Voluntary alcohol restriction changes a community for the better

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDJul 11 2010

Voluntary alcohol restrictions in the West Australian town of Norseman, south of Kalgoorlie, has resulted in a reported decrease in violence and alcohol-related hospital admissions. The restrictions were the limited sale of alcohol that was brought down to one cask of wine, port or non-fortified wine per person per day, available only between midday and 6:00 pm. This year long study (from March 2008 and February 2009) was funded by the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation (AER). Norseman has a tiny population of 857, with 12 per cent Aboriginal population.

Foundation Deputy Chairman Scott Wilson said that the experiment resulted in a decrease in number of assaults from 40 cases to 33, domestic violence from 46 cases to 39 and alcohol-related hospital admissions from 38 to 15 cases. There was a 10 per cent decrease in per capita consumption of alcohol. He enthused, “Alcohol-related hospital admissions saw almost a 61 per cent decrease in people being admitted to hospital for alcohol-related problems and that obviously is quite huge.” He went on to say that, “We do see it as a successful intervention. There was clearly a decrease in the amount of alcohol per capita that was consumed and obviously that led to a whole range of reductions such as domestic violence decreases, assaults decreased, police call outs and the list goes on.” He also said that this exercise involved the voluntary participation of local Aboriginal community and the licensee instead of enforcement of liquor licensing laws. Norseman licensee Claye Polletti said his overall profits had fallen, but he did not mind.

The report entitled, “Don't Wake up Angry No More -- The Evaluation of the Norseman Voluntary Liquor Agreement” was released on Sunday by the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) at Curtin University.