The South Australian Government has established a Royal Commission to inquire into domestic, family and sexual violence in South Australia. The Government appointed former Senator Natasha Stott Despoja AO as Royal Commissioner, to focus on five areas: Prevention, Early intervention, Response, Recovery and healing, and Coordination.
FARE lodged a submission to the Royal Commission noting that alcohol is a significant contributor to gendered violence in Australia. This submission outlined current evidence of alcohol’s role in domestic, family and sexual violence and the lack of effective policy responses to date. Urgent reforms are needed to address the increased risk from the expansion of the availability and accessibility of alcohol.
Up until now, the role of alcohol has not been adequately recognised in national, or state and territory plans and strategies to address domestic, family, and sexual violence, despite mounting research and evidence. While government plans on family violence and child protection often acknowledge that alcohol is a contributing factor, they frequently stop short of outlining specific actions to reduce alcohol harms.
FARE recommends:
Whole-of-community action to prevent alcohol-related gendered violence (primary prevention) involves addressing the social and commercial determinants of gendered violence:
- Establishing harm minimisation and violence prevention as a primary object in alcohol legislation.
- Limiting alcohol availability by regulating trading hours, outlet density, and the online sale and delivery.
- Preventing predatory digital marketing of alcohol.
Assisting people most at risk of alcohol-related gendered violence (secondary prevention):
- Providing accessible alcohol and other drug screening, assessment and referral in relevant primary healthcare settings, (e.g. general practitioners, community mental health services).
Supporting people impacted by gendered violence that involves alcohol (tertiary prevention) to protect people from future harms:
- Improved co-ordination of domestic, family and sexual violence services and mental health and AOD treatment services.
