Understanding alcohol as a social impact issue

Transcription

1 Understanding alcohol as a social impact issue Presentation to NSW Drug and Alcohol Nurses Forum, 5 September 2014 The other day I was watching a French film, its called Skylab. I was encouraged to watch it because it had been reviewed in the Guardian as feel good and I like to think I still speak a bit of French. The film collapses the events of a week s summer holiday into the events of a day. In this film, the many adults gathered for this family event are drinking wine and spirits. As they drink their way though the day and into the evening, nothing happens. They do not become drunk or even unsteady, they drive to the beach, they swim but do not drown, they drive home (no police on the French roads of U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 1

2 film), there is a minor family altercation but it doesn t amount to violence. They continue to drink. There are no visible side effects. I know that there is a common assumption that the French somehow manage to drink alcohol without experiencing alcohol-related harms while the rest of us do not but there are many myths about the French. What I wondered however, as the film tediously laboured though these sequences of family life, was how much of the budget had been contributed by the alcohol industry. Just like those films which used to normalise smoking. What also concerned me was that the reviewer thought it felt good. It didn t feel good to me. It felt dishonest. We all know that alcohol-related harms affect many walks of life and the daily experience of medical personnel, like yourselves, as well as the police. 70% of frontline police work is concerned with alcohol-related matters 1, 90% of night time matters 2. Teachers and mental health professionals also have to deal with its consequences. These front line professions in alcohol-related harm are the professions that deal with individuals and the harms they experience. I would like to put it to you that there is another group of professions in an unrecognised front line. This group includes town planners. In 2013, the NSW Land and Environment Court upheld a decision by Campbelltown City Council to refuse a new bottle shop close to the public housing estate of Claymore. This decision was the first in the history of the Land and Environment Court in favour of a council resisting the proliferation of licensed premises. I know about this decision because I was the Council s expert social witness. Apparently this made me briefly famous in the small world of planning law. The decision rested on a social impact assessment I provided for the Council to help it make its case to the court. A social impact assessment is an assessment of likely social effects the social costs and the social benefits of a proposed event in this case a proposed bottle shop. 1 James Robertson,, Police Commissioner lays down law over drunken violence, SMH 31 march 2014: h03q.html The NSW Police Commissioner says that dealing with alcohol and its effects consumes about 70 per cent of a frontline police officer's time. 2 Australian National Council on Drugs, 2013, Alcohol Action Issues Paper, : p 4 U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 2

3 What s an SIA for? The idea is to 1 think ahead about likely effects on social groups 2 avoid bad outcomes, 3 make good outcomes better It assesses likely impacts on groups of people and the general public, rather than on individuals. The hallmarks of an SIA are that it is anticipatory precautionary, and exhibits due diligence that is the assessment has been done properly. An important point is that an assessment requires evidence to be considered but not evidence in the sense of who dun it. We are not looking for fingerprints or the murder weapon. There is no such thing as evidence for something that hasn t happened yet. In the realm of assessment, we are always applying current knowledge to a proposed future event. So we are not looking for a proof, and because we are in the realm of social issues, we are not relying on a definitive test, but rather a whole series of data that, put together, indicate that a good or a bad outcome is likely. This data comes mainly from the public sector or from academic researchers. The SIA for this case about the bottle shop in Campbelltown gave the court the following information: 1 A brief social profile of suburbs in Campbelltown close to the site of the proposed bottle shop of which this is a selection U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 3

4 Table 1: Selection of social profile data for key areas Measure Area Claymore Woodbine Campbelltown City (LGA) Greater Sydney Median h/h weekly income $ $1419 $1251 $1447 % unemployed 40% 6.0% 7.4% 5.7% % h/h in public housing 81.8% 0.8% 11.4% 5.0% Median age % aged 15 + who have completed year 12 % Aborigines & Torres Strait Islanders 24.2% 40% 41% 55% 7.3% 2.8% 3.2% 1.2% Source: ABS Census 2011 & Campbelltown Council s Community Profile, Accessed 25 Jan 2013 This data showed for example that while the very small suburb of Woodbine in which the bottle shop site was located had a relatively favourable profile, the nearby suburb of Claymore did not. Note particularly the low median household income, the high % of public housing tenants, Aboriginal residents and unemployed people and the large number of young people in that suburb s social profile reflected in the median age of Indeed Claymore is one of the most disadvantaged suburbs in NSW. Table 2: Index of relative socioeconomic disadvantage Area 2006 index Claymore Airds Minto Macquarie Fields Ambarvale - Englorie Park Campbelltown Rosemeadow Campbelltown City Leumeah Eagle Vale Bradbury Ingleburn MACROC Glenfield - Bardia St Helens Park New South Wales Australia Eschol Park St Andrews - Bow Bowing Greater Sydney Woodbine U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 4

5 Blairmount Ruse Raby Rural Residential Kearns Blair Athol Glen Alpine Macquarie Links Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing Compiled and presented by.id,. (Usual residence data) 3 Data from Health NSW (Graph 1) showed that 25.2% of people aged 16 and over in SW Sydney Local Health District consume alcohol at levels posing a life time risk to health that is a quarter of all persons, or at the time some 28,000 people in Campbelltown. Graph 1 U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 5

6 4 Across Australia there had been a 215% increase in the decade to 2011 in the number of young people aged admitted to hospital for alcohol-related problems 3. Data from a survey of Australian secondary students by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing also showed high rates of risky drinking by young people aged 12 years and over (24% of year olds and 48% of year olds) 4 5 While there is no social gradient to risky drinking Graph 2 Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence. Health Statistics New South Wales. Sydney: NSW Ministry of Health. Available at: Accessed 25 Jan Barclay Crawford, NSW is facing a drunken teen crisis, The Australian, 27 Jan 2013: Using Health statistics from the NSW Department of health 4 White V, Bariola E, 2012, Australian secondary school students use of tobacco, alcohol, and over-the-counter and illicit substances in 2011, Report prepared for the Drug Strategy Branchy for the Australian Department of Health and Ageing by Cancer Council Victoria, Tables 4.1 and 4.14 U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 6

7 6 There is clear evidence that there is a social gradient to alcohol-related harm. This can be seen most graphically in Graph 3 in which I am using the profile of harm experienced by Aboriginal people to show the relative harm experienced by the most disadvantaged sections of our community. You will recall that Claymore is one of the most disadvantaged suburbs in NSW. Graph 3 The applicant proposed that people from Claymore would not use the bottle shop because there is already a bottle shop in their suburb. This is despite the site in question being on a direct pedestrian route via a pedestrian bridge over the Hume Highway between Claymore and the nearest railway station at Lumeah, as well as fast food outlets in close proximity to the site. (Map 1) There was clear evidence that this route was in frequent use on the day the court made a site inspection, from the trail of fast food litter along the footpath and over the bridge. U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 7

8 Map 1 7 The SIA also presented findings from the academic literature showing a relationship between increased availability of alcohol and alcohol-related harm. Availability covers several concepts - an increase in the number of outlets in an area, proximity to a liquor outlet and low prices. While the proposal was not for a discount liquor outlet, the fact that there are several discount liquor outlets in the LGA was likely to keep prices low in the proposed bottle shop. The SIA pointed out that while the population of Campbelltown had risen by 2% between 2006 and 2011, the number of licensed premises had risen by 12%. The clustering of these outlets can be seen on Map 2. Data from the NSW Office of Gaming and Racing also revealed that of the 14 new premises in that 5 year period, 12 were in the category packaged liquor. U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 8

9 Map 2 U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 9

10 8 Research has found an association between packaged liquor outlets and domestic violence 5. Data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Table 3, showed that in the ten years , the rate of alcohol-related assaults, both domestic violence and non-domestic violence in the Campbelltown LGA had risen significantly. In fact, the rates for alcohol-related domestic violence assaults increased more rapidly in the Campbelltown LGA than in Greater Western Sydney, the Sydney Statistical Division, or NSW as a whole. This is even more significant when you consider that domestic violence rates under-report actual incidence. 9 In 2011, Campbelltown City ranked worse than all other LGAs in the Greater Sydney Capital City Area with regard to domestic violence assault 6. 5 Livingston M 2011 A longitudinal analysis of alcohol outlet density and domestic violence, Addiction Source: BOCSAR: Incidents of domestic violence assault as recorded by NSW Police for each NSW LGA, number rate and rank, Data provided on 1 Feb 2013 U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 10

11 U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 11

12 10 Using Bureau of Crime Statistics data we were also able to show that in 2011 there was one alcohol-related domestic violence assault for every 150 persons in Claymore, the highest rate of any suburb in that LGA. 11 Alcohol attributable hospitalisations in Campbelltown rose almost continuously between and and now stand at per 100,000 population. By contrast, the rate for NSW as a whole declined somewhat. Source NSW Bureau Crime Statistics and Research Graph 4 Source: Health Statistics NSW U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 12

13 The SIA concluded: In summary it is proposed to increase availability of alcohol in a group of suburbs and in an LGA in which there are currently high levels of alcohol-related harm. Many of these harms are occurring at significantly higher rates in Campbelltown and in particular in Claymore than in NSW as a whole. Particular concerns are also held regarding the drinking behaviour of under-age persons as well as Aborigines and other people on very low incomes in the context of the social gradient of alcohol-related harm. And the Commissioner decided On the evidence before me, I am satisfied that the proposal would have an unacceptable adverse social impact in the locality, in relation to exacerbating alcohol-related harm.in my view, the unacceptable adverse social impacts of the proposal in the locality are a sufficient basis for the refusal of this application. 7 More generally than this particular and exceptional case, it is well established that social impacts of alcohol are serious and pervasive. The Australian Institute of Criminology knows this. 7 Cardno v Campbelltown City Council Decision of Commissioner Susan O Neill 5 April U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 13

14 These costs amount to more than $14billion per annum. The NSW Auditor General knows this too His estimate of costs came in at almost $4billion annually to the state of NSW. So you might imagine that planners and thus the Land and Environment Court also see themselves as front line professionals in addressing alcohol-related harm. In this, however, you would be sadly mistaken. In the 10 years from 2003 to 2013, fewer than 2% of more than 7,385 decisions by the Court mentioned the phrase social impacts, and then often only because they were quoting a section of the planning Act actually the only section of the Act which refers to social impacts. This low rate is almost certainly due to the poor track record of matters defended with an SIA in the court. Councils spend ratepayers money when they go to court, so they need to feel success is likely. What I am describing is a vicious circle in which lack of success results in lack of practice with social impact assessment among many town planners, which is why the Campbelltown decision was so welcome. This vicious circle operates in a legal environment in which both planning agencies and the NSW liquor licensing agency have roles to play in the distribution and thus U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 14

15 proliferation of licensed premises and their trading hours. The planning agencies councils, various panels, the department all operate under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, The Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority, the licensing authority, operates under the Liquor Act 2007 and Small Bars Act It would be nice if this were seen as a shared responsibility but I think it would be more accurate to see it as two parties operating in their own frames of reference (their respective legal frameworks). For example, according to recent submissions to the Review of the NSW Liquor Act, the Liquor Authority said it wanted planning authorities to play a full part in assessing the social impacts of applications for licensed premises in their areas, while the NSW Department s brief submission considered that nothing in their role or practice needed to change 8. Thus we have both lack of practice with social impact assessment generally, particularly among public sector planners, and a reluctance to change this. Although the aim of the planning act is to promote the welfare of the community, most practicing planners have never done a course in social policy, much less in social impact assessment or in the relationship between planning and alcoholrelated harm. In effect this has normalised non-use or under-use of social impact assessment including with regard to licensed premises. Lack of practice and expectations of failure probably account in part for the fact that between 2006 and 2011 the population of NSW rose by 6% while the number of licensed premises rose by 23%. Of course the licensing authority licensed all these premises so responsibility for this outcome is ultimately theirs. 8 summarised by the Minister for Planning as the current approach to liquor regulation, legislated through the Liquor Act 2007 and Gaming and Liquor Administration Act 2007, is supported by the Department. also stating in an attachment The draft Planning Bil/2013 does not propose any changes to the interaction and intersection of planning legislation with regard to liquor regulation. Submission no 103 dated 4 September 2013 U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 15

16 But now I would like to come back to Skylab. Here is a film in which having a relaxing holiday is almost synonymous with drinking. The film isn t normalising under-use of social impact assessment, but it is normalising the idea that drinking accompanies every recreational activity. Taken together these two normalising agendas have also permitted various widely promulgated myths including that the night time economy will attract tourists to NSW and that the night time economy is not based on alcohol. These myths do not bear examination. Were people used to making sound, professional social impact assessments they might be less inclined to these notions possibly noting that the tourist industry benefits most from Sydney being in the southern hemisphere, having its summer while the northern hemisphere is cold. Ideas that the late night economy is largely made up of insomniacs visiting their local library or coffee shop lack a shred of evidence. The recognised front line professions are daily on the receiving end of failures in the licensing and planning processes which have resulted in proliferation of premises. In my book, this puts these professions in the front line. Under-utilisation of social impact assessment by licensing and planning decision makers is indefensible. It is inconsistent with the aims of their respective enabling legislation and certainly can t be defended in terms of outcomes. As I noted in the beginning, the hallmarks of social impact assessment are that it is anticipatory, it should be precautionary and it should be done well. None of these professional standards are novel for the planning or licensing professions, or the courts which consider disputes. There are a couple of other practical issues. In sheer practical terms, it is not helpful to have the latest research locked up in academic journals. All kinds of decision makers as well as community action groups would benefit from succinct up to date summaries being regularly available. U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 16

17 Recently the magazine Of Substance published three such summaries which I commend to you. The second practical issue is that many decision makers rely on only one SIA prepared, and or paid for, by the person who wants the proposal to go ahead. This would hardly be regarded as natural justice in any other arena. But this reliance accounts for the insufficiency of practice in the public sector. Finally, the decision makers themselves the councils, courts, panels and commissions, should recognise that social impact assessment is what they are paid to do whether or not they call it by that name. Normalisation of risky drinking is not what they are paid to do, social impact assessment is. We should call all these decision makers to account. Thank you. U n d e r s t a n d i n g a l c o h o l a s a s o c i a l i m p a c t i s s u e Page 17