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I have just returned from a five week Churchill Fellowship investigating alcohol cultural change in England, Ireland and Scotland and returned reinvigorated and excited about Australia’s future. Before I discuss what can be learnt it is important that we take pride and solace in the knowledge that Australia already excels in much of its alcohol work. The recommendations in my report, to be released early next year, will recommend changes for how the sector can work more effectively with a broader array of organisations and how we approach the alcohol debate into future.
Australia already possesses everything required to enable cultural change around alcohol but we haven’t yet been able to pull all the pieces together. I believe the key for this moving into the future will be much closer alignments with a broader collection of organisations. The leading sector, other than the alcohol and other drug sector, to really step up the push for alcohol reform in the UK, is the same group that pushed for seatbelts and smoking reforms, the health community. The premier lobby group for alcohol reform in the UK, the AHA (Alcohol Health Alliance), is led by the former President of the Royal Institute of Surgeons and is a liver specialist himself.
The domestic violence/family sector as well as the housing, education and frontline service sectors have all also played key roles. Whilst it is important to acknowledge the strong and vital contribution the health community has already made to the Australian debate I believe that with increased communication, encouragement, joint initiatives and engagement our roles could be greatly enhanced. Other sectors are involved but are generally fenced off and not included to the degree that I believe they should be. With their support and that of the health community the alcohol debate could gain a level of political and social traction not experienced in Australia since the temperance movement. There is strength in numbers and my report will place large emphasis on the AOD sector effectively pursuing, involving and engaging with a larger array of organisations and sectors.
How we approach the alcohol debate now and in the future is crucial and I believe a rethink and a shift in our communication is required. As with many social issues society seeks to identify an ‘other’ to alleviate its own responsibility. Alcohol is no exception and in Australia we commonly identify the other as ‘binge drinkers’ ‘teenagers’ ‘Indigenous populations’ and other minority groups. This is important firstly because it is misguided: it is the majority of the population who account for the most harms, economic strain and consumption, and also because it impacts how the community perceives their own consumption.
Projects in the UK which attempted to target a community’s alcohol use were unsuccessful but when modified to target the impacts of alcohol in the community such as safety, domestic violence, employment security, family wellbeing and dispensable income they were highly successful. Because much of society looks to blame the ‘other’ for alcohol misuse we should seek to educate the community and develop strategies for a whole of population approach, whilst shifting our alcohol debate to examine the effects of alcohol .
We now sit at a place where Australia’s alcohol harms will go two ways, up or down. We possess the people, the finances, the programs, the structure and the organisations to achieve cultural change. However, it will involve a rethink of the alcohol debate, a great level of unity, and mutually agreed upon goals from organisations that in Australia have historically been separate.
Once completed, I look forward to sharing my report with any of you that are interested. I’ll put a copy up on the ADF website in the new year once it’s completed.
Until then I wish you all a very merry Christmas, full of friends and fun, and a relaxing holiday.
Kindly,
Clancy Wright, Youth Strategy Officer
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Read all about Clancy's experiences
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