Dr LIM - 2000-03-02
I had the opportunity last night of viewing the latest national campaign which focuses on under-age drinking. Territory families, like many Australian families, often face the difficulties that come with under-age drinking. What initiatives are taking place here in the Territory to coincide with the national campaign?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I can announce that, yes, we did last week launch an under-age drinking campaign here in Parliament House. The campaign is a very helpful campaign for parents, and it builds on the very fine work that’s being done by Living With Alcohol over the decade or so of its existence.
Another initiative I can announce this morning is the report that was done on our Sober Bob campaign over Christmas. Over Christmas a key component of the Northern Territory government’s anti-drink-driving campaign was Bob the Sober Driver. The strategy is now 3 years old. It was introduced in 1997 for the Christmas period and it encourages people to nominate a sober driver if they know they’re going to go out and have a few beers, so they can get home safely.
An important part of the strategy is the participating premises. They provide soft drinks to the nominated driver, who has a sticker. This year we had 88 licensed premises that contributed to this program. This is excellent and shows that the liquor industry also believes that it’s got an important role to play with reducing our road fatalities. This builds on the figure of 70 the year before, and 30 in the initial year.
We did a survey to see how successful the program was, and we found the majority of the licensees indicated a strong desire to continue with the program. We also engaged McGregor Tann Research. The results showed that 91% of all respondents could recall seeing or hearing at least one drink-driving message from November to January. So, the general community are picking this message up, and they are responding. The liquor industry is also responding, and we believe it plays an important part in reducing this terrible carnage that exists on Australian roads over Christmas.
One-third of the respondents visited premises supporting Sober Bob over Christmas, and high numbers in Alice Springs and Tennant Creek considered the campaign was effective enough in encouraging them to think about not drinking.
We’ve had inquiries from New South Wales where they have heard about this great program and would like to take it on, and we have officer-level discussions going on pretty much as we speak.
While I’m on things alcohol, I noticed the member for Arafura’s eyes light up. We have the finals starting this weekend and we have initiated a sponsorship of the football with our ‘Living With Alcohol’ logo. It will commence from this Saturday in all games and will go for 12 months. It is a very good program for exposure. Obviously McDonalds thinks so, and we think that this is a good way of putting our message out in the Territory community.
It will complement the strategies that the NTFL already has in place to reduce alcohol-related harm, and these initiatives include education of players through the Football Development Foundation, a strictly enforced code of behaviour for spectators, provision of transport for spectators to special events, and a promotion of the Sober Bob initiative in the members’ bar. I know the NTFL President, Mr Ray Norman, would support this initiative because it is in keeping with the NTFL’s promotion of Football Park as a safe family-oriented venture. On top of that I can say that these balls, after having been veterans of one game, will be donated to communities and they will find their way into communities where the message can continue to grow for younger players.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I can announce that, yes, we did last week launch an under-age drinking campaign here in Parliament House. The campaign is a very helpful campaign for parents, and it builds on the very fine work that’s being done by Living With Alcohol over the decade or so of its existence.
Another initiative I can announce this morning is the report that was done on our Sober Bob campaign over Christmas. Over Christmas a key component of the Northern Territory government’s anti-drink-driving campaign was Bob the Sober Driver. The strategy is now 3 years old. It was introduced in 1997 for the Christmas period and it encourages people to nominate a sober driver if they know they’re going to go out and have a few beers, so they can get home safely.
An important part of the strategy is the participating premises. They provide soft drinks to the nominated driver, who has a sticker. This year we had 88 licensed premises that contributed to this program. This is excellent and shows that the liquor industry also believes that it’s got an important role to play with reducing our road fatalities. This builds on the figure of 70 the year before, and 30 in the initial year.
We did a survey to see how successful the program was, and we found the majority of the licensees indicated a strong desire to continue with the program. We also engaged McGregor Tann Research. The results showed that 91% of all respondents could recall seeing or hearing at least one drink-driving message from November to January. So, the general community are picking this message up, and they are responding. The liquor industry is also responding, and we believe it plays an important part in reducing this terrible carnage that exists on Australian roads over Christmas.
One-third of the respondents visited premises supporting Sober Bob over Christmas, and high numbers in Alice Springs and Tennant Creek considered the campaign was effective enough in encouraging them to think about not drinking.
We’ve had inquiries from New South Wales where they have heard about this great program and would like to take it on, and we have officer-level discussions going on pretty much as we speak.
While I’m on things alcohol, I noticed the member for Arafura’s eyes light up. We have the finals starting this weekend and we have initiated a sponsorship of the football with our ‘Living With Alcohol’ logo. It will commence from this Saturday in all games and will go for 12 months. It is a very good program for exposure. Obviously McDonalds thinks so, and we think that this is a good way of putting our message out in the Territory community.
It will complement the strategies that the NTFL already has in place to reduce alcohol-related harm, and these initiatives include education of players through the Football Development Foundation, a strictly enforced code of behaviour for spectators, provision of transport for spectators to special events, and a promotion of the Sober Bob initiative in the members’ bar. I know the NTFL President, Mr Ray Norman, would support this initiative because it is in keeping with the NTFL’s promotion of Football Park as a safe family-oriented venture. On top of that I can say that these balls, after having been veterans of one game, will be donated to communities and they will find their way into communities where the message can continue to grow for younger players.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016