- Title
- Effectiveness of risk-based licensing of on-license premises in reducing alcohol-related harm
- Creator
- Nepal, Smriti
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2020
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Introduction: Violence is common in and around licensed premises in Australia. For example, in its most populous state, 54% of victims and perpetrators involved in assaults in metropolitan areas, and 42% in rural areas had consumed alcohol at licensed premises beforehand. Men and people aged <25 years are at greatest risk of being involved in such incidents. In 2005, alcohol-related activity (e.g. responding to violent incidents) in New South Wales, cost AUD50 million in police salaries alone. Liquor licensing is administered in all Australian jurisdictions with the principal objective of preventing intoxication and related harm. When the operation of alcohol outlets causes significant harm, legislation allows authorities to restrict their trading hours, freeze the granting of new liquor licenses in the locality, restrict the use of glass containers to at certain times, and ban the sale of ‘shots’ and other alcoholic beverages that cause rapid intoxication. To address concerns about increasing alcohol-related harm, a novel “Risk-Based Licensing” (RBL) scheme was introduced in Queensland in 2009. Under RBL, financial contingencies are meant to reflect the risk of harm associated with the operation of each outlet. Higher fees are levied on premises permitted to trade past midnight, and that infringed liquor laws in the previous year. The prospect of having to pay higher fees is meant to motivate licensees to adopt less risky business practices and thereby reduce associated harms. The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the effectiveness of RBL by assessing the evidence of its core components in preventing alcohol-related assault. We conducted four studies that critiqued evidence on the effects of changes in: (1) alcohol trading hours, and (2) lockouts, a type of trading restriction; (3) examined the validity of indicators of alcohol-related assault; and (4) estimate the effect of RBL on the incidence of assault in Queensland, Australia. Results: Study 1 We reviewed 22 controlled studies that evaluated changes in the alcohol trading hours of at on- or off- license premises. Extending trading hours at on-license premises was typically followed by increases in the incidence of assault, unintentional injury, or drink-driving offences. Conversely, restricting trading hours at on- and off-license premises was typically followed by decreases in the incidence of assault and hospitalization. Study 2 Reviewing eight controlled and uncontrolled studies evaluating lockouts as stand-alone interventions, we found the evidence of their effectiveness in reducing alcohol-related harm inconclusive. Study 3 We employed the International Guide for Monitoring Alcohol Consumption and Related Harm (MACRH) to develop an indicator based on data we obtained from Queensland Police. We found that data underpinning the standard police indicator (assaults judged by police to be alcohol-related) were missing in 35-70% of assaults with the proportion varying over time. We therefore adopted a surrogate indicator, i.e., assaults during high alcohol hours (HAH), which had a stable, increasing trend. Study 4 We found a small decrease in all HAH assaults (β= −5 per 100,000 persons/year; 95% CI: 2, 9) in the post- RBL period, but an increase in the incidence of HAH assault attributed to drinking within or in the vicinity of licensed premises (β = 5; 95% CI: 3, 8). Conclusion: The implementation of RBL was not associated with a substantial decrease in alcohol-related assault in Queensland. There may be value in devising and trialling regulatory approaches with meaningful contingencies for compliance and non-compliance, but such policies are unlikely to be acceptable to licensees. In the meantime, if reducing late night alcohol-related violence is the goal, governments should consider approaches shown to be most effective in reducing alcohol-related violence, namely, earlier cessation of alcohol sales.
- Subject
- alcohol consumption; alcohol-related harm; alcohol trading hours; lockouts; liquor licensing; risk-based licensing; thesis by publication
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1438211
- Identifier
- uon:40560
- Rights
- Copyright 2020 Smriti Nepal
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 3 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 566 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |