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2008/13: Adolescent drinking: should it be legal to supply alcohol to minors on private premises?





Introduction to the media issue

Video clip at right: ABC TV's 7.30 Report on the problem of underage drinking. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because YouTube is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows YouTube clips.

What they said ...
'According to National Health Survey data, less than 1% of teenagers and only 3% of people aged 20 to 29 consume alcohol daily, compared with 13% of those aged 50-59 and 17% of those aged over 60'
Jennifer Doggett, media analyst for Crikey website

'In any given week 1 in 10 15 year olds reported binge drinking/drinking at harmful levels;1 in 5 16 year olds drank at harmful levels; and 1 in 5 17 year olds reported binge drinking/drinking at harmful levels'
2008 Australian National Council on Drugs Report

The issue at a glance
High profile incidents such as the Corey Worthington party which ocurred in January 2008 have helped to focus popular attention on the issue of binge drinking among adolescents, especially those who are less than 18.
In addition on February 25 2008 the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) issued a report which indicated that many Australian families are now routinely faced with a young person with binge drinking problems.
The newly elected Rudd federal government has committed $53 million to a muloti-faceted campaign intended to reduce alcohol consumption among the young. Further at the March 26 Council of Australian Governments' (COAG) meeting on March 26, 2008, the federal Government attempt to have the different state governments adopt regulations similar to those that apply in New South Wales which make it an offence to supply alcohol to other people's under-age children. COAG has held over the discussion of this issue till its next meeting in November 2008.
Meanwhile, the Australian Drug Foundation believes there should be new laws to prosecute parents who give alcohol to other people's children at teenage parties. The same time Dr Simon Crisp, a clinical adolescent and family psychologist in the faculty of education at Monash University, has stated, 'We should make it a criminal offence for any person to supply alcohol to under-age people.'