Reducing alcohol-related violence and other harm in Australia

We need to increase alcohol taxation and reduce hours of sale to reduce alcohol-related harms

Alcohol can harm drinkers and non-drinkers as a result of the acute effects of alcohol intoxication (eg, injuries, car crash deaths, assaults and suicides) and the effects of sustained heavy drinking (alcohol dependence, liver disease, heart disease, strokes and cancers). In the most recent study of the behavioural risk factors that contribute to the Australian burden of disease, alcohol was the third most important (5.1%) after tobacco smoking (9%) and high body mass (5.5%). It accounted for 28% of road traffic crash burden of disease, 24% of chronic liver disease and 23% of self-inflicted injury.1