Open letter: Call to National Cabinet to commit to Rapid Review recommendations on alcohol

Dear Prime Minister, Premiers and Chief Ministers,  

We are writing to call on you to take action to address alcohol’s role in domestic, family and sexual violence. 

Many women have shared the role that alcohol plays in their experience of violence. 

They’ve told us that as the sun goes down, more alcohol flows into their home, and they anticipate the increasing severity of violence. 

As Survivor Advocate, Kym Valentine has said, “We’ve always known that when drinking is involved, it is like pouring petrol on a bonfire.” 

The need for bold and immediate action has never been clearer.  

The release of the rapid review final report “Unlocking the prevention potential: Accelerating action to end domestic, family and sexual violence”, provides a welcome and important blueprint for government reform that will prevent and reduce harm.  

We are heartened to see the expert panel acknowledge alcohol’s role in domestic, family and sexual violence.  

Crucially, the report goes further to include specific actions on alcohol as a lever to reduce violence.  

Given the crisis we are currently seeing in Australia, it is imperative that governments implement the expert panel’s recommendations on alcohol swiftly, fully and without compromise. 

The following recommendations from the report are vital in any approach to preventing domestic, family and sexual violence: 

11a. equipping and resourcing General Practitioners (GPs), perinatal, and mental health and alcohol and other drug (AOD) services to identify and support DFSV victim-survivors and people who use violence (Commonwealth and states and territories). 

11d. Increasing cross-sector collaboration between the AOD and DFSV sector and provide specialised services for women that are family friendly and support caring for children (states and territories). 

14c. establishing a strategy for capability uplift across other intersecting workforces, and prioritising legal, justice, child protection and health (including AOD and mental health) sectors. 

17a. adopting clear primary objectives in state and territory liquor regulatory regimes to prevent gender-based violence, alongside existing objectives around alcohol harm reduction (states and territories). 

17b. restrictions on alcohol sales, delivery timeframes (states and territories) and advertising (Commonwealth and states and territories). 

We also call on you to re-establish a national governance framework for the AOD sector in Australia to ensure coordination in the development, implementation and funding of national priorities and to facilitate action across the state and territory governments.   

We look forward to working with all Australian governments to improve the health, wellbeing and safety of women and children across the country.  

Yours sincerely,