David Collins of Macquarie University and Helen Lapsley from the University of Queensland and the University of New South Wales concluded that 'There would appear to be strong justification for the April 2008 increase in the Australian tax on pre-mixed drinks (alcopops) by 70 percent.'.

ADCA Chief Executive Officer, David Templeman said today that the report, commissioned by the previous Federal Government, was evidence-based and clearly demonstrated that a taxation regime could be very effective in reducing alcohol consumption.

"It is also encouraging to note that the Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia (DSICA) is now saying 'If the Government was serious about addressing problem drinking it would ...start taxing products on the amount of alcohol they contain.'," Mr Templeman said.

"DSICA's approach supports ADCA's and other public health groups position they have been advocating for a number of years. Let's hope this is not just another statement and actually means support for volumetric tax."

Mr Templeman said the alcohol industry needed to take heed of the Collins and Lapsley report which again highlighted the fact that alcohol harm in Australia is a serious problem, and the total cost is more than $15 billion annually.

The report also identified interventions for which strong Australian and international evidence exists as to their potential benefits, including:

·       higher alcohol taxation, including differential tax rates on forms of alcohol which are particularly subject to abuse 

·       partial or complete bans on the advertising and promotion of alcohol 

·       measures to reduce drink driving - more intensive enforcement of random breath testing and lowering the legal blood alcohol concentration; and

·        brief interventions by primary care physicians to reduce hazardous alcohol consumption. 

Mr Templeman said that while these proposed interventions were welcomed, industry needed to develop strategic partnerships with the AOD sector to work in a collective way to make people more aware of alcohol-related harm, and to contribute support for prevention and treatment services.