Aussie drink-driving laws have similar penalties, but our BAC level is still at .05. This will be moved to .02 in the coming years. Be safe for you, your family and the person you may injure because, you thought you were ‘ok to drive!’
SHOULD YOU BE DRIVING? DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE....EVER!
Under critical reform coming into effect from 7 November 2023 being intoxicated in public will be treated as a health issue, not a crime.
To ensure people who are intoxicated in public can access culturally appropriate and effective supports that prioritise their health, safety and wellbeing, a new evidence-driven, health-based service model will replace the current criminal justice approach.
From 7 November, people will not be placed in a police cell or arrested solely for being drunk in public, with intoxication no longer the threshold for intervention.
Victoria Police and Ambulance Victoria will continue to respond where there are community safety or emergency health risks.
Current laws making public intoxication a crime have disproportionately impacted Aboriginal people and other diverse communities across Victoria.
The government will deliver services for Aboriginal people in locations across regional and metropolitan areas, and a service for all people across Melbourne.
Licensee obligations
Under the reform, licensees’ obligations will not change. It will still be an offence to allow drunk people on licensed premises and to serve alcohol to an intoxicated person.
While police will still be available to assist with incidents in and around your venue that require a police response, this is an opportunity to support Victoria’s broader transition to a health-based approach for those most in need of support. (for more Liquor Control Victoria)
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism(Trusted Source), alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a brain disorder characterized by an inability to stop or control your alcohol use even though it negatively affects your relationships, health, or work life.
The study found that when people with alcohol use disorder either reduced their alcohol intake or quit drinking completely, they had greater volume in particular regions of the brain than people who drank more heavily.
Alcohol taxation is one of the most cost-effective interventions for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals by the year 2030, a new expert study shows.
The new study has identified 30 cost-effective interventions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the fastest way possible. Among these interventions, alcohol policy and especially alcohol taxation have been ranked as the second and third most effective intersectoral policies. Implementing these measures could prevent 150,000 deaths caused by alcohol in the next ten years. For every dollar spent, a country could get back $76 worth of good things happening in society, while alcohol taxation alone can generate benefits worth $53 for every dollar spent.
Protecting our Communities and Families from Predatorial Addiction for Profit Industry – Big Alcohol – is more vital than ever.
The Dalgarno Institute has a very long history of advocating for best practices around alcohol consumption in our community and were part of seminal groups pushing back against the wrecking ball of unfettered alcohol availability and promotion.
We saw massive wins and cultural turnarounds until a couple of key moments that began to shift booze back into its previous toxic status of being the central amenity in Aussie socialising. In February 1966 the Six O’Clock Closing for Pubs ended, and it was extended to 10 pm.
The Dalgarno Institute in a previous iteration was protesting that move, but the thin end of the edge was now in place.
Fast forward 30 years we saw the gleeful promotion of the ‘Night Time Economies’ review and Report. This report expounded the immense value of the potential economic boon of liquor licensed cafes and other eating houses.
This report, essentially based around a review of European licensed cafes and restaurants model, was unwisely overlaid onto the Aussie context. This was a significant misstep, as the attitudes around alcohol in both contexts is significantly different.
The French, for example, treat alcohol more as a ‘condiment’, not a ‘main course’. However, the Aussie binge culture – now warming right up – saw this advent as another great incentive to indulge. This time food was involved, it may only be a handful of peanuts, but if food was supplied, a liquor licence could be granted. And away it went.
By 2007 the binge culture had really taken hold AGAIN and catch-up regulation was needed. The ‘alcopops’ issue was huge among young punters, and with an insane proliferation of liquor licenses, every second retail premises, it seemed, was a new ‘watering hole’.
The Dalgarno Institute launched is Greater Risk campaign in 2010, with TV ads in regional Victoria, and an online resource still in play today www.greaterrisk.com. “The younger you start, the greater the risk”, was the tag line.
Since that time that has been another grassroots push back against this ever increasingly predatorial marketing of the legal and still most troublesome drug in our culture – alcohol.
Whilst Dalgarno Institute and its continuing allies, were still in play, our history of successful protest had to be marginalized. So, in pre-cancel culture fashion, labels like ‘extremist’ or very least WOWSER were flung at our work. Extremist, because we were the only voice promoting the best practice health option for not having to drink – anathema, to the then binge drinking mindset. With next to no real financial capacity our good, and even quality resources were ignored by the sector, but no necessarily the public.
Undeterred, we continue to advocate, educate, and affiliate with new emerging groups pushing back against, in their mind, new harms.
Groups like Cancer Council of Australia and F.A.R.E (Foundation for Alcohol Research & Education) were able to get media and therefore more government attention.
Communities of Practice began to form, and the National Alliance for Action on Alcohol was formed, of which Dalgarno Institute became a member. Years on, this group has now morphed into Alcohol Change Australia, and our Institute continues to participate and contribute.
We have lobbied for change, both in concert with and independent of these bodies. In so doing we have had many submissions made and received by federal and state governments on issues such as Secondary Supply Laws, Outdoor Advertising, FASD, Warning Labels and now Online Alcohol Marketing and Delivery.
It’s this latest advent of promotion, placement and push, that is really creating an arena of harms reminiscent of some our nation’s worst past alcohol cultural manifestations.
It’s here that we need to let you know what WOWSER actually means – We Only Want Social Evils Rectified – Apparently so does this new cohort of activists. Maybe we aren’t extremists after all?
Stronger Community Protections Needed – Now!
Dalgarno Institute attended a Local Government Area (LGA) liquor accord meeting in the east of greater Melbourne very recently, where many alcohol retailers were in attendance, and the issue of online delivery came up. The insightful conversation peppered with disturbing anecdotes about this ostensibly unfettered mess, called OS&D (Online Sales & Delivery) was to emphasise again, worrying.
Since Covid and the ‘easing’ of liquor law regulations by governments was way beyond ill-advised – and in a fit of economic damage control madness and wanting to pander to both felt needs of the alcohol industry and its customers, the governments were basically aiding and abetting self-medication of isolation and boredom.
Not unsurprisingly this new vehicle of deployment has not abated but grown – exponentially.
One strongly emphasised Covid protocol was ‘contactless delivery’, and whilst contagion control reason was its author, it has now been employed by the alcohol industry extensively as it has morphed into delivering alcohol to any home at almost any time. Basically, using a now redundant interim ‘health protection’ protocol, to deploy at scale, a health and community well-being diminishing product.
Delivery services are now ‘piggy backing’ on bricks and mortar liquor licences – and what’s more, these ‘uber-esque’ delivery platforms often engage independent contractors, drivers who have their own ABN. So, now you have three actors in ‘selling’ alcohol under one license, that was not designed to oversee this process.
The inadequacies and loopholes in this process are breathtaking. Consequently, they are being either deliberately exploited by both retailer and customer, of misused/applied because there is no real clear regulations or consistency in anything that may be required, as it is in a bricks and mortar venue.
One of the foundationally disturbing things about this now booming phenomena is that now you have a ‘bottle-shop in your pocket’ and that both the sale and delivery of this alcohol product is not a licensed premises, it’s at a home! This kind of unregulated environment at this pace and regularity is a new, and increasingly unsafe, space for the Aussie neighbourhood.
Rabid online sale and prolific marketing and rapid delivery are directly contributing to serious and often life ending harms.
According to F.A.R.E. these harms are manifesting at alarming new rates. For example, in the Australian Capital Territory.
Alcohol-induced deaths are at their highest level in 10 years.
A person dies every five days in ACD du toa alcohol and 32 people are hospitalised very week.
Alcohol harm is exacerbated by rapid Online & Sales Delivery expansion by 400% from 2012 – 2022, now gleaning $2 Billion in sales.
Every phone is now a bottle shop with targeted digital marking and ‘buy now’ buttons.
Existing liquor license regulations are only designed for retail premises – so essentially selling alcohol under the radar.
These realities are on the radar, largely due to the work of these coalitions and communities of practices, advocating for both awareness and change.
Victoria, South Australia, West Australia, and New South Wales have moved on this with the introduction of some changes and recommendations, but still not keeping up with the ‘unleashed’ chaos that is un-regulation. Queensland and the ACT have held community consultations and committed to reviewing current or proposed introduced new regulations.
However, reviews of even these meagre and initial offerings are seeing compliance failing and failing hard. Regulations are of no value if they are not enforceable or enforced.
The Alcohol & Drug Foundation reviewed some of adherence to existing protocols, and they found that predatorial marketing can lead to coercion and/or manipulation of delivery staff. Occupational health and safety aside, real, and imminent threats and abuse are common for those delivering ‘fast’ to already intoxicated punters.
28% of controlled operators failed to identify the identity of those they delivered too.
1 in 10 drivers reported not feeling protected from penalisation for refusing to deliver alcohol in breach of what would normally be basic RSA (if the sale and delivery was in a licensed premises, this would not happen)
1 in 10 drivers did indeed get penalised by their employer for not delivering the product.
Lack of customer awareness of identification and intoxication requirements increased the risk to drivers.
Drivers having difficulties with ‘contactless’ delivery, gift purchases and delivery to office buildings (and other loopholes when people order to an address, that is not a home, but near a public space, i.e., beach, thus enabling the customer to get bulk alcohol delivered to a public space with impunity)
The changes are small compared to what is needed, such as ID checks and extended RSA (Responsible Serving of Alcohol) Training being mandated. Victoria is the only state to introduce a new licensing system for Online Sales & Delivery (OS&D) the ‘Remote Sellers Packaged Liquor License’ but they are swamped and understaffed in even getting approvals done, let alone ensuring compliance.
Catching the ‘horse’ after it’s bolted is always a tougher gig, and Big Alcohol knows it!
Surveys conducted by both Cancer Council and F.A.R.E. into this ‘wild west’ of alcohol deployment reveals not only an ostensibly unregulated chaos, but real and growing casualties of this toxic vehicle of trade.
It’s not just minors that are an easy target, but also the cohort of High-Risk Drinkers (HRD) that are not only vulnerable, but actually are the priority customer of Big Alcohol. This cohort is the group that consumes about 80% of the alcohol product – and it is the fast, easy, and almost, anytime delivery to your door that only adds to the harm of this product.
Some of the results of Surveys of Australians who are seeing the proliferation of unregulated alcohol marketing and delivery reveal concerns that need to be acted on much faster and more thoroughly than the current processes are doing.
84% of people support for independent ID checks when orders are delivered.
83% support for independent ID checks when ordering the alcohol.
74% support alcohol not being left unattended.
74% support ‘buy now pay later’ platforms not being used to purchase alcohol.
62% support alcohol deliveries not being permitted before 10 am and after 10 pm (Cancer Council WA)
The same survey saw around three quarters of all surveyed supported digital platforms being prevented from exposing kids to alcohol adverts and data mined targeting ads. With almost the same number supporting government action in reducing community exposure to alcohol promotion.
This unleashed vehicle of ‘harm delivery’ must be reined in and it’s time to stop playing catch up and get ahead of this mess with at the very least, strict, and assiduously enforced regulations that protect our community, and the self-harming alcohol consumer and their environments.
So, it appears that our ‘extreme’ movement is now needed again to stem the tide of public health and family well-being nightmare from growing further – but more importantly, pushing back as it is Generation Now that are going to carry this burden of harm and disease into a messy future.
Alcohol taxation is one of the most cost-effective interventions for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals by the year 2030, a new expert study shows.
