Emerging alcohol policy innovation in the Northern Territory, Australia

The costs and harms of alcohol consumption in Australia are well documented. While the National Health and Medical Research Council are currently reviewing the Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol, the latest global evidence suggests there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. The negative effects on the health and wellbeing of our society far outweigh its benefits. Harmful levels of alcohol consumption—both binge drinking and sustained high and moderate levels of drinking—increase the propensity for risk taking associated with violence, crime, drink-driving, unsafe sex, alcoholic poisoning, drinking while pregnant and a wide raft of anti-social behaviours. Alcohol's harm also extends beyond the drinker to those around the drinker and arguably the totality of this harm is more than that which accrues to the drinker. This harm includes family and domestic violence, child neglect, diminished industry productivity and other third–party harm...