Thinking Drinking II: From Problems to Solutions

Thinking Drinking II wrap up

Three hundred delegates attended Thinking Drinking II: From Problems to Solutions which took place in Melbourne, Australia from the 26 - 28 February 2007.

Thinking Drinking II sought to identify and advance solutions rather than continue to describe the problems.

A major theme throughout the conference was the need for public health advocates to establish a limited set of demands, argue for them consistently and support their demands with a rational case based on sound evidence. Advocates need to show strong community support for the policies they espouse, because politicians respond only to causes supported by voters.

Professor Mike Daube pointed out that the campaign against smoking became effective when its advocates agreed on a course of action and supported each other. As a result the public heard a consistent, well argued, coherent message.

Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision Australia, said that the true cost of alcohol problems was probably underestimated (currently estimated at $7.6 billion) and that the community and politicians need to understand the full economic cost in order to act. He suggested the public health field call on the Productivity Commission for a comprehensive analysis of the full economic cost of alcohol use in Australia.

Senator Andrew Murray pointed out that the public health field would be at a disadvantage as long as alcohol interests could donate money to political parties. Alcohol companies used the donations to influence policy development among all major parties. Senator Murray also said he was concerned by the huge amount of tax governments ‘earned’ from the spending on alcohol by underage drinkers. 

Gabriel McDowell, Managing Director of lobbying firm Res Publica, suggested that public health advocates would have more success by identifying and focusing on achieving reforms that would have widespread community support. For example, in relation to violent crime, pushing for lesser tolerance of the use of the ‘diminished responsibility’ argument as a consequence of alcohol consumption.

Peter Gordon of the Melbourne law firm, Slater and Gordon told the conference that legal action against alcohol manufacturers and retailers who fail to maintain a duty of care towards consumers could well be in the pipeline. Mr Gordon said it is a powerful way to determine a community standard for alcohol-related behaviour.

Creative think tank, Minds at Work ran a parallel stream throughout the conference, inviting delegates to think differently about the issues. In the final session they guided delegates through a number of creative thinking exercises designed to create new options for the field to consider.

Presentations from Thinking Drinking II, where supplied by speakers, are now available. The post-conference report will also be available in the coming months.

Presentations

Presentations from Thinking Drinking II are now available.

Sponsors and Supporters

The Conference Organisers acknowledge with thanks, our sponsors and supporters.

Conference Organisers

Thinking Drinking II is organised by the Australian Drug Foundation and the Community Alcohol Action Network.

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