Liquor Act 2019 (Northern Territory)

Liquor Act 2019 (NT)
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Long title 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 to	3 September 2019
Commenced	1 October 2019
Legislative history
Introduced by	Natasha Fyles
First reading	13 August 2019
Second reading	13 August 2019
Third reading	13 August 2019
Passed	13 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 in order to counter alcohol problems.

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]

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. 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.