Government Needs To Keep Tabs on Alcohol Sales Data To Produce Good Public Policy

The call comes amid concerns that the Australian Bureau of Statistics is considering abandoning its current practice of publishing annual alcohol sales statistics.

Professor Wayne Hall, from the University of Queensland's School of Population Health, and his three co-authors all senior researchers on alcohol problems, said Australians paid a substantial price for the pleasure they received from alcohol.

Professor Hall said the alcohol industry derived huge profits from risky drinking, with estimates showing that at least two-thirds of all alcohol is consumed in ways that put the drinker's health at risk, not to mention that of others.

The recent debate about the effects of the RTD tax change underlines the need for a proper official set of statistics on what is actually happening with alcohol consumption. Prof Hall said

Even more worrying, studies show that 80 per cent of alcohol used by 14-24 year-old Australians is consumed irresponsibly.

Professor Hall said the collection and reporting of alcohol sales data would not cost the alcohol industry much, as it already provided this information to market research companies.

According to the latest estimate, alcohol accounted for 2.2 per cent of the total disease burden in Australia - marginally more than the two per cent due to illicit drugs.

Professor Hall said that in 2004-05, the social cost of alcohol use topped $15 billion, with health costs just the tip of the iceberg at $1.98 billion.

"… alcohol misuse cost the Australian economy $3.58 billion in lost productivity in the workplace, $1.57 billion in lost productivity in the home, $1.61 billion in crime-related costs and $2.20 billion in road accidents," he said.

"Given that alcohol harms a substantial proportion of people who use it and can also adversely affect the safety and amenity of those who do not misuse it, the federal government should require alcohol sales data to be provided by those who are licensed to sell this intoxicating and addictive commodity.

"Without these data, policymakers, community action groups and public health researchers would lack essential information to monitor trends in per capital alcohol use, which is strongly related to adverse health outcomes such as liver cirrhosis, motor vehicle crashes and suicide," he said.

For many years, the Australian Bureau of Statistics published national estimates of per capita alcohol consumption. Those figures were complemented by state and territory sales data until most jurisdictions stopped collecting these data following a High Court ruling that state liquor licensing fees were unconstitutional.

Professor Hall said household surveys of self-reported alcohol use provided important information on drinking patterns among sub-groups, but they weren't a substitution for sales-based data.

CONTACT: Professor Wayne Hall 07 3365 5330 or 0421 059 009

Kylie Butler (AMA) 02 6270 5466 or 0417 652 488