Katrina Stokes
May 09, 2013
The Advertiser
AUSTRALIA should reduce trading hours for clubs and pubs, raise the minimum age for buying alcohol and review the number of places that sell booze, an expert says.
Centre for Alcohol Policy Research director Professor Robin Room, who is speaking at a national Cancer Council conference in Adelaide on Thursday, said he believed Australia needed to introduce sweeping alcohol law changes to curb alcohol consumption and associated health problems.
He said both state and federal governments needed to be doing more to address alcohol-related problems across the country.
“When it comes to alcohol policy in Australia, what is politically feasible is often ineffective, while what is effective is often politically difficult,” he said.
“They (politicians) do symbolic things … it’s not going to really have any effect but it looks like they’re doing something.”
Prof Room, who is based in Melbourne, said raising taxes on alcohol, particularly on wine, was one option the Federal Government should be looking at.
“If I buy an expensive bottle of wine, I’m actually paying a lot of tax, but for cheap wine, I’m paying very little tax,” he said.
“Cheap wine is cheaper than bottled water – that is the first thing that needs fixing.”
Changing the opening hours of clubs and pubs and limiting the number of licensed venues across the country was another way Prof Room believed would curb the rising incidence of heavy drinking in Australia.
“The argument is always made (that) if you want to be a destination city and have tourists, you’ve got to be open at all hours,” he said.
“But for example, in California, no alcohol can be sold anywhere after 2am … they get by fine.”
Prof Room said the flow-on effect from implementing some of these policy changes would include fewer incidents of street violence and lower alcohol-related hospital admissions.
He said it could also minimise alcohol-associated health problems, such as some cancers.
Cancer Council SA chief executive Professor Brenda Wilson confirmed the link between alcohol and cancer.
“Drinking alcohol increases the risk of several types of cancers, including mouth, throat, oesophagus, bowel and liver cancer,” she said.
THE 10 COMMANDMENTS
Five ideas Australia should take on to curb alcohol consumption
1. Restrict the hours or days of the sale of alcohol.
2. Reduce the number of places selling alcohol.
3. Raise the legal drinking age.
4. Raise taxes on alcohol.
5. Government monopoly of alcohol sales. The Government could run the stores selling alcohol.
Five things Australia is doing well to curb alcohol consumption
1. Consistent random breath testing.
2. Introduced low-blood alcohol limits at 0.05.
3. Good administrative laws. You don’t have to go to a judge to get your licence suspended.
4. It’s illegal to drink on a learner’s permit.
5. Alcohol intervention is good. Doctors and nurses offer good referrals.
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