Mrs AAGAARD - 2004-08-25
Earlier today, Mr Daryl Manzie and Ms Donna Ah Chee, who are charged with developing a report on a new Alcohol Framework for the Northern Territory, handed over their final report to government. Can you please provide an overview of this report?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nightcliff for her question. I would be delighted to give members an overview of the report, handed me officially at lunchtime by Daryl Manzie in Darwin, with Donna Ah Chee by video link from Alice Springs. A copy of this report will be on all members’ desks very shortly if it is not there already. They have certainly been provided and I have asked the attendants to hand them out.
Daryl and Donna, in collaboration with Gordon Renouf and Jo Townsend, have formed the Alcohol Framework Project Team, and they have worked enormously hard on this project. They started in September, delivering an interim report in February of this year, and have now come forward with the final report. Over those past few months, they have met with more than 200 Territorians; held public forums across six regional centres; talked with licensees the length, width and breadth of the Northern Territory; addressed more than 25 agency and industry meetings; and taken 38 written submissions.
The report brings forward 62 recommendations to government. The underlying goal of every one of these recommendations is this: on the one hand, to reduce the alcohol-related harm coming out of excessive use of alcohol and the antisocial behaviour that flows from that - to reduce those harm levels to individuals in the community - but, at the same time, minimising the impact on responsible drinkers to make sure that they are not unfairly disadvantaged in trying to pick up the mess that is created by the minority. It is a balancing act; the authors admit that. I believe they have done a tremendous job in weighing up those two imperatives and striking that balance between the critical outcomes. My position, when this eventually comes to Cabinet, will be that we have to preserve the intention of the overall goal of the alcohol review team; and that is that balance between the two outcomes.
They recommend the aims of the framework should be, in the first place, a coordinated whole-of-government approach to alcohol. They support local and regional action plans on alcohol. They want to promote the culture of responsible alcohol use throughout the community. They want to enhance access to treatment and other forms of intervention throughout the Territory, develop effective systems to control the supply of alcohol, and support liquor and hospitality industries to contribute themselves to the aims of the framework.
Specific recommendations can be broken into four main areas. First, dealing with the structures to support the framework - so some structural change in administrative functions. Second, research and evaluation of the whole question. Third, legislative and regulatory changes; and, fourth, some specific strategies, including such things as taxation issues, grants and others.
Members will recall that one of the things that really began to affect the success of the Living with Alcohol Program was that loss of ability of states and territories to do what they will in regard to levies and taxes. They are again recommending an approach to the Commonwealth, and it is something I would not have thought was all that easy to achieve. However, that should not stop us trying, and there a number of approaches suggested by the report that we should pick up on, because it was a key point in reducing the amount of alcohol consumption in the Northern Territory over that time.
This report now goes out to the community for discussion and debate on the final report, and we will have an extensive program of public consultation targeted by Racing, Gaming and Licensing beginning as of today. However, we are open for business for all views; not just key stakeholders in the industry and the community, but all community members over the next two months. Those views will then be rounded up and brought back to Cabinet at some point in the future for decisions on which recommendations we accept.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nightcliff for her question. I would be delighted to give members an overview of the report, handed me officially at lunchtime by Daryl Manzie in Darwin, with Donna Ah Chee by video link from Alice Springs. A copy of this report will be on all members’ desks very shortly if it is not there already. They have certainly been provided and I have asked the attendants to hand them out.
Daryl and Donna, in collaboration with Gordon Renouf and Jo Townsend, have formed the Alcohol Framework Project Team, and they have worked enormously hard on this project. They started in September, delivering an interim report in February of this year, and have now come forward with the final report. Over those past few months, they have met with more than 200 Territorians; held public forums across six regional centres; talked with licensees the length, width and breadth of the Northern Territory; addressed more than 25 agency and industry meetings; and taken 38 written submissions.
The report brings forward 62 recommendations to government. The underlying goal of every one of these recommendations is this: on the one hand, to reduce the alcohol-related harm coming out of excessive use of alcohol and the antisocial behaviour that flows from that - to reduce those harm levels to individuals in the community - but, at the same time, minimising the impact on responsible drinkers to make sure that they are not unfairly disadvantaged in trying to pick up the mess that is created by the minority. It is a balancing act; the authors admit that. I believe they have done a tremendous job in weighing up those two imperatives and striking that balance between the critical outcomes. My position, when this eventually comes to Cabinet, will be that we have to preserve the intention of the overall goal of the alcohol review team; and that is that balance between the two outcomes.
They recommend the aims of the framework should be, in the first place, a coordinated whole-of-government approach to alcohol. They support local and regional action plans on alcohol. They want to promote the culture of responsible alcohol use throughout the community. They want to enhance access to treatment and other forms of intervention throughout the Territory, develop effective systems to control the supply of alcohol, and support liquor and hospitality industries to contribute themselves to the aims of the framework.
Specific recommendations can be broken into four main areas. First, dealing with the structures to support the framework - so some structural change in administrative functions. Second, research and evaluation of the whole question. Third, legislative and regulatory changes; and, fourth, some specific strategies, including such things as taxation issues, grants and others.
Members will recall that one of the things that really began to affect the success of the Living with Alcohol Program was that loss of ability of states and territories to do what they will in regard to levies and taxes. They are again recommending an approach to the Commonwealth, and it is something I would not have thought was all that easy to achieve. However, that should not stop us trying, and there a number of approaches suggested by the report that we should pick up on, because it was a key point in reducing the amount of alcohol consumption in the Northern Territory over that time.
This report now goes out to the community for discussion and debate on the final report, and we will have an extensive program of public consultation targeted by Racing, Gaming and Licensing beginning as of today. However, we are open for business for all views; not just key stakeholders in the industry and the community, but all community members over the next two months. Those views will then be rounded up and brought back to Cabinet at some point in the future for decisions on which recommendations we accept.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016