South Australians want higher standards to prevent harm from the online sale and delivery of alcohol, new polling shows, including strict penalties for companies that deliver alcohol products to children and people who are intoxicated.
A third (33.9%) of people in the state believe the South Australian Government, which is considering reform to the laws that apply to alcohol sales, is not currently doing enough to address harms from alcohol, with just one in five (22.9%) believing they are doing enough and 43.3% unsure.
Most people surveyed were supportive of identification being verified when placing an alcohol order (72.4%) and at the point of delivery (76.6%); alcohol not being delivered later than 10pm (53.3%); and strong penalties for companies that deliver alcohol to children (89.3%) or people who are intoxicated (62.2%).
Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) CEO Caterina Giorgi said this new data showed strong community support for reforms to reduce harm from the sale and marketing of alcohol online.
When every phone is a bottle shop, it dramatically increases the availability of alcohol and the potential for harm. At a time when deaths caused by alcohol are at their highest in a decade, we must be doing all we can to prevent harm,” Ms Giorgi said.
“The community deserves strong protections to reduce the significant harm that alcohol causes, much of it behind closed doors, including injuries, accidents and family and domestic violence, and alcohol dependency. Alcohol companies and retailers must also be held accountable for harmful practices that promote higher risk drinking or push alcohol to people who are most vulnerable.”
In the Pure Profile poll commissioned by FARE, there was also very strong support for reforms to protect the community from harmful digital alcohol marketing.
The vast majority (81.1%) of people surveyed said they supported ensuring that children’s online activity (81.1%) and anyone’s online activity (72.5%) is not collected to market alcohol products, while 76.7% supported not allowing alcohol companies to send push notifications.
Digital health warnings attracted strong support from survey respondents, with 79.1% backing them for alcohol retail websites and 78.4% for online alcohol advertisements, while 77.7% supported strong penalties for alcohol companies that advertise to people who have opted out of this marketing. More than half (53.3%) of people surveyed agreed that alcohol should not be delivered later than 10pm.
