New research has confirmed that an increase in the number of liquor outlets (hotels and/or bottle shops) is associated with an increase in alcohol-related violence and assault in the surrounding area. An unexpected finding, however, is that, regardless of the type of new liquor outlet, most of this increased violence occurs in private homes rather than at licensed premises.
The research, from the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) at Curtin University in Perth, involved examining the effect of liquor licence approvals on alcohol related problems. Researchers have created a model that can predict the likely effect of granting a new liquor licence anywhere in Australia on alcohol-related assaults, hospitalisations, deaths and road crashes.
Chief Investigator Dr Tanya Chikritzhs (pronounced Sik-rit-sees) said the research demonstrated that the decisions of liquor licensing authorities had a significant impact on the health and safety of communities.
“The model developed in this study allows us, for the first time, to predict the social impacts of any new liquor outlet anywhere in Australia,” said Dr Chikritzhs. “Liquor licensing authorities should be obliged to consider these impacts when deciding whether to grant a new licence.”
Dr Chikritzhs added that a national approach to gathering alcohol sales data (currently only collected in Western Australia (WA) and the Northern Territory) was the key to applying the liquor licensing model Australia-wide.
Based on figures from WA, the study found that an additional ‘average’* hotel in metropolitan Perth would increase the number of domestic violent assaults by 17 a year, and a new ‘average’ metropolitan liquor store would see an extra 8 assaults in private homes. If that liquor store was located in WA’s Wheatbelt, the number of domestic assaults would increase by 29 each year.
“A common perception is that most alcohol-related violence happens in and around licensed premises, but the reality is that much of it goes on behind closed doors either following a night out at the pub or after drinking takeaways at home. We can assume that the domestic assault figures in this study are just the tip of the iceberg because many alcohol-related violent incidents, particularly domestic, go unreported,” Dr Chikritzhs said.
The study was funded by the National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund (NDLERF), which funds research for the purpose of preventing and reducing the harmful effects of licit and illicit drug use in Australian society. NDLERF supports research that: leads to evidence-based practice in drug law enforcement; is experimental and innovative; and enhances strategic alliances between areas of law enforcement, human service providers and research agencies.
The report, Predicting alcohol-related harms from licensed outlet density, is available at http://www.ndlerf.gov.au.
* ‘Average’ pub and ‘average’ liquor store were calculated according to the average annual regular strength beer purchases made across all outlets in each category.
For more details about the research and contacts go to http://db.ndri.curtin.edu.au/media.asp?mediarelid=88
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