By: Kon Kalos

Kon Kalos — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 06:59:16 +0000

Although I am new to Alice Springs and the Northern Territory, the impulsive expiation of the “Banned Drinkers Register” by NT Attorney-General John Elferink and the new ruling government, without due deliberation, is a cause for great social concern. Its role in supporting the prevention of alcohol related human dysfunction within NT communities since its inception seems to have been expediently morphed by an incoming government that has cast a shadow over its rhetoric on human rights. Kieran Finnane’s article offers important reflective perspectives that need to be disseminated as part of a broader community debate. Thank you for the well documented insights and the spirit you have injected into this debate.

By: Bob Durnan

Bob Durnan — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 13:02:19 +0000

It is tempting to say this dramatic NT-wide drop in police protective custody apprehensions of drunks, which is greater than 44% in the two years from June 30th 2010 to June 30th 2012, is very good news for the NT.
It would also, paradoxically, be good news for the Mills government and its efforts to contain unnecessary expenditures.
However these conclusions depend, at least partly, on not being contradicted by the absent data: the trends contained in the yet unknown figures for those drinkers who were not taken into protective custody under police supervision at the watch-houses (but who were taken by police to SUSs, private homes etc), although those figures are normally much lower and fairly stable.
The less dazzling but nonetheless very impressive and probably more reliable figure of a 24% overall drop in police protective custody apprehensions of drunks since the beginning of the NT Emergency Response Intervention in June 2007 is cause for satisfaction at the Licensing Commission. It will also encourage those many community leaders, public servants, politicians, health professionals and concerned members of the public who have been desperately trying to find productive, sustainable ways to lessen the debilitating impact of excessive consumption on NT society and its budget.
The recent big drop in the police protective custody numbers, since June 2010, is, almost certainly, partly attributable to the introduction of bans on 3, 4 and 5 litre cheap wine casks throughout the rest of the NT during the 2010-2011 period.
Another factor would be the settling effect that has come with consolidation of increased police presence in remote communities and their patrols on remote roads, and also the more consistent and professional Night Patrol operations in many of the communities.
According to large opinion surveys of remote residents in 2011, the efforts of these police and patrol workers have caused significant lessening of grog-running, drunkenness and violence in most communities.
These strengthened safety services initially led to increases in apprehensions of drinkers who were previously able to consistently get away with behaving badly on the roads and in their home communities, but seem in more recent years to have led to less of that misbehaviour.
(When the Licensing Commission mandated its NT-wide bans on casks larger than 2 litres, it was simply arranging for Darwin, Palmerston, and other smaller places to follow the successful example which had already been set by Alice Springs, so it is not surprising that Alice Springs did not experience such a dramatic reduction of protective custody apprehensions during 2010-2011 as did the rest of the NT: it had already received the benefits of outlawing the big casks).
The Mills government would be well advised to take on board the lessons of how these improvements were achieved, and consider them carefully when deciding on its own moves to address the still very considerable alcohol-related problems confronting the people of the NT. It should, particularly, respect the judgements of the Licensing Commission and Justice Department experts who are now very adept at designing initiatives which have good chances of success in relation to reduction in consumption and harms.
However to really get to grips with what they mean, we need access to the regional data to which Kieran refers.
We also probably need to be able to overlay the data with the changing rules and styles which governed local police operations during this five year period.

Comments on: The Great Alcohol Debate: Police protective custodies headed south over the last six years

By: Kon Kalos

By: Bob Durnan