EditorialIf you somehow weren’t already convinced that the alcohol industry, an industry that exists solely to sell more alcohol to more people and to make more money doing so, was possibly not the most appropriate body to be educating children about the harms of alcohol, then the launch last Friday of a new alcohol education website, ‘Out Tonight, Party Right’ should be all the proof you need.
The online NSW Government resource for senior NSW high school children was developed by a working group which included the Australian Hotels Association, Clubs NSW and the Liquor Stores Association of NSW.
Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education Chief Executive Michael Thorn says it’s not acceptable that the very alcohol industry that is contributing to the high levels of alcohol use in our community is charged with formulating ‘safe partying messages’.
Nothing surprising there; health advocates have long concerned themselves with the cunning and the self-interest of a well-funded alcohol industry; an industry compelled to put profit before people. Simply put, you don’t leave the fox in charge of the hen house, especially not when the fox in question already has chicken feathers in its teeth and has a hard time looking you in the eye.
However, even by alcohol industry standards, the ‘Out Tonight, Party Right’ website launched by Minister for Hospitality, George Souris, has plummeted to new depths of irresponsibility.
In an embarrassing and potentially damaging government gaffe, when originally launched the website directed students concerned about child neglect as a result of alcohol use to Action for Children, a UK charity which ‘supports and speaks out for the UK’s most vulnerable and neglected children and young people.’
Action for Children tells its readers to contact the relevant UK authorities, the page in question stating that if you have an immediate concern about a child, “…you should contact the Social Care department provided by the Council in your area who are available 24 hours a day. You can find your council’s contact details online or in the phonebook.”
As if it wasn’t bad enough that the NSW Government has been abrogating its responsibility for alcohol education to the alcohol industry, it now seems content to send its child protection responsibilities offshore!
It was only after public outcry by health professionals that the offending website links were removed.
In a climate of rising alcohol harms, Michael Thorn says the people of NSW deserve more from their Government than an ineptly produced website.
“It is not acceptable that the Government sees fit to ignore the advice and input of independent research organisations. And this is the end result; this embarrassing site is what you get when you allow an educational resource to be developed by the alcohol industry, an industry with an undeniable and obvious conflict of interest”, Mr Thorn said.
Unfortunately, the UK link was not the only suspect link on the sight, with other links directing the reader, not to educational government resources but rather to sites such as About.com, a site that makes wikipedia look downright scholarly by comparison.
Professor Mike Daube, Director, McCusker Centre for Action on Alcohol and Youth said the links to American websites and news stories instead of authoritative websites was disturbing.
“This is the kind of material that gives stunning incompetence a bad name. The NSW government doesn’t seem to understand the incongruity of involving organisations in alcohol education when their raison d’etre is to sell as much alcohol as possible. It is beyond bizarre that their “educational” activities offered links to promotions for online dating and peptides,” Professor Daube said.
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