alice
Springs. “It is here that the flow must be stemmed” said Ms Donna
AhChee, Deputy Director of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress. “People’s
lives depend on it.”
"We worry for grog, some people are fighting or murdering, in the bush
and in Alice Springs. We've lost too much family, we have to slow down takeaway"
said Ms Peggy Brown Nampijinpa OAM, founder of the Mt Theo Program and Yuendumu
Women’s Night Patrol. “Takeaway grog is a big problem in our communities,
we've been trying to slow it down for years.”
Pastor Roderick Kantamarra, a Luritja man from the Mt Liebig community west of Alice Springs agreed. "People in the bush are thinking grog problems are coming from Alice Springs. Grog runners go in and out getting cheap hard stuff. More expensive grog would mean they can chuck in but not buy so much hard stuff."
A public action in Alice Springs on 14 November will draw attention to the campaign.
For comment:
- Dr John Boffa - Central Australian Aboriginal Congress 0418 812 141
- Blair McFarland - CAYLUS Youth Service 08) 8951 4236
Media Enquiries:
- Graham Ring 0404 362 290
For Immediate Release: ‘Turn Down the Tap’ and Save Lives
The Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA) strongly supports the call by Aboriginal communities in Central Australia for political parties and governments to “Turn Down the Tap” on alcohol in Alice Springs.
ADCA Chief Executive Officer, David Templeman, said the planned rally in Alice Springs tomorrow (14 November) highlights community concern and the need to consider their request to reduce access and alcohol availability.
“This community-based initiative is a call for help to minimise the harm done by excessive alcohol consumption in Central Australia,” Mr Templeman said.
“ADCA acknowledges comments made by the Deputy Director of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Ms Donna AhChee, indicating that the alcohol flow needs to be steemed in order to save lives.”
Mr Templeman said the proposed rally was in line with ADCA’s policy asking political parties and Government to review alcohol policies in relation to misuse, excessive consumption, pricing, availability, accessibility, and promotion.
“These are all contributing factors which directly impact on the health, family, social, and welfare aspects of all communities,” Mr Templeman said.
“As the peak national body representing the interests of the Australian alcohol and other drugs (AOD) sector, ADCA’s primary role is to see a reduction in alcohol and drug-related harm and is committed to working with Government and major stakeholders to reduce AOD-related harm throughout Australia.”
Mr Templeman said some 1000 people are currently in our hospital system through alcohol-related harm at a cost of approximately $1 million a day. Nearly 80 per cent of all presentations in hospital emergency departments on Friday and Saturday nights involve some form of alcohol contributing factor, whether it be assault, domestic violence, road trauma, or an accident.
“This has an enormous impart on emergency medical services and police, who consequently are unable to address other community needs," Mr Templeman said.
“The increasing number of alcohol points of sale, combined with extended trading hours, only add more fuel to the debate that we have a growing community problem in dealing with a legal substance. ADCA commends recent initiatives in tackling all aspects of illicit drugs, but the time has come to focus on alcohol and apply similar funding measures.”
Media Enquiries:
Name and contact details removed
13 November 2007