Preventing Alcohol-related Harm in Australia - Department of Health

Currently receiving considerable attentionin some Australian jurisdictions are measuresrelated to restricting the hours of sale of alcohol,known as lockouts. These do not restrict tradinghours per se, however, because outlets arepermitted to continue trading until their usualclosing times. However, after a certain time,such as 2:00am or 3:00am, new patrons andthose wishing to re-enter the premises are notpermitted to do so. Lockouts aim to reduce themovement of people between clubs after acertain time, since it is this movement of peoplebetween venues that police have reportedas being a major cause of alcohol-relatedincidents late at night. There are examplesof lockout programs in operation in locationsthroughout Australia, such as in Ballarat andBendigo in Victoria, and across Queensland,where a 3.00am lockout now applies to alllate-night licensed premises. The Victoriangovernment has also trialled a 2.00am lockoutthroughout four inner-city municipalities ofMelbourne. The NDRI reports[36] that, asyet, there is limited formal evidence of theeffectiveness of lockout programs, in partbecause they often occur as one elementwithin a range of programs aimed at reducinglate-night alcohol-related problems (forexample, CCTV cameras, street lighting, publictransport, police presence).While they are not usually focused solely onissues that relate to the physical availabilityof alcohol, community-based preventionprograms have become increasinglypopular in recent years because of emergingunderstandings of how environmental andsocial conditions contribute to alcoholproblems.[7] A detailed discussion on therange and scope effects of community basedprograms is not provided here, but can beobtained elsewhere (see Loxley et al. 2007:[7]pp166–167).4.3 Taxation and pricingThe price of alcohol clearly impacts onconsumption patterns. There are more than50 studies from around the world showingthat when alcohol increases in price,consumption is reduced.[12, 39-42] The WorldHealth Organization (WHO) is one of manyinternational and national health organisationsthat strongly endorse the use of increasedalcohol taxation (higher prices for alcoholproducts) as an effective preventative strategyto reduce alcohol-related harm.[62] At thesame time, it is important to recognise thatthere is a complex relationship between priceand consumption.[63, 64] Patterns of alcoholconsumption can vary considerably accordingto individual factors such as the age, sex andincome levels of the drinker. Other factors suchas availability, the cultural setting, the marketingand image of the product are also important.Studies consistently show that lower socioeconomicgroups and people with limiteddisposable income (young people, Indigenousgroups and heavy drinkers) are more directlyimpacted by the price of alcohol products.Higher income drinkers tend to drink moreexpensive alcohol, and while price may leadthem to reduce their consumption marginally,they are also able to alter drinking preferencesto cheaper alternatives.[65, 66] The natureof the alcohol product is also a key variable.An Australian study identified considerablevariations in price elasticity (the amount thatprice needs to change before it impacts onconsumption) for different alcohol products.It concluded that spirits are twice as pricesensitive as wine and beer.[67]Given the complexity of the relationshipbetween alcohol price and consumption,increasing alcohol taxation does not necessarilylead to a linear reduction in the levels ofalcohol-related harm. It is important that therelationship between the price of individualalcohol products and consumption amongstparticular groups of drinkers is carefullymodelled against known price elasticity andexisting consumption patterns.23