ADCA wrote to the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd early in August, urging commitment during the election campaign to several issues the sector regards as paramount. The response (from the ALP campaign headquarters) was lacklustre to say the least. Our letter to the Prime Minister, and the Labor Party response, follow.
Dear Prime Minister
With four weeks to the Federal Election on Saturday, 7 September 2013, I am certain your Government wants to make every policy announcement count to convince voters that the Australian Labor Party deserves to be returned to Government. Currently, service providers in the alcohol and other drugs (AOD) field, and the clients they serve, have a genuine concern about the outcome of this election, and in particular the drug policies that Labor will implement should it be returned to office.
This should be a strategic policy issue for Labor as many prevention and treatment services, as well as the unidentified hundreds of thousands who need help on a daily basis, are in crucial marginal electorates. This is vital, not only for this election where every vote will count, but for the future economic, health, and wellbeing of all Australian communities.
As the national peak body for AOD advocacy, the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA), has in the past respectfully asked your Party and other Political Parties to commit to taking or supporting urgent and decisive action on a number of fronts relating to alcohol, other drugs, harm minimisation, and funding. ADCA strongly urges Labor to tell the voting public:
- What priority action is being taken, or intended to be taken, to turn around the “drinking to get drunk” culture in Australia, which next to tobacco, causes the greatest level of harm in our communities, with a cost estimated at $36 billion annually?
- What is being done, or planned, to maintain policy reform in relation to other drugs, including the misuse of prescription and non-prescription pharmaceutical products, and priority issues relating to harm minimisation?
- Is Labor committed to maintaining a bipartisan approach to the National Drug Strategy, and focusing on AOD policies, not the politics?
- Can the Labor Party provide national leadership to avoid the populist approach, challenge historical perceptions of drug users, take on the alcohol industry to which governments at all levels have for too long been beholden, and take action that may be counter intuitive but is supported by evidence?
Prime Minister, you went on the record in 2009 saying we spend just two per cent of our health funding on prevention, and 70 per cent on acute care. Given the significant share of those funds are swallowed up by treatment of AOD problems, placing greater emphasis on preventive programs makes sense – rather than spending a fortune on picking up the pieces post disaster.
To show true leadership the Labor Party needs to immediately focus on Australia’s growing community health crisis as an election strategy. ADCA urges Labor to do so – ‘It’s Time’ to stand up and be counted.
Yours sincerely
David Templeman, CEO
8 August 2013
The party machine’s response: –
1. What priority action is being taken, or intended to be taken, to turn around the ‘drinking to
get drunk’ culture in Australia, which next to tobacco, causes the greatest level of harm in our
communities, with a cost estimated at $36 billion annually?
The Rudd Labor Government is committed to changing Australia’s drinking culture and reducing
the harm from alcohol. We are supportive of raising awareness around harm from alcohol and
have invested over $103 million to the National Binge Drinking Strategy.
Changing the attitudes of young people to alcohol is an important part of the Strategy. As part of
the Strategy, the Be the Influence – Tackling Binge Drinking social marketing campaign is about
connecting with young people to bring about a cultural shift that encourages a more responsible
attitude towards alcohol consumption and to give them the tools to challenge the acceptability of
binge drinking in their peer groups.
Federal Labor has provided $25 million to the Community Sponsorship Fund to serve as an
alternative to alcohol sponsorship. This program covers a significant portion of sporting
participants in the 15-24 age demographic with around one million young Australians directly
participating and many more involved indirectly through family, community and spectator
participation. High profile sports including the Football Federation Australia, Basketball Australia,
Netball Australia, Swimming Australia, Hockey Australia, Surfing Australia, Athletics Australia and
Australia University Sport are involved.
On 6 August, the Rudd Labor Government announced $20 million towards an action plan to
address Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). The Rudd Labor Government is committed to
reducing the health risks from drinking alcohol, especially for pregnant women or those planning
pregnancy, and has made significant investment over several years in improving our
understanding of FASD in Australia. The additional funding will build on this existing investment.
The Rudd Labor Government is also working with Non-Government Organisations, health
providers and industry to support women to make healthy lifestyle choices during pregnancy, and
to promote awareness of the health risks of consuming alcohol during pregnancy.
In 2011, the Federal Labor Government, together with the States and Territories, committed to
allowing industry two years to adopt pregnancy warning labels voluntarily befo re mandating for
this change. The Minister for Mental Health and Ageing recently approved funding for an
independent evaluation of the Industry’s voluntary initiative. This will help to inform future
actions of Government and by industry.
2. What is being done, or planned, to maintain policy reform in relation to other drugs, including
the misuse of prescription and non-prescription pharmaceutical products, and priority issues
relating to harm minimisation?
The Rudd Labor Government is concerned about the misuse of drugs and the harm that it causes
individuals, families and the wider community. The Federal Government is concerned about the
misuse of all drugs – legal and illicit – and has been acting to reduce the availability and harm that
can be caused by drugs.
As an example, concerns have been raised about the prevalence of synthetic drugs. The Federal
Labor Government announced on 16 June 2013 a national interim ban on the sale and supply of 19
synthetic drug products and that the Commonwealth will develop legislation to ban the
importation of unauthorised psychoactive substances or “synthetic drugs”.
Prior to these announcements, the Federal Government worked with States and Territories to
identify dangerous substances and, after assessing their effects on human health, has scheduled
these dangerous substances as prohibited substances. In the main, States and Territories have
amended their relevant drugs and poisons legislation to enable enforcement of these prohibitions.
Another key concern relates to the fraudulent access and deliberate misuse of prescription
medications, in particular, rising deaths from the misuse of prescription opiates. The Federal
Government is currently working with other jurisdictions to develop the National Pharmaceutical
Drug Misuse Framework for Action which will provide a clear framework for responding to this
issue.
The Federal Labor Government announced the Electronic Recording and Reporting of Controlled
Drugs (ERRCD) initiative in February 2013, which has been made available to state and territory
regulators. This initiative provides a system for electronic recording and reporting of controlled
drugs to help enable prescribers, pharmacists and regulators across Australia to more effectively
and efficiently monitor the use, and help reduce the diversion and abuse, forgery and ‘doctor
shopping’ of prescription drugs.
3. Is Labor committed to maintaining a bipartisan approach to the National Drug Strategy, and
focusing on AOD policies, not the politics?
Australia has had a coordinated national policy for addressing alcohol, tobacco and other drugs
since the Hawke Labor Government in 1985 developed the National Campaign against Drug
Abuse. In 1993 it was renamed the National Drug Strategy. The 2010–2015 iteration is the sixth
time the strategy has been updated to ensure it remains current and relevant to the contemporary
Australian environment.
At the heart of the framework are the three pillars of demand reduction, supply reduction and
harm reduction, which are applied together to minimise harm. Prevention is an integral theme
across the pillars. The 2010–2015 framework builds on longstanding non-political partnerships
between the health and law enforcement sectors and seeks to engage all levels and parts of
government, the non-government sector and the community.
4. Can the Labor Party provide national leadership to avoid the populist approach, challenge
historical perceptions of drug users, take on the alcohol industry to which governments at all
levels have for too long been beholden, and take action that may be counter intuitive but is
supported by evidence?
The Labor Party has taken national leadership on drug and alcohol policy since 1985, when the
National Campaign against Drug Abuse was developed. The National Drug Strategy 2010-2015
outlines the framework for national action to minimize the harms to individuals, families and
communities from alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.
The Federal Labor Government has made significant investment in actions to tackle alcohol and
other drugs, over the four year period 2011-12 to 2014-15, total government investment under
the National Drug Strategy will total $770 million. This comprises of $559 million for treatment
services under the Substance Misuse and Service Delivery Grants Fund, $86 million for substance
misuse prevention services under the Substance Misuse Prevention and Service Improvement
Grants Fund, and $125 million for substance misuse treatment services through the Non-Government
Organisations Treatment Grants Program.
In addition we have invested over $103 million for the National Binge Drinking Strategy and
recently $20 million for action on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
Programs funded by these investments are evidence based and where appropriate, consumer
tested for effectiveness.
