Australian Health experts call for state-wide review of closing hours

The Australian Alcohol Policy Coalition (APC) has called for the State of Victoria to conduct a state-wide review of closing hours for licensed premises.

The prompt for the call was the Victorian Government’s new Chapel Street planning reforms, which include limits on new latenight licenses in the area.

“The peak hours for alcoholrelated casualties are between midnight and 6am on weekend nights, as shown in the ambulance attendance data”, said Professor Robin Room, Director for the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre. “Research shows that with extended trading hours of licensed outlets, there is a direct increase of alcohol-related problems in the community.”

The APC states that the Victorian community is concerned about unrestricted availability of alcohol, such as 24-hour bottle shops and late night venues. Melbourne is a 24 hour city so it is natural for people to be out late at night. However, the APC says, late-night activities should not be fuelled by alcohol. “Emergency doctors and nurses, the ambulance service, the police, and others who pick up the pieces all can tell of the tragic consequences”, Professor Room added.

He continued:

“The APC proposes that nightclubs and other late-night venues should stop serving alcohol at 3am. They can stay open later, but without adding more alcohol to the mix. To avoid “preloading”, “side-loading” and “post-loading”, bottle-shops need to close at 11pm. We call for a state-wide review to consider these and other proposals for reducing the harm from latenight drinking.”

The APC argues that with every additional liquor shop, the rates of assault and chronic disease go up. This is particularly problematic because it is known that most (75%) of the alcohol sold in Victoria comes from bottle shops or liquor barns. The number of packaged liquor outlets in Victoria has more than doubled in the last two decades. Studies in Melbourne have shown that with a greater number of bottle shops, the surrounding community sees a rise in rates of street violence and alcoholrelated chronic disease. Alcohol remains a major cause of preventable death and illness across the state. It hospitalises 24,700 Victorians and kills more than 750 every year. Alcoholrelated harms cost Victorian taxpayers more than $4billion every year. This is something we have the power to prevent. Alcohol-related harms to Victorians have increased dramatically in the last two decades as the number of alcohol stores has gone up. The number of drunken 16-17 year olds presenting to emergency rooms has increased by 33% for males and 66% for females since 1999.

Opinion surveys show that an increasing number of people think that Australians have a problem with excess drinking or alcohol abuse (80%), up from 73% in 2010. The majority of Australians (82%) believe that more needs to be done to address alcohol-related harms.

The Alcohol Policy Coalition is a collaboration of health agencies – Australian Drug Foundation, Turning Point, Alcohol and Drug Centre and VicHealth – with shared concern relating to the misuse of alcohol and its health/ social impacts on the community.

For more information visit www.alcoholpolicycoalition.org.au