The South Australian Government has established a Royal Commission to inquire into domestic, family and sexual violence in South Australia. FARE lodged a submission to the Royal Commission noting that alcohol is a significant contributor to gendered violence in Australia.
Everyone should be able to enjoy the benefits of using digital technologies to work, learn and play. This can happen when we have safe digital environments that support people’s health and wellbeing. However, when it comes to harmful and addictive products like alcohol, social media platforms have designed marketing systems geared toward creating harm.
Currently, people are tracked, profiled and targeted with advertising for harmful and addictive products, such as alcohol, gambling, e-cigarettes and unhealthy food, when they are online. The wellbeing and safety of Australians must be prioritised over commercial profits from online platforms’ harmful advertising practices.
The justice system needs to be unequivocal and consistent in how it deals with alcohol use to help prevent sexual assault and ensure that justice is served for survivors. Reforming justice responses to sexual violence will directly support victim survivors.
Shopping at supermarkets for food and essential items is a necessary and everyday part of life for Australians. At a time when Australians are experiencing significant cost-of-living pressures, everyone should be able to access the lowest possible prices for groceries from supermarkets without being marketed to aggressively, having their data collected and tracked for targeted advertising, and being pushed to buy more. This is especially the case when it comes to the marketing of alcohol, a harmful and addictive product.
In December 2023, Queensland Liquor, Gaming and Fair Trading sought the views of stakeholders on options to further develop the new regulatory framework for online liquor sales and delivery in Queensland. Two parallel consultations were held, and FARE made a submission to both consultations.
In 2023, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced an independent inquiry into Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. FARE made a submission to the inquiry, noting that COVID-19 has had lasting impacts on the ways that alcohol is sold and marketed and the resulting harms. Action is needed to ensure that common sense measures are introduced to help reduce and prevent alcohol harm.
Alcohol companies are currently drawing people’s attention away from the risk of harm associated with alcohol use by using marketing claims that make their products appear healthy, including ‘low sugar’ and ‘low carb’. There is strong evidence that nutrition content marketing claims like these can create a ‘health halo effect’ on unhealthy products.
The South Australian Government has been developing a new SA Cancer Plan with input from the community. They have used this information to understand what is currently happening in cancer care in South Australia, and to shape future strategies which have informed the draft SA Cancer Plan.
The ACT Government has proposed legislative measures to address the delivery of alcohol in a Discussion Paper released for public consultation in August 2023. However, there were also some significant gaps in the proposals that can allow the risk of harms from online sales and delivery of alcohol to continue to increase.
The NSW Government is in its second stage of reviewing the alcohol delivery reforms which started in July 2021. The reforms aimed to better regulate online sales and delivery of alcohol.
The ACT Government developed the ACT Preventive Action Plan 2023-25 with the aim of preventing chronic diseases by supporting people to choose lifestyle behaviours that reduce their risk of developing preventable diseases. FARE lodged a submission to the plan to ensure that the prevention of alcohol harms exacerbating in the ACT community would be included in the plan.
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