Last week, the Coalition released ‘The Victorian Liberal/National Coalition Plan for Liquor Licensing'.

And on page 11, in betwixt all the policies on licensing, there it was. A pledge to introduce secondary supply legislation:

“Under current Victorian law, at a party or in someone’s home anyone can supply alcohol to a child.

The Liberal/National Coalition believes that parents know what’s best for their children, and that parents alone should be able to make choices about their child’s alcohol consumption.

Banning the supply of alcohol to minors without parental consent will assist in reducing the consumption of alcohol by people aged under 18. The law is already in place in NSW, Queensland and Tasmania and it is time for it to be adopted in Victoria.”

Last week it could have been anyone’s game, but we thought that the Coalition’s policy served to set the bar for the other major parties. Now we’re staring down the barrel of a Coalition Government and it’s looking decidedly more like secondary supply legislation may be implemented.

Apparently the Coalition has been looking at the NSW model, whereby a person cannot sell or supply liquor to a person under the age of 18 years in a licensed premises or any other place. A parent, guardian and spouse of a minor is exempted from prosecution. A person convicted of the offence is liable for a penalty of up to $6000.

Evidence suggests that the existence of such a law must be effectively communicated before it can have a deterrent effect. The policy has been in place for some years in NSW, and it is unclear whether the public is well informed of the restriction.

I know I’ve said it before, but it’s imperative that introduction of this legislation be accompanied by a comprehensive communication and education campaign targeting parents and teenagers. The campaign would inform people of the new laws, increase awareness of the risks associated with unsupervised teenage drinking, and provide practical information and skills to assist compliance.

More importantly, the impact of the introduction of the legislation needs to be closely evaluated and monitored to identify its effectiveness, any unintended consequences and any amendments required.

In the meantime, until the legislation is implemented, we need to keep fighting the hard fight. Show your support for secondary supply.

Until next week,

Sarah Jaggard
Community Mobilisation Policy Officer

The Uniting Church (Synod of Victoria and Tasmania), supported by CAAN and other organisations, has initiated another postcard campaign to support alcohol reform issues at the national level. The postcards are available for local communities to give to their MP to then be passed onto the Minister.

The postcard urges the Government to:

• Replace the voluntary Australian Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC) with legislation or an industry mandatory code under the Trade Practices Act enforced by an independent watchdog to eliminate unethical advertising by the alcohol industry;
• Change the taxes on alcoholic beverages so that all of them are taxed on the basis of their volumetric alcohol content with a premium rate for more harmful products;
• Ban alcohol advertisements from being shown on television before 8:30 pm;
• Assist in phasing out alcohol sponsorship of sport; and
• Implement the other recommendations of the National Preventative Health Taskforce Report, Australia: The Healthiest Country by 2020 to address alcohol misuse in our community.

For copies of the postcard email CAAN.

From Ideal to Reality: Cultural contradictions and young people’s drinking (produced by the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction, Flinders University, Adelaide) comprises the results from the second phase of a three year national project that aimed to examine the socio-cultural influences on young people’s drinking.

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Mission Australia has just released its ninth annual National Survey of Young Australians. The primary purpose of the survey, as in previous years, was to identify both the values and issues of concern to young people. Not surprisingly, young people saw alcohol as the second top issue facing Australia today.

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The main feature in the latest issue of CentreLines (published by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre) is on The Range and Magnitude of Alcohol’s Harms to Others.
 

6DYP:  May 2-4, 2011, Melbourne

Registrations now open!  Visit the Australian Drug Foundation website for the Registration Brochure and online registration.

Keynote speakers include:

• Associate Professor Kim Schonert Reichl, University of British Colombia. Kim is a respected researcher and commentator on adolescent social and emotional development; stress and coping; and developmental programs for at-risk youth.
• Professor Iain McGregor, University of Sydney. Iain’s area of expertise is in long term effects of addictive drugs and alcohol on behaviour and brain function.
• A/Prof Dan Lubman Professor Clinical Director of Turning Point Alcohol & Drug Centre (Turning Point) and Professor of Addiction Studies at Monash University, on drugs and adolescent development
• David Murray, Director YSAS, on diversity and what does it mean to young people

Queries can be directed to the Program Coordinator, via email or phone 03 9645 6311

Push to ban alcohol sponsorship in sport
ABC News, 24 November 2010
Pubs, bars and brewing companies should be stopped from sponsoring sport, the Northern Territory Law Society says. The Law Society says alcohol abuse in the Territory has reached crisis point and is putting an enormous strain on the justice system.

Frontline workers warn of violent summer
Sydney Morning Herald, 24 November 2010
Lifting restrictions on dozens of NSW's pubs and clubs because of a drop in alcohol-related violence is a "recipe for disaster" this summer, say frontline workers.

The everyday despair of drug and alcohol abuse
Sydney Morning Herald, 24 November 2010
Every Sunday evening on the television news you can see the impact of alcohol and other drugs in our community. Whether it's a fight on the dance floor of a nightclub, a horror car crash or a party in the suburbs that's got out of control, we can see what happens when the use of alcohol or other drugs becomes a problem.

Drink like the French, avoid binges to spare heart
The Age, 25 November 2010
The French habit of drinking wine almost daily is less taxing to the heart than the Irish custom of downing an equivalent amount of alcohol on one or two nights a week, a study suggests.

Alcohol 'ruining' careers of Aboriginal artists
ABC News, 25 November 2010
A renowned Arnhem Land artist says alcoholism is ruining the careers of many young Aboriginal painters. Banduk Marika is one of Arnhem Land's best-known artists and has won several national art awards. She is concerned young artists stop painting when they begin to drink or take drugs.

TT underage grog fine
Crikey, 26 November 2010
Walkey Award-winning Today Tonight reporter Tim Noonan has been slapped by police with three infringement notices totalling $3300 after he allegedly supplied liquor to minors in pursuit of a story.

Alcopops makeover arouses passions
Merredin Mercury, 27 November 2010
Summer is on the way and so are alcopops - despite the heavy tax and an official distaste. After the 70 per cent tax slashed sales of the sugary drinks popular with teenage girls two years ago, the liquor industry is reporting rising demand for products such as Passion Pop, a 4.5 per cent alcohol version of the passionfruit-flavoured sparkling wine that has traditionally come in bottles.

Cabinet to debate raising drinking age
ABC News, 28 November 2010
New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally has confirmed a proposal to raise the legal drinking age to 21 in her state will be debated in Cabinet this week.