There is no doubt people in the NT have a serious problem with alcohol.
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In the past 25 years the NT taxpayer has funded eight reviews into alcohol abuse.
According to the NT alcohol policy review published in October, we have the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in Australia and one of the highest in the world.
The problem:
The NT has the highest death rate due to alcohol in Australia.
We have the country’s highest rates of hospitalisations related to alcohol misuse.
Forty percent of all road fatalities in the Northern Territory involve an illegal blood alcohol concentration compared with less than 30 per cent in other jurisdictions.
We also have the highest rate of risky alcohol consumption in Australia with 44 per cent of people drinking at a level that puts them at risk of injury or other harms at ‘least once in the past month’, compared with 26 per cent of people nationally.
Timeline of political solutions:
2011
NT Labor Government introduces the ‘Enough is Enough Alcohol Reform Package’. This included the BDR and SMART Courts.
The SMART Court had the powers to change sentencing orders for people with a history of serious substance misuse who have been found guilty.
When first implemented, the BDR was described by the NT Alcohol Policy minister Delia Lawrie as “the toughest grog laws in the nation”.
2013
CLP implements new alcohol policy with the introduction of two controversial laws in July and in December: The Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act 2013 and The Alcohol Protection Orders Act 2013.
Abolishing the BDR was one of the first acts of the Country Liberal Party after their election.
The Mandatory Treatment Act costing the NT Government $100 million to implement, its purpose was to mandate assessment, treatment, and management of people with chronic drinking problems in public areas..
The Act targeted people in police protective custody three or more times in a two-month period for being intoxicated in public.
2017
The Banned Drinkers Register returns.
All Territorians and visitors to the Northern Territory will need to show photo ID to buy takeaway alcohol.
The register will identify people who are banned from purchasing takeaway alcohol and stop them from buying it.
The new model provides additional pathways for a person to be placed onto the Banned Drinker Register including through referral by hospital emergency department nurses or doctors, GPs, child protection workers or family and carers.