I was a paramedic with St John Ambulance WA for seven years. During this time I was confronted on a regular basis with the reality of an insidious epidemic that affects our population and causes much damage and mayhem...
Archive - April 2012
Two-up, two-down
‘Changing the way we drink’ is a big mission for a small not-for-profit like FARE. When the nation’s drinking culture is entwined with national holidays, it’s even more challenging. This week, one of our most important...
Alcohol policy reform – who will lead the way?
We can learn a lot from the results of the latest attitudes and behaviours alcohol poll. Australians have a complex relationship with alcohol. It is striking how clearly most Australians recognise the harms that alcohol...
Alcohol: everyone else’s problem?
This year’s FARE poll results emphasise that alcohol retains a curious cultural place in our hearts as mostly socially acceptable – but when it becomes harmful, it’s someone elses’ issue to deal with. What stands out...
Gauging grog’s guidelines
According to a 2010 Roy Morgan report, people who consume more than three drinks a day account for more than half of all alcohol sales. That fact sometimes makes me pause when I’m at a liquor store. Looking across the...
Emergency service workers count the cost of booze-fuelled violence
Alcohol-fuelled violence is a major occupational health and safety issue for emergency service workers. You see it every weekend – a fight outside a pub, the police have to break it, ambulance officers get attacked...
The time is now
Nation-wide alcohol poll launched today reveals Australians’ perceptions and behaviours about alcohol.
Alcohol Poll-Itics
I’m guessing you’ve read the Poll. Yes, that one. Australia’s Annual Alcohol Poll. It landed on my desk this morning. Australia has spoken, or so they tell us…except Australia hasn’t spoken, as much as whispered...
The appalling wild women of the west
Prohibition orders preventing people with criminal convictions from entering licensed premises were introduced in Western Australia in 2009, and recent figures show that women are more and more involved in alcohol and...