Category: Publication

Alcohol is one of the most heavily promoted products in the world. It is encouraging to see that alcohol advertising is becoming a prominent issue on the New South Wales (NSW) Parliament’s agenda as alcohol advertising contributes to the normalisation of alcohol use and reinforces the harmful drinking culture that currently exists in Australia.

Community participation in licensing matters is a function of democratic governance and procedural fairness. That is why the NSW ACT Alcohol Policy Alliance (NAAPA) welcomed the opportunity to provide comment on the Liquor & Gaming NSW Evaluation of the Community Impact Statement requirement for liquor licence applications Discussion Paper.

This submission supports the 2016 research report conducted by the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research (CAPR) on Understanding Alcohol Sales Data in Australia (2016 CAPR Report), and argues that accurate and reliable collection of state-wide wholesale and retail alcohol sales data will enable NSW to pave the way for a national standard of alcohol sales data.

This submission recommends that alcohol sales are regulated in an appropriate and consistent manner and that policy development be based on evidence to ensure harm from alcohol is minimised. Although ID scanners are commonly supported by a variety of stakeholders, their effectiveness in reducing alcohol-related harm is limited. For this reason, they must not be considered an alternative to more effective policy measures, such as regulation of outlet density and trading hours.

This submission recommends that NSW remove the automatic extension of trading hours for small bars to adequately recognise risk associated with late trade; remove community impact statement exemptions for small bars to ensure adequate provision for community input to liquor licensing decisions; and maintain the 60 patron limit for small bars.

The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) commissioned ReachTEL to undertake polling of Australian Capital Territory (ACT) residents to gain an understanding on attitudes towards alcohol, perceptions of safety and support for trading hour ‘last drinks’ policies.

This submission provides comment on the 40 proposals for amendments to Australian Capital Territory (ACT) liquor laws outlined in the Building on Liquor Reform: White Paper. NAAPA expresses its strong support for addressing late night trading hours and urges the ACT Government to prioritise implementation of Proposal 1, Option 1, to make the last licensed time for on-licence premises 3am.

This submission addresses the terms of reference of the Independent Review, and provides an objective critique regarding the impact of the NSW liquor law reforms. NAAPA and its members support the extension of NSW measures to reduce individual and economic costs associated with alcohol-related violence and other harms.

This submission incorporates three case studies that establish that the regulation of alcohol in NSW including the Three Strike scheme is flawed. This cannot be redressed by minor modifications and a band-aid approach to the problem.

The New South Wales Australian Capital Territory Alcohol Policy Alliance (NAAPA) provided a submission to the ACT Government on the Issues paper: Proposals for regulatory improvements as part of the ongoing Liquor Act Review consultation process.