Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (ANU), Apr 14, 2008
At the core of alcohol control policies in Australia—and indeed in any country with a system of l... more At the core of alcohol control policies in Australia—and indeed in any country with a system of licensing—lies a key conflict. This is the conflict between the interest of the state in reducing alcohol-related problems on the one hand, and its interest in enjoying the economic benefits produced by the alcohol beverage industry on the other. When an Indigenous corporation buys into premises licensed to sell alcohol, it is faced with a similar conflict and a moral hazard: good sales may mean more alcohol-related harms for which others largely bear the cost. This paper presents some preliminary thoughts on a new project examining the challenges for Indigenous enterprises that profit from the sale of alcohol. Please note: This seminar is available in both Streaming Audio and MP3 formats
Since the repeal of the state liquor regulations in Australia that prevented Aboriginal and Torre... more Since the repeal of the state liquor regulations in Australia that prevented Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from having legal access to alcohol, numerous strategies have attempted to minimise the harms associated with problem drinking. This book tells the story of how governments, their advisers and Indigenous people themselves believed they could minimise such harms by changing the way people drank: how they tried to 'civilise' the drinking act itself. In a sense, this endeavour started in 1789 when Governor Arthur Phillip first taught the captured Aboriginal man Bennelong to raise his wine glass in a toast; however, it was two centuries before the notion found its way into policy in the form of government-endorsed liquor outlets serving Indigenous people in or near remote communities. In the 1970s and 1980s, canteens and clubs were licensed to serve rations of beer in remote Indigenous communities, and government agencies made it possible for Indigenous organisations to purchase public hotels whose sales were affecting their communities. These two approaches to the distribution of alcohol were originally driven by the belief that drinking on regulated premises over which Indigenous people had some control would help to inculcate moderate drinking patterns, and help to prevent damaging binge drinking and sly grog sales. This idea, that people would be able to 'learn to drink' in a conducive setting, forms a narrative thread throughout this book.
CAEPR DISCUSSION PAPERS are intended as a forum for the dissemination of refereed papers on resea... more CAEPR DISCUSSION PAPERS are intended as a forum for the dissemination of refereed papers on research that falls within the CAEPR ambit. These papers are produced for discussion and comment within the research community and Aboriginal affairs policy arena. Many are subsequently published in academic journals. Copies of discussion papers can be purchased from the
Review(s) of: Atomic thunder: The Maralinga story, by Elizabeth Tynan xv + 373pp., NewSouth Publi... more Review(s) of: Atomic thunder: The Maralinga story, by Elizabeth Tynan xv + 373pp., NewSouth Publishing, Sydney, 2016, ISBN 9781742234281(pbk), $34.99.
ABSTRACT Studies of the impact of European forms of alcohol on Indigenous peoples tend to focus o... more ABSTRACT Studies of the impact of European forms of alcohol on Indigenous peoples tend to focus on health and social problems arising from overconsumption. This article takes a new approach by, first, parsing wine from the non-culturally specific treatment of all forms of alcohol in the lives of Aboriginal Australians; and, second, considering Aboriginal employment in Australian wine production since the early nineteenth century alongside these peoples’ exclusion from the late-twentieth century rise of an Australian “good life” of democratized wine drinking practices. By re-entangling these elements of Aboriginal lives in settler colonial society, we reveal an unknown facet of Aboriginal economic contribution, highlight relationships between Aboriginal- and Italian-Australians, and challenge negative stereotypes that Aboriginal Australians are unable to control themselves in the presence of alcohol.
Dialogue (Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia), 2007
Critiques the NT 'Emergency Intervention' for not implementing alcohol 'best practice' policies a... more Critiques the NT 'Emergency Intervention' for not implementing alcohol 'best practice' policies as recommended by WHO.
There is a paucity of literature on the topic of sobering-up centres (non-custodial safe overnigh... more There is a paucity of literature on the topic of sobering-up centres (non-custodial safe overnight accommodation for the publicly intoxicated). This paper presents findings of a retrospective longitudinal case study of a sobering-up centre in regional South Australia over the ten years 1991 to 2000. There were 6,486 admissions during this period, 97.1% of which were of Aboriginal people. We collated and analysed primary data including demographic details of admissions and re-admissions, and qualitative and quantitative measures of intoxication. The findings from this case study, considered together with contextual understandings from a wider social study in this region by three of the authors, provide supporting evidence of the important role of sobering-up centres in averting the known harms of a custodial response to public drunkenness, as well as avoiding the potential harm of alcohol-related injury among vulnerable Aboriginal people.
In the 1980s, Indigenous Aboriginal women in Australia began to agitate against liquor outlets pe... more In the 1980s, Indigenous Aboriginal women in Australia began to agitate against liquor outlets perceived as affecting the remote communities in which they lived, and mobilized in a series of fluid grassroots public demonstrations against alcohol availability. The women supported dry zones, local prohibition, and abstinence and were opposed to reforms designed to improve drinking places and promote “social” drinking. In these and many other ways, Aboriginal women’s activism and ideology resembled that of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in Australia decades earlier, despite there being no direct influence from the WCTU. This article explores the commonalities in the tactics and strategies deployed by these “old” and “new” temperance movements and argues that for Aboriginal women, their dissent necessitated a complex negotiation around the social and cultural norms of their society.
This paper examines the policy response of Australian governments to petrol sniffing in Indigenou... more This paper examines the policy response of Australian governments to petrol sniffing in Indigenous communities from the 1980s until the present. During this period, despite the formation of numerous inquiries, working parties and intergovernmental committees, there has been little accumulation of knowledge about the nature and causes of sniffing, or about the effectiveness of interventions. Policies are fragmentary; programmes are rarely evaluated, and most rely on short-term funding. The paper sets out to explain why this should be so. It draws upon a conceptual framework known as 'analytics of government' to examine the ways in which petrol sniffing comes to the attention of government agencies and is perceived as an issue; the mechanisms deployed by governments to address petrol sniffing; ways in which knowledge about sniffing is generated; and the underlying assumptions about people that inform policy-making. Drawing upon case studies of policy responses, the paper argue...
The geographies of alcohol consumption have been examined by researchers from several different d... more The geographies of alcohol consumption have been examined by researchers from several different disciplines. Alcohol researchers have investigated spatial and environmental influences on drinking [1], the impact of outlet density [2] and the ‘bunching’ of particular types of venue [3,4]. Australian criminological research has examined for example, the location and type of venue associated with alcohol related assaults [5,6], the regional geography of offending [7] and the policy implications of this [8]. Human geographers have been slower to engage in nuanced empirical studies of the spatialities of drinking and Jayne, Valentine and Holloway suggest that geographical research has under theorised the role of space and place as key constituents of alcohol, drinking and drunkenness [9]. Anthropological studies in Australia and overseas have investigated the social and cultural patterns of the drinking act and their role in sociability and the creation and sustenance of relatedness amon...
Review(s) of: Aboriginal health and history: Power and prejudice in remote Australia, by E. Hunte... more Review(s) of: Aboriginal health and history: Power and prejudice in remote Australia, by E. Hunter, Cambridge University Press, UK, 1993, pp xvi + 312.
Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (ANU), Apr 14, 2008
At the core of alcohol control policies in Australia—and indeed in any country with a system of l... more At the core of alcohol control policies in Australia—and indeed in any country with a system of licensing—lies a key conflict. This is the conflict between the interest of the state in reducing alcohol-related problems on the one hand, and its interest in enjoying the economic benefits produced by the alcohol beverage industry on the other. When an Indigenous corporation buys into premises licensed to sell alcohol, it is faced with a similar conflict and a moral hazard: good sales may mean more alcohol-related harms for which others largely bear the cost. This paper presents some preliminary thoughts on a new project examining the challenges for Indigenous enterprises that profit from the sale of alcohol. Please note: This seminar is available in both Streaming Audio and MP3 formats
Since the repeal of the state liquor regulations in Australia that prevented Aboriginal and Torre... more Since the repeal of the state liquor regulations in Australia that prevented Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from having legal access to alcohol, numerous strategies have attempted to minimise the harms associated with problem drinking. This book tells the story of how governments, their advisers and Indigenous people themselves believed they could minimise such harms by changing the way people drank: how they tried to 'civilise' the drinking act itself. In a sense, this endeavour started in 1789 when Governor Arthur Phillip first taught the captured Aboriginal man Bennelong to raise his wine glass in a toast; however, it was two centuries before the notion found its way into policy in the form of government-endorsed liquor outlets serving Indigenous people in or near remote communities. In the 1970s and 1980s, canteens and clubs were licensed to serve rations of beer in remote Indigenous communities, and government agencies made it possible for Indigenous organisations to purchase public hotels whose sales were affecting their communities. These two approaches to the distribution of alcohol were originally driven by the belief that drinking on regulated premises over which Indigenous people had some control would help to inculcate moderate drinking patterns, and help to prevent damaging binge drinking and sly grog sales. This idea, that people would be able to 'learn to drink' in a conducive setting, forms a narrative thread throughout this book.
CAEPR DISCUSSION PAPERS are intended as a forum for the dissemination of refereed papers on resea... more CAEPR DISCUSSION PAPERS are intended as a forum for the dissemination of refereed papers on research that falls within the CAEPR ambit. These papers are produced for discussion and comment within the research community and Aboriginal affairs policy arena. Many are subsequently published in academic journals. Copies of discussion papers can be purchased from the
Review(s) of: Atomic thunder: The Maralinga story, by Elizabeth Tynan xv + 373pp., NewSouth Publi... more Review(s) of: Atomic thunder: The Maralinga story, by Elizabeth Tynan xv + 373pp., NewSouth Publishing, Sydney, 2016, ISBN 9781742234281(pbk), $34.99.
ABSTRACT Studies of the impact of European forms of alcohol on Indigenous peoples tend to focus o... more ABSTRACT Studies of the impact of European forms of alcohol on Indigenous peoples tend to focus on health and social problems arising from overconsumption. This article takes a new approach by, first, parsing wine from the non-culturally specific treatment of all forms of alcohol in the lives of Aboriginal Australians; and, second, considering Aboriginal employment in Australian wine production since the early nineteenth century alongside these peoples’ exclusion from the late-twentieth century rise of an Australian “good life” of democratized wine drinking practices. By re-entangling these elements of Aboriginal lives in settler colonial society, we reveal an unknown facet of Aboriginal economic contribution, highlight relationships between Aboriginal- and Italian-Australians, and challenge negative stereotypes that Aboriginal Australians are unable to control themselves in the presence of alcohol.
Dialogue (Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia), 2007
Critiques the NT 'Emergency Intervention' for not implementing alcohol 'best practice' policies a... more Critiques the NT 'Emergency Intervention' for not implementing alcohol 'best practice' policies as recommended by WHO.
There is a paucity of literature on the topic of sobering-up centres (non-custodial safe overnigh... more There is a paucity of literature on the topic of sobering-up centres (non-custodial safe overnight accommodation for the publicly intoxicated). This paper presents findings of a retrospective longitudinal case study of a sobering-up centre in regional South Australia over the ten years 1991 to 2000. There were 6,486 admissions during this period, 97.1% of which were of Aboriginal people. We collated and analysed primary data including demographic details of admissions and re-admissions, and qualitative and quantitative measures of intoxication. The findings from this case study, considered together with contextual understandings from a wider social study in this region by three of the authors, provide supporting evidence of the important role of sobering-up centres in averting the known harms of a custodial response to public drunkenness, as well as avoiding the potential harm of alcohol-related injury among vulnerable Aboriginal people.
In the 1980s, Indigenous Aboriginal women in Australia began to agitate against liquor outlets pe... more In the 1980s, Indigenous Aboriginal women in Australia began to agitate against liquor outlets perceived as affecting the remote communities in which they lived, and mobilized in a series of fluid grassroots public demonstrations against alcohol availability. The women supported dry zones, local prohibition, and abstinence and were opposed to reforms designed to improve drinking places and promote “social” drinking. In these and many other ways, Aboriginal women’s activism and ideology resembled that of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in Australia decades earlier, despite there being no direct influence from the WCTU. This article explores the commonalities in the tactics and strategies deployed by these “old” and “new” temperance movements and argues that for Aboriginal women, their dissent necessitated a complex negotiation around the social and cultural norms of their society.
This paper examines the policy response of Australian governments to petrol sniffing in Indigenou... more This paper examines the policy response of Australian governments to petrol sniffing in Indigenous communities from the 1980s until the present. During this period, despite the formation of numerous inquiries, working parties and intergovernmental committees, there has been little accumulation of knowledge about the nature and causes of sniffing, or about the effectiveness of interventions. Policies are fragmentary; programmes are rarely evaluated, and most rely on short-term funding. The paper sets out to explain why this should be so. It draws upon a conceptual framework known as 'analytics of government' to examine the ways in which petrol sniffing comes to the attention of government agencies and is perceived as an issue; the mechanisms deployed by governments to address petrol sniffing; ways in which knowledge about sniffing is generated; and the underlying assumptions about people that inform policy-making. Drawing upon case studies of policy responses, the paper argue...
The geographies of alcohol consumption have been examined by researchers from several different d... more The geographies of alcohol consumption have been examined by researchers from several different disciplines. Alcohol researchers have investigated spatial and environmental influences on drinking [1], the impact of outlet density [2] and the ‘bunching’ of particular types of venue [3,4]. Australian criminological research has examined for example, the location and type of venue associated with alcohol related assaults [5,6], the regional geography of offending [7] and the policy implications of this [8]. Human geographers have been slower to engage in nuanced empirical studies of the spatialities of drinking and Jayne, Valentine and Holloway suggest that geographical research has under theorised the role of space and place as key constituents of alcohol, drinking and drunkenness [9]. Anthropological studies in Australia and overseas have investigated the social and cultural patterns of the drinking act and their role in sociability and the creation and sustenance of relatedness amon...
Review(s) of: Aboriginal health and history: Power and prejudice in remote Australia, by E. Hunte... more Review(s) of: Aboriginal health and history: Power and prejudice in remote Australia, by E. Hunter, Cambridge University Press, UK, 1993, pp xvi + 312.
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