Three years after the Northern Territory implemented Australia's first minimum 'floor price' for alcohol, a review of the policy has issued a mixed report card but recommended it stay in place.
The NT government established a minimum unit price of $1.30 for every standard drink in October 2018, specifically targeting cheap cask wine, in a bid to bring down rates of alcohol-related violence.
While there has been debate on implementing a floor price in Western Australia, and a number of other countries such as Scotland and Canada have implemented similar systems, the Northern Territory has been seen as a test case in Australia.
The NT government on Thursday claimed the three-year review's findings were "proof" the policy was working, however, the opposition Country Liberal Party disagreed.
The report found the floor price was "effective in reducing supply of low-cost, high-alcohol products", and there was "no evidence of a negative effect on the economy".
It also said the price of cask wine increased "almost immediately", resulting in a decrease in consumption.
However, "drinkers have shifted to other products" like hard spirits.
The Country Liberal Party on Thursday indicated it would scrap the measure if elected, while the territory's peak Indigenous health body has urged the government to keep it.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles acknowledged that there had been increases in some alcohol-related harm statistics, but pointed out decreases in others.
"We believe this is an effective tool [to reduce alcohol-related violence]," she said.
"It's showing us that to stop that cheap supply into our community, the floor price is effective at that.
"[Alcohol] is the biggest social challenge we face in the territory. It costs our community greatly both economically and socially."
What did the review find?
A review of the policy is required by law to be undertaken every three years.
The first review conducted by Frontier Economics also found:
- the reduction in cask wine sales was partially offset by "an increase in sales of all other alcohol types, most notable for spirits"
- there was a 25.8 per cent decrease in alcohol-related non-domestic violence assaults per every 10,000 residents in the NT, but "no evidence of any change" in alcohol-related domestic violence assaults
- there was "no significant reduction" in alcohol-related emergency presentations across Darwin
- the policy had no negative economic impact
- the Covid-19 pandemic had a bigger impact in decreasing alcohol sales and alcohol-related assaults than the minimum floor price.
'Comprehensive approach' needed to combat alcohol-related harm
Retail Drinks Australia, which has been sceptical of the policy since its inception, said the findings provided little concrete evidence the floor price alone was working to reduce alcohol-related harm.
"We have a history of support for effective targeted solutions to irresponsible consumption such as the Banned Drinker Register and Police Auxiliary Licensing Inspectors," its chief executive Michael Waters said.
"The benefits of population-wide measures like the MUP [minimum unit price] are more difficult to identify, which is why the findings of Frontier Economics are so important for informing future reforms."
On Wednesday, the Country Liberal Party's licensing spokeswoman Marie-Clare Boothby said the party would dump the policy if elected and labelled the report as flawed.
"The report itself only covers a 12-month period after it was introduced and only a few short months during COVID," she said.
Ms Boothby said the amount of empty bottles littered around Darwin pointed to the policy's failure.
But the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT chief executive, John Paterson, said the report showed a need to "stay the course" on the reforms, but called for the government to collect more data to better understand alcohol-related issues.
"A comprehensive approach is needed to prevent and reduce the harms caused by alcohol," Dr Paterson said.
"This data should guide timely policy responses aimed at prioritising the health of Territorians."
Impact of police liquor inspectors
The report found no signs of any decrease in alcohol-related hospital admissions in greater Darwin over the past three years, but there were declines at hospitals in other parts of the Northern Territory.
The report notes these results were "likely related to other alcohol related interventions such as PALIs [Police Auxiliary Licensing Inspectors]".
The inspectors were introduced in 2018 and 2019 to monitor bottle shops in Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek in a bid to reduce alcohol-related crime.
But the Northern Territory Police Association has warned the scheme is facing short-staffing, and was "redundant" as a result of the end of the Stronger Futures Legislation.
Ms Fyles said they had been "effective" in communities in reducing alcohol-related harm, and blamed a backlog of leave accrued by police during the COVID-19 pandemic for a lack of available inspectors.
