Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I note that the former Minister for Health and Ageing thinks this is very funny. Given his remarks earlier today, I would suggest he regard this as not a marginal or minority concern but a real concern for the mainstream community. Commonly defined as ‘seven or more drinks for males’ and ‘five or more drinks for females’, binge drinking is becoming a matter of widespread and legitimate concern in the Australian community. Among 16- and 17-year-olds, one in five are drinking at risky levels. Furthermore, young people aged 18 to 24 have the riskiest drinking patterns, with almost two-thirds drinking at risky levels for harm in the short term. Some may ask why this is necessarily a concern, given that we have drinking problems across the entire community. The answer lies in the fact that, for adolescents, particularly those in the age bracket from 14 to 17, studies show that a drinking profile of this nature can result in considerably increased physical harm which can be irreparable. Therefore, it is a legitimate matter of community concern.

In addition to the objective evidence of the costs of binge drinking, there is the untold impact on families and communities across the country. The government is determined to work with the wider community, with parents and with young people themselves to tackle this problem. The strategy will not fix the problem overnight but it is a solid first step. This will initially involve three measures to tackle binge drinking among our young people. First, I want to work with sporting and other non-government organisations to affect the environments that shape the culture of binge drinking among young people. The government is committing $14.4 million towards a grants based program focused on reducing binge drinking at the community level. I see this supporting, in particular, sporting codes and clubs in educating and informing club members about the harms associated with binge drinking.

Second, the government will invest $19.1 million to support innovative early intervention and diversion programs to get young people under the age of 18 back on track before more serious alcohol related problems emerge. These early intervention initiatives will involve a new emphasis on personal responsibility. They will target young people under the age of 18 who have been involved in an episode involving alcohol. The interventions supported could include requiring young people to participate in educational and/or diversionary activities and allowing police to confiscate alcohol or provide formal warnings. When young people involved in binge drinking present to hospitals or fall foul of the law, the personal responsibility approach needs to be triggered. The government will endeavour to have at least one pilot project operating in each state capital by the end of 2008. Pilots would require community buy-in from states and other local governments, community and health organisations and local police.

Third, the government will invest $20 million in a targeted television, radio and internet based campaign to confront young people with the costs and consequences of binge drinking. This campaign will go through the appropriate approval processes of the new government to make sure that it is advertising not of a political nature but of a public health nature—a practice not engaged in by those who preceded us. Consistent with the government’s election commitments, the public information campaign will be evidence based and non-political. I welcome the positive community reaction to these initiatives.

Today I inform the House that, as a next step, I will very soon be forming a collaborative activity with the heads of sporting codes across Australia. This morning I spoke with Andrew Demetriou, from the AFL; Kate Palmer, from Netball Australia—

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