Ideas@TheCentre
Absence of controls on alcohol and too much welfare a deadly combination
The media have been awash lately with stories of alcohol fuelled violence in Australia. According to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 37% of assaults in Sydney occur within 20 metres of a liquor outlet. Journalist Nicolas Rothwell at The Australian wrote a searing article on the destruction caused by alcohol in Alice Springs.
Uncontrolled drinking in any form causes problems – you only have to visit an emergency department on a Friday or Saturday night to witness the carnage that binge drinking causes.
The difference between Sydney and Alice Springs are the different standards applied to the drinking of alcohol. If 70 young people regularly roamed the streets of Sydney drinking and causing problems, then you can bet something would have been done about it by now. The Coogee Bay Hotel had tighter conditions put on its license due to complaints from residents about the behaviour of intoxicated patrons.
The absence of effective controls on alcohol, coupled with high rates of welfare dependence, is the principle cause for the alcohol related problems in many Indigenous communities and Far North towns.
The alcohol restrictions introduced under the Northern Territory Intervention (NTI) have been blamed for the influx of homeless or itinerant drinkers to Alice Springs and other towns in the territory, but the problems began way before the NTI.
Historically, few beer canteens or social clubs on Indigenous lands practised responsible serving of alcohol, with patrons able to buy alcohol on credit and drink until they became severely intoxicated.
There are also hotels in the Far North which have become known as ‘Aboriginal pubs’ as they are places were Indigenous people can drink without being subject to enforcement of dress or standards of behaviour. Research has found a strong correlation between the level of amenity in a bar or pub and levels of violence. And it is no surprise that the bars that have been set up for binge drinking – with concrete tables and wire mesh or metal bars around the serving area – experience high rates of violence. Until recently, even a petrol station in the Northern Territory had a license to sell takeaway alcohol – would you like a drink while you drive?
Reducing the different (lower) standards for licensed premises in the Far North will go some way towards addressing the problem. However, it is unlikely to have much effect on itinerant drinkers who congregate on the median strip of the Stuart Highway and in ‘drinking camps’ on the dry river beds of the Todd and Katherine rivers. The ineffectiveness of the alcohol bans under the NTI highlights the futility of introducing restrictions without addressing the aimlessness and boredom of lives lived on welfare.
Sara Hudson is a Policy Analyst at The Centre for Independent Studies.
