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Last week I queried what our new focus would be now that secondary supply is almost done and dusted. One of the options I put forward was raising the minimum drinking age to 21.
Well, it’s on the agenda again!
The Dalgarno Institute has put out a proposal that the minimum drinking age be raised to 21, with the hope of hosting a parliamentary forum in Canberra later this year.
The Dalgarno Institute (a modern continuation of the Australian temperance movement) is calling on all Australian governments to amend relevant state liquor licensing regulations to restrict full rights to purchase and use alcohol until age 21 years.
They do note that this is politically difficult, and offer other, more feasible options, including limitations on rights to purchase and use alcohol conditional on prior alcohol offending, and restricting the amount and or the types of alcoholic products that can be purchased
The evidence is there to support it: raising the drinking age reduces alcohol sales and alcohol related problems. A review of 33 evaluations of laws in Australia, Canada and the USA found a median decline of 16% in crash related outcomes for the targeted age groups following passage of laws to increase the minimum legal drinking age.
But in an interesting spin, the draft of the new National Road Safety Strategy for 2011 – 2020 proposes reducing the legal BAC limit from 0.05 to zero (or 0.02) for young drivers up to the age of 26, saying it would have a similar benefit as raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 years.
It would prevent a significant number of deaths and serious injuries per year across Australia - in Victoria alone, those aged 18-25 represent only 13 per cent of licensed drivers, but 36 per cent of all drink drivers killed in road crashes.
I suspect I know which strategy the community would find more palatable. Which strategy would you choose? Raising the drinking age or lowering the BAC? Email us.
Until next week,
Sarah Jaggard
Community Mobilisation Policy Officer
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