Right: protesters here are expressing support for mandatory sentences for "king-hit" crimes, while other groups point out that the threat of a lengthy jail sentence will not deter perpetrators.
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Arguments in favour of New South Wales laws designed to reduced alcohol-related violence
1. Numerous lives have been lost and there have been many injuries due to alcohol-related violence
Alcohol-related violence is a prevalent feature of Australian nightlife.
King hit punches, inflicted by drunken assailants on unaware victims, have claimed 91 lives in Australia since 2000, according to the Monash University's forensic medicine department. A Monash University study found New South Wales had the highest toll - with 28 victims.
The most recent death, on January 11, of 18-year-old Daniel Christie, is the fifteenth fatality from a king-hit punch in Australia in the last six years.
A nation-wide study into king-hit deaths in Australia found alcohol was a major contributing factor to the violent fatalities.
Dr Jennifer Pilgrim, a Research Fellow at Monash University's Department of Forensic Medicine, has noted that alcohol intoxication also increased the risk of victimisation, not just aggressive offending.
Dr Pilgrim has claimed, 'Assaults are an ongoing problem in Australian society and king hits form a large part of these substance-related and often unprovoked attacks.'
Police Association conducted research in 2013 (funded by WorkCover NSW) into assaults against police over a 5 year period (2005-2010). The results of this research show a total of 16,423 assault officer incidents were recorded in New South Wales between 2005 and 2010, or an average of 2,737 assault officer incidents reported per year.
Across the state, on average one in every four operational police officers was assaulted each year. Alcohol related incidents represent 70% of all assaults on police and have a huge bearing on explaining assaults on police.
In 2011, there were a total of 27,404 alcohol-related assaults in New South Wales. Alcohol-related assaults in the summer months of 2011 in New South Wales accounted for 43 per cent of all summer assaults. The victims of these assaults are not only members of the general public.
Record numbers of police officers were also found to have been subjected to violent assault from intoxicated offenders, especially in the early hours of the morning. It has further been noted that an increasing number of other frontline emergency services workers have also been the victims of alcohol-fuelled assaults. These include ambulance officers, nurses and doctors who are attacked while attempting to give assistance and care to those who have been injured as a result of the effects of alcohol.
In 2005, the Medical Journal of Australia reported, 'Two Australian studies have found that over 60 percent of nurses had experienced violence in the workplace in the recent past...Up to 50 percent of episodes are associated with alcohol or drugs, and the timing of violence is almost certainly related to social patterns of use of such substances, with violence occurring more commonly during the evening shift and at weekends.'
2. The increased penalties will serve as a deterrent to alcohol-related violence
The New South Wales premier, Barry O'Farrell, has placed a strong emphasis on the deterrent effect he hopes will come from the new laws his government has introduced. He acknowledges that that they will initially result in a large increase in the state's prison population; however, he stresses that this is necessary to educate the drinking public that alcohol-related violence will not be tolerated.
Mr O'Farrell has stated, 'The new measures are tough and I make no apologies for that. What's been happening on Sydney CBD streets and in other parts of the state demands strong action.'
Mr O'Farrell has further stated, 'By whatever it takes to get the message through to people across NSW that it is no longer acceptable to go out drink yourself stupid, take illicit substances, start fights, coward punch people or engage in other assaults thinking you'll get away with it.'
Mr O'Farrell concluded, 'The consequences couldn't be clearer for any thug heading out this weekend. If you are intoxicated with drugs or alcohol and fatally assault someone - you will now be captured by a new mandatory minimum sentence of eight years jail, with a maximum sentence of 25 years.
The NSW Government has today sent the strongest possible message on behalf of the community - drug and alcohol - fuelled violence won't be tolerated anywhere in NSW.'
3. Lock-outs have been shown to reduce alcohol-related violence
The lock-out provisions now being imposed on clubs in Sydney have been operating in Newcastle since 2008. The success of these provisions there has led many to argue they are likely to be similarly successful when adopted on a larger scale.
The New South Wales Police Association, health professionals and the NSW/ACT Alcohol Policy Alliance have supported the use of 1am lock-outs, earlier closing times and ban on shots after 10pm that were imposed on 14 venues in Newcastle in 2008.
Hamilton, where late-night venues initially were not subject to the tight restrictions.
Newcastle had seven venues on the state's most violent list before the NSW Liquor Administration Board imposed the lock-out provisions. Within a year, assaults after dark had dropped by almost a third. By 2011 the city was recording 35 per cent fewer non-domestic night time assaults and street offences requiring police had fallen by half.
Deakin University Associate Professor, Peter Miller, who co-authored a study comparing the Newcastle measures with industry self-regulation in Geelong, has pointed to the greater effectiveness of the Newcastle measures.
Professor Miller has stated, 'The longer they're drinking, the more violent they get. It's a really simple equation. And I think it's incumbent on the government to act when the community's clearly unhappy with the levels of violence we're seeing.'
University of Newcastle Associate Professor Kypros Kypri and other researchers found that the Newcastle measures reduced assaults by up to 37per cent compared with levels in nearby. Emergency department admissions were reduced by 26 percent.
South Australia, which adopted less rigorous lockout provisions, has also reported success.
The state's Attorney General, John Rau, has noted that in the first month after the laws were introduced, there was a 25 per cent reduction in alcohol-related crime.
The South Australian measures include a lockout that stops people from entering venues after 3:00am, as well as a restriction on the sale of some drinks and a ban on glassware after 4:00am.
4. The community is concerned about alcohol-related violence
Recent detailed polling across a national sample of 800 people - conducted by a highly reputable research firm has discovered that alcohol-related violence is a measure of significant concern to the Australian populace.
The survey was conducted in November, 2013. It finds that 'tackling violence as a result of alcohol' is rated as 'very important' by 74 per cent of respondents and 'fairly important' by 21 per cent.
The total who see the issue as important, at 95 per cent, ranks marginally higher even than support for 'reducing the cost of living' at 93 per cent.
Across the nation, 80 per cent of the sample believes the problems of alcohol abuse and resultant poor health and violence are increasing (in New South Wales the figure is 84 per cent). The polling also ranked various alcohol-related issues and found street violence is the biggest concern, with 91 per cent worried about it.
Further restricting alcohol trading hours is popular, with 65 per cent in favour and only 29 per cent opposed. Higher fines and tougher sentences for violent offenders are also popular, along with increased policing of trouble spots. Limiting the number of drinks per person in pubs and clubs has 66 per cent support and banning alcohol advertising gets a tick from 61 per cent.
There has also been vocal criticism of the penalties imposed upon several men who have recently been found guilty of killing another person in an unprovoked, alcohol-related assault. The mother of Thomas Kelly, whose son died in such circumstances, has decried the four year sentence given his killer. '[The sentence is] a joke, an absolute joke. And we're horrified.
This was our son, a boy that was young, honest and starting his life and he's gone. The next person could be your son.'
Such statements have helped to provoke a groundswell of popular demand for increased minimum penalties for such offences.
The New South Wales premier, Barry O'Farrell, has stated that mandatory minimum terms would not have been necessary if the judiciary had handed out the kind of penalties that the community expects.
Mr O'Farrell has claimed, 'Currently... manslaughter in this state is simply getting a penalty of about four years - that's clearly out of step with the community.'
5. The imposition of lockouts will not damage the Sydney economy
It has been claimed that much of the opposition to lockouts has come from the liquor industry and others who fear to lose financially if such restrictions are imposed.
Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation president, Dr Tony Sara, has stated, 'It might reduce profits a bit, but either they lose some money or we continue to have people hurt and maimed. I think the community comes before profits.'
However, it has been further claimed that the loss of revenue to hoteliers and the liquor industry generally will be relatively minor. For example, Woolworths is Australia's largest packaged liquor retailer. It has been estimated that imposing a ban on packaged alcohol sales after 10pm across New South Wales will see a profit reduction to Woolworths, in that retail area, of only 2%.
It has also been claimed that lockouts are likely to be of overall benefit to the night economy.
Findings released in 2014 of the impact of similar restrictions on hotels and nightclubs in Newcastle state there has been an increase in the total number of licensed premises in the Newcastle CBD and an increase in sustainable business diversity away from the late trading binge barns leading to an improved night economy. It has also been noted that the vast majority of 2008 Newcastle late trading venues have remained open.
There has also been an overall economic benefit to the Newcastle community as public health costs have been achieved more cheaply than through other possible alcohol consumption reduction measures. Significant reductions in public health, policing and related costs in Newcastle have been achieved at a lower cost than that associated with CCTV surveillance systems and other reactive measures in other cities that have not matched the outstanding successful harm prevention measures in Newcastle.