Submission to Senate Inquiry into personal choice and community impacts: Sale and service of alcohol

This 2015 document is one of several submissions made by the APS in response to a Senate Economics References Committee Inquiry into personal choice and community impacts, and the associated economic and social impact of legislation, policies or Commonwealth guidelines that restrict personal choice ‘for the individual’s own good’.

These APS submissions stress the importance of striking an evidence-based balance between notions of individual liberty, responsibility, ‘personal choice’ and ‘nanny state’ concerns on one hand, versus adopting a whole of community approach to prevention and health promotion.

This submission focuses on legislation and policies concerning the sale and service of alcohol. Individual choices around alcohol often have harmful community impacts. With health costs associated with the misuse of alcohol estimated to be up 36 million dollars, the APS highlights a clear case for further government intervention to reduce harm. The entire Australian community is the target of aggressive, expensive and sophisticated marketing that is designed to diminish their ability to make healthy and socially constructive personal choices. Policy and regulation around the sale and service of alcohol is therefore one area where the APS believes that governments have a right and responsibility to develop policy and legislative responses that protect individuals and communities from alcohol-related harm, and foster an environment in which the Australian public can make responsible choices about their health, and are supported and encouraged to do so.

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