Researcher
Queensland Coalition for Action on Alcohol (QCAA)
Summary
Ahead of the 2015 Queensland State Election, the Queensland Coalition for Action on Alcohol (QCAA) developed a comprehensive plan for an incoming government outlining evidence-based solutions to reduce alcohol harms across Queensland.
QCAA calls on an incoming Queensland Government to address the availability, price and promotion of alcohol through state based legislation and regulation. QCAA also calls on the Queensland Government to support policies at the Commonwealth Government level to reduce alcohol harms, including reforming alcohol taxation and introducing mandatory health warning labels on all alcohol products.
Outcomes
The QCAA 2015 Queensland Election Platform contains policy proposals addressing five priority areas:
1. Stop the violence on our streets
- Reduce trading hours for on-licence premises to no later than 3am and introduce 1am lockouts.
- Re-introduce the moratorium on all late night trading beyond midnight across Queensland.
- Prohibit the harmful discounting and promotion of alcohol products at both on-and off-licence premises.
2. Give children and families the best start in life
- Provide $2 million over four years to support domestic violence services and alcohol and other drug services develop shared models of care.
- Provide $1 million over four years to develop and implement a state-wide Queensland Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Action Plan.
- Reinstate liquor permits for sale of alcohol on school premises to ensure that appropriate risk management procedures are in place.
- Ban the redemption of alcohol ‘shopper docket’ promotions, which promote discounted alcohol on supermarket receipts.
- Ban alcohol promotions on state property, including public transport.
- Control the density of licensed premises through the introduction of saturation zones and cluster control policies in areas where there are too many liquor licenses.
3. Put communities first
- Ban donations to Queensland political parties from the alcohol industry and their representatives.
- Introduce a policy that excludes alcohol industry involvement in policy development, in line with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation.
4. Reduce the burden on our health system
- Provide $2 million over four years to fund a brief intervention program for alcohol in primary care and emergency department settings to support health professionals to talk to consumers about their alcohol consumption.
- Provide $4 million over four years to develop and fund an ongoing public education campaign on the negative health impacts from alcohol consumption and ways to avoid these risks.
5. Establish a framework for action
- Develop a state-wide alcohol harm reduction plan that includes prevention, early intervention, treatment, monitoring and evaluation.
- Work with and support non-government organisations to provide alcohol and other drug services to reduce alcohol harm.
- Collect and routinely report on alcohol harms and compliance data, to inform the development of alcohol policy and the evaluation of programs and services.
- Undertake a comprehensive, independent evaluation of the Safe Night Out Strategy, with adequate consultation with people with expertise in public health.
