2011/11: Should the legal drinking age be increased to 21?

What they said...
'There is clear evidence a higher drinking age reduces deaths and accidents by 12 per cent. It also reduces violence by at least the same percentage, and other alcohol-related harms'
Professor John Toumbourou, chair of health psychology at Deakin University

'Eighteen-year-olds can vote to change government, get married, have children, enter into legally-binding contracts and are treated as adults by the justice system...'
Queensland premier, Anna Bligh

The issue at a glance
On June 23, 2011, the Western Australian Health and Education Standing Committee presented its report on alcohol misuse and management to the Western Australian Parliament. The report, titled 'Alcohol: Reducing the Harm and Curbing the Culture of Excess', made a series of recommendations.
The report's eighteenth recommendation is that there should be community input on whether Western Australia should raise the legal age at which alcohol can be purchased and consumed to 20 or 21 years.
A variety of medical authorities have supported the proposal, while it has been opposed in a number of quarters, including by the liquor industry and hoteliers.

Background
(The information relating to alcohol-related problems in Australia is largely taken from 'Preventing Alcohol-related harm in Australia: a window of opportunity', prepared for the Preventative Health Task force by the Alcohol Working Group including addendum for October 2008 to June 2009. The index to the full text of this document can be found at http://www.health.gov.au/internet/preventativehealth/publishing.nsf/Content/tech-alcohol
The information relating to the United States was taken from 'Alcohol - Problems and Solutions. The full text of this document can be read at http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/LegalDrinkingAge.html)

The legal drinking age refers to the earliest age at which a person is legally allowed to buy alcoholic beverages. This may be different from the age at which they are permitted to drink alcohol, especially in the privacy of their home. The legal drinking age varies around the world - from countries in Europe where people may consume alcoholic beverages at a young age (generally 16 or 17) to states in India where the drinking age is as high as 25. Some Islamic nations prohibit alcohol consumption by Muslims, and others prohibit it by anyone.

Legal drinking age in Australia
Australia lowered the drinking age from 21 to 18 in Western Australia on July 1,
1970 while the corresponding date for Queensland was February 18, 1974. In South
Australia the drinking age was lowered from 21 to 20 years with effect from December 19, 1968, and then to 18 years as from April 8, 1971. A similar two stage process occurred in Tasmania, with the 20 year drinking age becoming effective as from September, 1967, and the 18 year limit as from January 22, 1974.
By contrast, New South Wales has had an 18 year drinking age since 1905, Victoria since 1906, and the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory since approximately 1929.

Drinking behaviour in Australia
Almost three-quarters (72.6%) of Australians drink below levels that would incur long-term risk of harm. However, among young adults (aged 20-29 years), the prevalence of drinking at levels posing long-term risk of harm is significantly higher (16%) than among other age groups (see Fig. 3). This pattern of drinking is the equivalent of consuming 29 or more standard drinks per week for males and 15 or more standard drinks per week for females. Among Australian teenagers in 2007, this drinking pattern was considerably higher among females (10.6%) than among males (7%).
For persons aged 10-19 years receiving treatment for alcohol problems, the proportion treated has increased from 15% to 23% between 2001-2002 and 2005-2006.
Rates of risky drinking in Australia peak amongst young people, and alcohol-related harm is substantial for both adolescents and young adults. Drinking contributes to the three leading causes of death among adolescents - unintentional injuries, homicide and suicide - along with risk-taking behaviour, unsafe sex choices, sexual coercion and alcohol overdose. A recent study of self-reported harm found that drinkers under the age of 15 years are much more likely than older drinkers to experience risky or antisocial behaviour connected with their drinking, and the rates are also somewhat elevated among drinkers aged 15-17 years. Furthermore, initiation of alcohol use at a young age may increase the likelihood of negative physical and mental health conditions, social problems and alcohol dependence.

The situation in the United States
Though it is commonly believed that the minimum drinking age in the United States is 21, there are a variety of exemptions that make it possible to do so earlier.
The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 required all states to raise their minimum purchase and public possession of alcohol age to 21. States that did not comply faced a reduction in highway funds under the Federal Highway Aid Act. However, it does not prohibit persons under 21 (also called youth or minors) from drinking. By 1987 all states had complied with the 21 minimum age law.
The term 'public possession' is strictly defined and does not apply to possession for the following:
An established religious purpose, when accompanied by a parent, spouse or legal guardian age 21 or older;
Medical purposes when prescribed or administered by a licensed physician, pharmacist, dentist, nurse, hospital or medical institution;
In private clubs or establishments;
In the course of lawful employment by a duly licensed manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer.
Many of the states that have chosen to specifically prohibit alcohol consumption by those under age 21 have a variety of exceptions. For example, some States allow an exception for consumption when a family member consents and/or is present. States vary widely in terms of which relatives may consent or must be present for this exception to apply and in what circumstances the exception applies. Sometimes a reference is made simply to "family" or "family member" without further elaboration.
Some States allow an exception for consumption on private property. States vary in the extent of the private property exception which may extend to all private locations, private residences only, or in the home of a parent or guardian only. In some jurisdictions, the location exception is conditional on the presence and/or consent of the parent, legal guardian, or legal-age spouse.

Internet information
On June 18, 2007, Online Opinion published an opinion piece by Rob Moodie titled, 'Giving parents some spine in the battle of the booze' looking at measures, including changes to the law, that could give parents some support in their efforts to regulate their children's access to alcohol. The full text of this opinion piece can be found at http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=5988

On October 22, 2009, The Sydney Morning Herald published a news report by Paul Bibby titled, 'Call to lift minimum drinking age to 21'. The report gives details on a call from a leading criminologist, Professor Ross Homel, of Griffith University, to have the legal drinking age raised to 21 and the cost of a standard drink doubled as means of reducing Australia's alcohol consumption and associated problems. The full text of this news report can be found at http://www.smh.com.au/national/call-to-lift-minimum-drinking-age-to-21-20091021-h92i.html

On December 14, 2009, The Sydney Morning Herald published a news report by health correspondent, Mark Metherell, titled, 'Drinking age won't change'. The report details the decision of the federal government not to increase the legal drinking age in Australia. The full text of this report can be found at http://www.smh.com.au/national/drinking-age-wont-change-20091213-kqhu.html

On February 10, 2010, Crikey published an opinion piece by Dr Alex Wodak, the Director of the Alcohol and Drug Service, St. Vincents Hospital, Sydney, titled, 'Should the legal drinking age be raised to reduce road crash deaths?' Dr Wodak challenges the efficacy of increasing the legal drinking age as a means of countering problem drinking and suggests methods he believes would have greater impact. The full text of this opinion piece can be found at http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/02/10/should-the-legal-drinking-age-be-raised-to-reduce-road-crash-deaths/

On February 15, 2010, Crikey published an opinion piece by Wayne Hall, Professor of Public Health Policy at the University of Queensland, titled, 'Is raising the drinking age good policy?' Professor Hall argues in favour of increasing the legal drinking age and counters some of the arguments put by those who oppose an increase. The full text of this opinion piece can be found at http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2010/02/15/is-raising-the-drinking-age-good-policy-wayne-hall-looks-at-the-evidence/

On February 15, 2010, Crikey published an opinion piece by Geoff Munro, National Policy Manager of the Australian Drug Foundation. Munro supports moves to reduce adolescent alcohol consumption but also doubts the effectiveness of increasing the legal drinking age. He suggests greater efforts should be made to prevent alcohol being made available to those under 18. The full text of this opinion piece can be found at http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2010/02/15/is-raising-the-drinking-age-good-policy-geoff-munro-responds/

On February 19, 2010, Crikey published an opinion piece by Dr Tanya Chikritzhs, an Associate Professor and Statistical Advisor at the National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University of Technology. Dr Chikritzhs argues that there is substantial evidence that increasing the legal drinking age reduces alcohol-related problems. The full text of this opinion piece can be found at http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2010/02/19/hang-on-theres-actually-quite-a-lot-of-evidence-to-support-raising-the-drinking-age/

On August 23, 2010, the ABC's current affairs program Lateline ran a segment titled, 'Alcohol costs Australia $36 billion/year: report'. The program detailed the findings of a research paper produced by the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation. The full text of the ABC report can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s2991299.htm

On June 23, 2011, the Western Australian Health and Education Standing Committee presented its report on alcohol misuse and management to the Western Australian Parliament. The report, titled 'Alcohol: Reducing the Harm and Curbing the Culture of Excess', made a series of recommendations.
The report's eighteenth recommendation is that there should be community input on whether Western Australia should raise the legal age at which alcohol can be purchased and consumed to 20 or 21 years.
The full text of the report can be found at http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/commit.nsf/%28Report+Lookup+by+Com+ID%29/1511331A52931060482578B80007F0D5/$file/97909904.pdf

On June 27, 2011, ABC news ran a report by Sarah Collerton titled, 'Should Australia's legal drinking age be 21?'
The report details the recommendations of a West Australian parliamentary committee investigating alcohol and illicit drug problems. On of the recommendations is that the Western Australian government seek community input on whether the legal drinking age should be increased to 21. The full text of the report can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/24/3252833.htm

Arguments in favour of increasing the legal drinking age to 21
1. Australia has problems with the over-consumption of alcohol by young people
In December 2010, an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report funded by DrinkWise Australia found that about 83 per cent of all Australians aged 14 and over were recent drinkers of alcohol - a situation which was constant over the six-year period of the survey.
The Western Australian Health and Education Standing Committee report, 'Alcohol: Reducing the Harm and Curbing the Culture of Excess', found the average West Australian drank 265 standard drinks a year more than the recommended amount.
The Committee chairwoman, Dr Janet Wollard, stated, 'We are drinking a lot more in Western Australia and because there's excess alcohol being consumed we are seeing [and] hearing about accidents on a weekly basis...
Particularly our youth are buying that alcohol, pre-loading before they go out, and then that in turn is leading to problems with areas where they go, with aggression and road accidents.'
There is a particular problem involving young people. A study conducted in 2004 found that among 14- to 17-year-olds alcohol accounts for 13 per cent of all deaths and that one Australian teenager dies and more than 60 are hospitalised each week from alcohol-related causes. A recent survey of 16- to 17-year-old Western Australian school students found that for 43.3% one of the main reasons they drank was 'to get drunk'.

2. Increasing the legal drinking age has reduced alcohol-related harm
The minimum legal drinking age in the United States was lowered to 18 in the early 1970s after 18 became the Federal voting age. Evaluations showed that road crash deaths increased in young adults in those states that lowered the drinking age. The minimum legal drinking age was subsequently changed back to 21 years in most American states and a national uniform minimum legal drinking age of 21 years was set in 1984.
A meta-analysis of the state-based studies showed that, on average, reducing the minimum legal drinking age to 18 was followed by a 10% increase in fatalities while increasing it to 21 was followed by an average 12% decrease in fatalities.
Increasing the minimum drinking age to 21 produced a 19% reduction in the odds of alcohol-related road death after controlling for all other variables and policy changes.
It has also been argued that when Australia reduced its minimum legal drinking age, this adversely affected young people, resulting in increased road fatalities and other negative consequences.
Dr Tanya Chikritzhs, an Associate Professor and Statistical Advisor at the National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University of Technology, has stated, 'There were ... a number of Australian studies which showed that dropping the minimum legal drinking age substantially increased road traffic fatalities and hospitalisations in this country... In Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania, increases in serious crash injuries among 17-20 year olds ranged from 10% to 23%.'
Professor John Toumbourou, chair of health psychology at Deakin University, has stated, 'There is clear evidence a higher drinking age reduces deaths and accidents by 12 per cent. It also reduces violence by at least the same percentage, and other alcohol-related harms. In addition those who start drinking early are more likely to become alcohol dependent.'

3. Young people are particularly susceptible to alcohol-induced brain damage
It has been found that the young brain is more sensitive to the effect of alcohol on brain structural and functional development and adaptation as the pre frontal cortex is still developing. The young brain is vulnerable to such effects through to the early twenties.
Clinical professor, Peter Silbert, the head of Adult Neurology Services, Western Australia, has stated that physiological studies have demonstrated that young people who abuse alcohol have smaller pre frontal cortices, smaller pre frontal white matter volumes and white matter structural irregularities. It has also been shown they have smaller hippocampal volumes and a hippocampus that is more sensitive to alcohol's neurotoxic effects.
Professor Silbert has also been found that young people are less sensitive to cues that serve to moderate alcohol intake. This is in part because alcohol harms the young person's brain in ways that effect memory, planning, the moderation of social behaviour, personality expression, decision-making, emotional regulation and organisation.
This is a particularly dangerous situation as it means that young people are both more likely to drink to excess and are more likely to suffer brain injury as a result of the consumption of alcohol.
Drug Free Australia executive officer, Jo Baxter, has said lifting the age limit to 21 was a 'no brainer'. Ms Baxter stated, 'The onset of alcohol needs to be delayed because very important parts of the brain are still developing during your mid-teens to early 20s. If binge and risky drinking is happening in the teenage years, this can do real damage.'

4. Increasing the legal drinking age would assist parents in regulating their children's alcohol consumption
Studies have indicated that abstinence is the most responsible way for young people to deal with alcohol. There are a number of reasons given for this. Alcohol damages the still-maturing brains of adolescents, while early onset drinking is associated with greater alcohol consumption through into adulthood.
John Toumbourou, professor of health psychology at Deakin University, has indicated that it can be difficult for parents to impose such restrictions and that a change in the law would strengthen their hand.
Professor Toumbourou has stated, 'Parents fear that by setting and enforcing an abstinence rule, their children will rebel and drink alcohol covertly. They find it easier to set limits on their children's alcohol use when the community reinforces that position. This has been demonstrated by experience overseas. When the legal drinking age has been increased towards 21 there have been substantial reductions in youth alcohol use and alcohol-related harm.'

5. There is no reliable evidence that discouraging adolescent use of alcohol increases the use of other drugs
It has been claimed that there is no reliable body of evidence to support the claim that decreased use of alcohol among young people leads to an increased use of other drugs.
In an opinion piece published in Crikey on February 15, 2010, Wayne Hall, Professor of Public Health Policy at the University of Queensland, stated, 'I am aware of only one study reporting such an association [between increased cannabis use and increased legal drinking age]. Its findings are at odds with consistent national survey data that rates of cannabis use fell among young adults in the USA from 1979 until the early 1990s.'
It has further been noted that those who express concern about a possible increase in illicit drug use if the legal drinking age is increased often understate the relative harm caused by adolescent alcohol consumption.
Paul Dillon of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre has stated, 'We have at least twice as many young people who were dying as a result of alcohol consumption, maybe even treble the number, than illicit drugs.'
David Crosbie has run Odyssey House treatment and rehabilitation centres in Victoria. Commenting in 2003, Mr Crosbie stated, 'Alcohol's our favourite drug, but these other drugs we don't use, so we have real concerns about them. Even though you know ecstasy's killed less than five people in Australia in the last year and alcohol's killed over 4000...'

Arguments against increasing the legal drinking age to 21
1. Increasing the legal drinking age would not be consistent with other rights allowed 18-year-olds
It has been suggested that it would be inappropriate to remove the right to purchase and consume alcohol from 18-year-olds. The argument put is that at 18 young people acquire a raft of rights associated with adulthood. These include: the right to vote; the sanction to drive legally (if licensed); to marry without parental permission; to be punished before the law as an adult for any crimes they commit; and to enter a legally binding contract. In this context it has been claimed it would be inconsistent to deny 18-year-olds legal access to alcohol.
The Queensland premier, Anna Bligh, has stated, 'Eighteen-year-olds can vote to change government, get married, have children, enter into legally-binding contracts and are treated as adults by the justice system...
We're really asking the question about when a young person becomes an adult and the answer to that has a lot of repercussions way beyond the legal drinking age.'
It has further been suggested that given that 18-year-olds have the vote, they would be likely to punish at the ballot box those who removed their legal access to alcohol. Any government or party would be reluctant to alienate such a significant block of voters - the 18- to 21-year-olds.
In a Crikey editorial published on February 10, 2010, it was noted, 'Raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 is fraught with political and ethical problems. Just imagine trying to defend this policy against concerns that a 20-year-old Australian is considered mature enough to vote and even die serving his or her country but not considered mature enough to enjoy a beer with the family at Christmas!'

2. Increasing the age at which alcohol can be consumed will not reduce youth drinking
It has been claimed that increasing the legal drinking age will make no significant difference to the amount of alcohol young people consume. According to this line of argument, many young people are already drinking alcohol before they reach 18 and if the legal age is increased all that will happen is that there will be more young people drinking illegally.
In December 2010, an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report funded by DrinkWise Australia stated that Australians aged over 14 drank a total of 28 million standard drinks on a typical day in 2007. Referring to under-age drinkers it noted that more than 70 per cent of young people sourced their alcohol from friends or parents, and nine out of 10 young drinkers reported that it was 'very easy' or 'fairly easy' to get their hands on alcohol.
It has further been claimed that the youth culture encouraging drinking is so strong that merely increasing the legal drinking age will have little impact. DrinkWise chairwoman, Trish Worth, has stated that research reveals a 'cultural contradiction' in the drinking habits of young Australians.
Dr Worth has claimed, 'Even when young people didn't feel like drinking, they thought they should or they wouldn't be part of the crowd; they wouldn't feel that they were belonging.'

3. It is parents' responsibility to prevent young people becoming problem drinkers
It has been claimed that the primary responsibility for preventing young people becoming problem drinkers rests with their parents. Those who hold this view claim that altering the law in an attempt to stop young people drinking will prove ineffective so long as parents continue to model an acceptance of alcohol consumption and actually supply their children with alcohol.
A study by Monash and Newcastle universities in 2010 has found that parents have the strongest influence on adolescents' drinking patterns and that their drinking habits rub off on their children's behaviour.
12- to 17-year-olds indicated that their parents gave them their first drink, while child reports of parental supply of alcohol were a strong predictor of increased alcohol use in later years. Researchers found that if parents did not supply alcohol, children did not increase their consumption of other alcoholic drinks.
The head of Drink Wise, Trish Worth, has stated, 'Parents often under-estimate the extent of their influence on the drinking behaviour of their children over the longer term, but it's a major factor in their drinking patterns.'
Professor Ian Hickie, of the Brain and Mind Research Institute at University of Sydney has stressed that early drinking damages young people's developing brains.
Professor Hickie has stated, 'People have a mistaken belief that if they give their kids alcohol at home they won't drink to excess outside of the home.
But what happens is young people drink at home first to get drunk because it is cheap as their parents have bought it and then they go out and drink more. Excessive alcohol use kills nerve cells and nerve cell connections in these critical areas that are still developing at that age.'

4. There are more effective means of reducing the youth alcohol problem
It has been claimed that Australia has available to it a variety of more effective measures to reduce the youth alcohol problem than increasing the legal age at which alcohol can be purchased and consumed.
Referring specifically to the drink-driving problem, a Crikey editorial published on February 10, 2010, stated, 'There are more effective ways for Australia to reduce road crash deaths due to alcohol, apart from raising the legal drinking age.
Australia's system for taxing alcohol is ripe for reform just on economic grounds, let alone public health and safety concerns. Alcohol taxes have a substantial impact on price. The higher the price of alcohol, the lower the consumption. Slightly increasing the price of alcohol is the single most effective prevention measure known. Price increases would be particularly effective in young people because they have lower incomes and therefore less money to spend on alcohol.'
The editorial also noted, 'Alcohol is too readily available in Australia. We have too many outlets, the conditions for these outlets are too liberal and the drinks industry is too powerful (and the community too weak) in the licensing process.'
Professor Ross Homel, of Griffith University, has made similar observations. Professor Homel has stated, 'If you increase the cost of a schooner in Kings Cross from $5 to $10 there will be a difference in terms of people drinking and a direct impact on all forms of alcohol-related harm.'

5. Increasing the legal drinking age will lead to increased use of other illegal drugs
It has been suggested that if the legal age for alcohol is increased this will encourage young people to turn to other drugs. It has been noted that when alcohol become less available, this increases the relative appeal of other substances.
By way of example, it has been claimed that increasing alcohol prices, particularly for young people's drinks such as alcopops, has increased the use of the 'party drug' ecstasy.
Professor Jake Najman, the director of the University of Queensland's Alcohol and Drug Research and Education Centre, has stated, 'It is cheaper and convenient to use pills. A lot of young people are making that choice to switch between alcohol and ecstasy. Pills can be cheaper, there is no question.'
It has also been claimed that increasing the legal drinking age would prompt greater use of marijuana among young people. Throughout the 1990s United States college campuses cracked down on underage and binge drinking. Though there is evidence showing stricter college alcohol policies have been effective at discouraging both drinking in general and frequent binge drinking on college campuses, recent evidence from the Harvard School Of Public Health College Alcohol Study shows that marijuana use among college students rose 22 percent between 1993 and 1999.

Further implications
Australia is a country in which excessive alcohol consumption causes a variety of health and social problems and criminal behaviour. This is not a problem confined to young people, but one which extends throughout the community. Despite the wide-spread nature of the problem, there are two main reasons for devoting particular attention to adolescent alcohol consumption.
The adolescent brain is particularly susceptible to the harm caused by alcohol consumption. Some of this physiological damage can be permanent. It also appears that it is very difficult for adolescents to adequately judge the influence alcohol is having upon them and that alcohol increases the anxiety, depression and risk-taking behaviours associated with adolescence.
Additionally, a number of long-term studies have demonstrated that drinking behaviours established in adolescence are predictive of adult drinking behaviour. Therefore, problem drinking behaviours demonstrated in adolescence are likely to be carried into adulthood. Relatedly, the later a young person begins to use alcohol the less likely he or she is to develop problem drinking behaviours later in life.
There is growing community concern about how best to manage and discourage adolescent alcohol consumption. As part of this move, the Rudd government increased the cost of alcopops.
Experts generally refer to a raft of strategies being required - affecting parenting, peer acceptance and the availability of the product. Altering parenting practices and peer attitudes to alcohol consumption is a long-term strategy that includes public health advertising campaigns targeting parents and children and education programs delivered within schools. Restrictions on alcohol advertising and alcohol manufactures sponsoring sporting events are other measures intended to shift uncritical community acceptance of alcohol.
Measures to restrict access to alcohol include price increases, fewer liquor licences and prohibitions against drinking and driving. The no alcohol rule for probationary drivers is a key element of this strategy.
Overseas experience suggests that increasing the legal drinking age would have positive effects on a number of alcohol-related social and health problems; however, it would be politically very difficult to implement such a change. Voters aged between 18 and 21 are likely to reject it and see it as a major infringement of their rights. It is therefore unlikely that many governments would be prepared to take the risk of introducing such a prohibition. However, the Western Australian Health and Education Standing Committee report on alcohol misuse and management has not simply proposed an increase in the legal drinking age. Rather the report suggests that the Western Australian government should investigate community attitudes on the issue.
Whatever is ultimately decided, gathering opinion will help to educate the community on the hazards of adolescent drinking. The report makes a further seventeen proposals looking at reducing access to alcohol and informing the public of its dangers.

Newspaper items used in the compilation of this issue outline
The Australian:  September 3, page 8, news item by M Rout, `Push for national drink controls to curb violence'.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/push-for-national-drink-controls-to-curb-violence/story-e6frg6nf-1225913521057

The Age:  September 3, page 1, news item by D Rood, `Push to toughen teenage drinking laws rejected'.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/push-to-toughen-drink-laws-rejected-20100902-14rnr.html

The Australian:  September 20, page 15, editorial, `Task for pubs, not politicians'.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/task-for-pubs-not-politicians/story-e6frg71x-1225926422778

The Age:  September 18, Insight section, page 8, editorial, `"Don't" isn't enough to stop binge drinking'.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/editorial/dont-isnt-enough-to-stop-binge-drinking-20100917-15g6q.html

The Age:  September 18, page 3, news item (photos of youths, comments) by J Topsfield, `Getting deep and meaningful on topic of under-age drinking'.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/getting-deep-and-meaningful-on-topic-of-underage-drinking-20100917-15gdn.html

The Age:  November 8, page 3, news item, `Binge-drinking law call'.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/bingedrinking-law-call-20101107-17iyb.html

The Age:  November 7, page 5, news item by J Stark, `Ban booze ads near kids, urge health groups'.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/ban-booze-ads-near-kids-urge-health-groups-20101106-17i8z.html

The Australian:  April 15, 2011, page 3, news item (with statistics) by S Lunn, `A third of drinkers want to get drunk, survey finds'.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/health/a-third-of-drinkers-want-to-get-drunk-survey-finds/story-fn59nokw-1226039379078

The Australian:  May 16, 2011, page 5, news item (ref to arrests by Australian and New Zealand police under Operation Unite) by N Perpitch et al, `Police urge booze culture shift'.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/police-urge-booze-culture-shift/story-e6frg6nf-1226056378960

The Age:  May 31, 2011, page 6, news item (photo) by M Griffin, `Practise what you preach, drink website warns parents'.
http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/practise-what-you-preach-drink-website-warns-parents-20110530-1fcqd.html

The Australian:  June 9, 2011, page 2, news item by Dunlevy and Rout, `Alcohol floor "a hit on elderly, poor"'.
http://www.ahansw.com.au/FileLibrary/Documents/alflooro90611.pdf

The Age:  June 8, 2011, page 5, news item by P Martin, `Roxon approves national plan for minimum alcohol price'.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/roxon-approves-national-plan-for-minimum-alcohol-price-20110607-1fr42.html

The Australian:  June 15, 2011, page 13, analysis (ref to "floor price" for alcoholic drinks / minimum price) by S Lunn, `Last shout for cheap drinkers'.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/last-shout-for-cheap-drinkers/story-e6frg6z6-1226075252560

The Australian:  June 20, 2011, page 7, news item (ref to brain damage to babies, children, birth defects) by S Lunn, `Kids blighted by alcohol damage'.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/kids-blighted-by-alcohol-damage/story-fn59niix-1226078120411