Liquor Act 2019 (Northern Territory)

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Liquor Act 2019 (NT)
Northern Territory Coat of Arms.svg
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
  • An Act to govern the sale, supply, service, promotion and consumption of all forms of liquor and alcohol products for the purpose of minimising their associated harm and for related purposes
Citation No. 95 of 2019
Territorial extent Northern Territory
Assented to3 September 2019
Commenced1 October 2019
Legislative history
Introduced by Natasha Fyles
First reading 13 August 2019
Second reading 13 August 2019
Third reading 13 August 2019
Passed13 August 2019
Status: In force

The Liquor Act 2019 is an act enacted and signed into legislation by the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in 2019, which introduces a statutory minimum price for alcohol inorder to counter alcohol problems.

Contents

Background

In 2010, a report was published into alcohol culture in the Northern Territory, suggesting that alcohol was one of the main causes of indigenous child abuse in the territory. [1] The territory reportedly measured the highest proportion of deaths due to alcohol consumption across all jurisdictions in Australia, [2]

In 2013, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory described drinking culture as a "core social value" of the Northern Territory. [3] The Northern Territory has had a long history of alcohol abuse, with a percentage of 44. [4]

Riley Review

In October 2017, the Riley review into alcohol legislation in the territory was published. [5] [6] The report recommended sweeping changes to the Liquor Act 1978.

Impact

Initially there was a community backlash against the act - several Territory Labor Party members of the Legislative Assembly acknowledged that communication around the act had not been handled well, that the party was 'in a muddle'. [7]

Three years after the introduction of the policy, a review painted a mixed picture of the success of minimum unit pricing, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic had creating confounding factors which meant all available results were significantly reduced. [8] [9]

The increase of the price from the initial value of AU$1.30 to AU$1.50 will give researchers a second chance to study the impact of the increased minimum price. [9]

Related Research Articles

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Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage, transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The word is also used to refer to a period of time during which such bans are enforced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Happy hour</span> Marketing term for a sales promotion of alcoholic drinks

Happy hour is a marketing term for a time when a venue such as a restaurant or bar offers reduced prices on alcoholic drinks. Discounted menu items like appetizers are often served during happy hour. This is a way for bars and restaurants to draw in more business before or after peak business hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legal drinking age</span> Minimum age at which a person can legally purchase or consume alcoholic beverages

The legal drinking age is the minimum age at which a person can legally consume alcoholic beverages. The minimum age alcohol can be legally consumed can be different from the age when it can be purchased in some countries. These laws vary between countries and many laws have exemptions or special circumstances. Most laws apply only to drinking alcohol in public places with alcohol consumption in the home being mostly unregulated. Some countries also have different age limits for different types of alcohol drinks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Minimum Drinking Age Act</span> 1984 U.S. law which indirectly raised the nationwide minimum drinking age to 21

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Price floor</span> Government- or group-imposed price control

A price floor is a government- or group-imposed price control or limit on how low a price can be charged for a product, good, commodity, or service. It is one type of price support; other types include supply regulation and guarantee government purchase price. A price floor must be higher than the equilibrium price in order to be effective. The equilibrium price, commonly called the "market price", is the price where economic forces such as supply and demand are balanced and in the absence of external influences the (equilibrium) values of economic variables will not change, often described as the point at which quantity demanded and quantity supplied are equal. Governments use price floors to keep certain prices from going too low.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol licensing laws of the United Kingdom</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol prohibition in India</span> Prohibition of alcohol in Indian states

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The legal drinking age varies from country to country. In the United States, the legal drinking age is currently 21. To curb excessive alcohol consumption by younger people, instead of raising the drinking age, other countries have raised the prices of alcohol beverages and encouraged the general public to drink less. Setting a legal drinking age of 21 is designed to discourage reckless alcohol consumption by youth, limiting consumption to those who are more mature, who can be expected to make reasonable and wise decisions when it comes to drinking.

The Stronger Futures policy was a multifaceted social policy of the Australian government concerning the Aboriginal population of the Northern Territory. It was underpinned by the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Act 2012, which ceased 10 years after its commencement on 29 June 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Alcohol (Scotland) Act 2012 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament, which introduces a statutory minimum price for alcohol, initially 50p per unit, as an element in the programme to counter alcohol problems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018</span> Irish law

The Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 is an Act of the Oireachtas.

References

  1. Hudson, Sara (8 November 2010). "Collective apathy: alcohol and child abuse in the NT". ABC. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  2. La Canna, Xavier (31 July 2014). "Northern Territory tops statistics nationally for deaths from alcohol consumption". ABC. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  3. O'Brien, Kristy (23 March 2013). "Grog culture defended as 'core social value'". ABC. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  4. Boffa, John (24 September 2018). "The NT is putting a minimum floor price on alcohol, because evidence shows this works to reduce harm". The Conversation. The Conversation Trust (UK) Limited. Retrieved 12 July 2024. In 2014, around 44% of people in the NT were drinking alcohol at a level that put them at risk of injury or other harms at least once in the past month.
  5. Riley, Trevor (19 October 2017). Alcohol Policies and Legislation Review (PDF) (Report). Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 12 July 2024. A minimum unit price (floor price) for all alcohol products of approximately $1.50 per standard drink
  6. Damjanovic, Dijana; La Canna, Xavier (19 October 2017). "Riley review: Floor price on alcohol, 400sqm rule to be scrapped in wake of NT alcohol policy paper". Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  7. Smee, Ben (20 October 2018). "'Backlash': Northern Territory alcohol floor price divides community". Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  8. Morgan, Thomas (6 October 2022). "Three years after the NT implemented an alcohol 'floor price', review paints mixed picture of its success". ABC. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  9. 1 2 Taylor, Nicholas (14 March 2023). "Three years of minimum unit pricing in the Northern Territory, what does the evidence say?". Drug and Alcohol Review. 42 (4): 912–914. doi:10.1111/dar.13641. PMID   36917512 . Retrieved 12 July 2024.