Alice Springs is all over the news at the moment, and for all the wrong reasons. And everyone has something to say about it: the intervention is working, the intervention is a failure, violence is going up, violence is going down, the problems lay with the town camps, the problems lay with people coming in from the communities.

However two groups seem to be taking centre stage at the moment: the People’s Alcohol Action Coalition (PAAC) and Action for Alice.

The People’s Alcohol Action Coalition, represented by spokesperson Dr John Boffa, is calling for (and has been for a while) a standard minimum price to be set for alcohol.

Dr Boffa claims that in Alice, clean skins are sometimes discounted to as little as $2 a bottle and two-litre casks can sell for as little as $10.99 – that’s around 50 cents per standard drink.

He states that a significant amount of such harm could be prevented if a floor price on alcohol were introduced, based on the average price per standard drink of beer. And the evidence shows raising the price of alcohol is likely to result in a reduction of violence, including assaults, robbery and domestic violence.

On the other side is a group of over one hundred small business owners calling themselves Action For Alice. This is the group that is running TV ads demanding that the Territory Government take control of the streets.

One of the group’s spokespeople, Geoff Booth, is calling for long-term alcohol rehabilitation farms for repeat offenders, limited drinking on remote communities, and the abandonment of alcohol restrictions mandated by the Licensing Commission.  Yep, you read that right.  They're calling for the abandonment of alcohol restrictions.

Did I mention Mr Booth is a publican?

I don’t profess to know a huge amount about Indigenous issues, but I do know about the massive impact that alcohol is having on Indigenous people. I also know that we’re all responsible for reducing alcohol related harm, and that includes the alcohol industry – the producers, the suppliers and the licensees.

Until next week,

Sarah Jaggard
Community Mobilisation Policy Officer

In late 2010, the AER Foundation launched its landmark study entitled The Range and Magnitude of Alcohol’s Harm to Others.  The study unveiled a new dimension in the national alcohol debate, for the first time quantifying the cost of alcohol-related harms to those other than the drinker themselves.

Access Economics then published a critique of the study.

You can now read the response to the critique by the AER Centre for Alcohol Policy Research.

The MCDS met last Friday and the National Drug Strategy 2010 – 2015 was approved .  An electronic copy of the National Drug Strategy 2010-2015 will be posted on the National Drug Strategy website by 11 March 2011 with hard copies available soon after. 

We are at the exciting stage of finalising the program for the 6th International Conference on Drugs and Young People: Making the Connections. The role and presence that young people will have is emerging. Through presentations, panels, workshops and performances, the voices of young people will be heard throughout the event.

• Aram Barra, the Latin American and Caribbean representative of Youth R.I.S.E. (a global network of young people working on drug policy) will give a youth perspective on drug policy and where it needs to head. Aram will also deliver a workshop on this topic.
• The session, Youth Leadership in Action, will feature a range of young people doing awesome work in their communities.
• A panel discussion, featuring young people with varying life experiences, will be invited to respond to the UN International Year of Youth theme of Dialogue and Mutual Understanding and what this means for them in the context of alcohol and drug prevention, treatment and management.
• Presentations will also focus on youth participation; what it means; how to make it meaningful; and the benefits to all of getting it right. From the importance of listening when developing and planning programs to capturing and using feedback from young clients within alcohol and other drug services; the respectful engagement of young people will be a strong theme.
• The power of music and dance to engage and empower will be on display. Young members from the The Street University and the Anti Racism Action Band (A.R.A.B.) will perform to entertain and challenge us.

Early bird registrations are open until 31 March 2011, so get in now and save. Day and concession rates are also available.  Full registration details are available at the 6DYP website where you can also access a program showing the key session titles and events.

Queries can be directed to the Program Coordinator, via email or phone 03 9645 631.

Call to curb alcohol advertising
inmycommunity.com.au, 2 March 2011
MLA Janet Woollard says a UK inquiry into alcohol found marketing firms were deliberately targeting young people with their advertising, especially through social networking sites such as Facebook. WA needs to change the way alcohol is advertised in order to combat alcohol abuse by young people, according to Alfred Cove MLA Janet Woollard.

Alcohol ban at school fund-raisers urged
The Canberra Times, 2 March 2011
Schools that promote the sale of alcohol at fund-raisers are sending mixed messages to their students and potentially fuelling teenage binge drinking, according to the Australian National Council on Drugs.

Baillieu needs to do more on alcohol abuse
The Age, 4 March 2011
Alcohol is a strand running through the Australian story right back to European settlement and the days when the military force commissioned to keep order in the British colony of New South Wales was nicknamed the ''Rum Corps''.

DVD binge-drink warning for teens
The West Australian, 4 March 2011
A confronting DVD on the dangers of teenage binge drinking, including sexual abuse and death, will be distributed to southern suburbs high schools.

Suffering all round in an outback town on the brink
The Australian, 5 March 2011
Human devastation surrounds Alice Springs and, indeed, all the towns that have had a massive inflow of confused First Australians from bush communities.
I implore Julia Gillard to take on, personally, the responsibility of coming to terms with this national disgrace, our biggest single social issue. I urge the Prime Minister to lead federal cabinet in appropriate discussions and quickly introduce legislation that could help resolve it.