Government launches hard hitting liquor campaign

10 October 2008

Treasurer and Minister for Liquor Licensing, Andrew Fraser MP, today released the first stage of a ‘no holds barred’, hard-hitting advertising campaign that aims to change Queensland’s drinking culture.

The Don’t Kid Yourself television commercial – to go to air on Sunday, October 12 and run for five weeks – targets the supply of alcohol to minors by parents.

“I warn, the television campaign aimed at parents won’t be easy to watch,’’ Mr Fraser said.

“The awful reality is that this is exactly what can happen to young people who drink too much. And many of those young people are being supplied alcohol by their own parents.

Mr Fraser said the advertisement was an emotional appeal to parents, urging them to think about the risk they expose their underage child to by providing alcohol.

Due to the confronting nature of the commercial it will not be screened before 9pm.

Mr Fraser said that according to the 2004 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, 67 per cent of our teenagers were assaulted or abused while under the influence of alcohol.

“Parents are being confronted with the potential harm their children can encounter.

“Focus group testing of this advertisement indicated that many parents immediately linked the ad to Schoolies week.

“The testing revealed that it did jolt parents’ thinking and pushed them to start discussing these issues with their children.’’

Mr Fraser also released a sneak preview of the second stage of the marketing campaign which will be rolled out in November.

The entire campaign is worth approximately $2.6 million.

“This is a difficult and complex issue, we are talking about a culture of binge drinking that is entrenched in our society,” he said.

“The Australian National Council on Drugs recently released a report that an estimated 11% of 15 year-olds and 1 in 5 of 16-17 year-olds binge drink every week. The average age of first consumption of alcohol is 17 years.

“We have to start by increasing awareness and getting a message through to Queenslanders that great harm can flow from binge drinking or drinking to excess – particularly for our young people,’’ said Mr Fraser.

The campaign coincides with the new “reckless supply” legislation that makes it illegal for parents to provide alcohol to underage children without responsible supervision. Police now have the powers to seize alcohol that has the potential to cause harm to minors or that is being recklessly provided to minors.

“Current statistics from Flinders University show that 73 per cent of underage teenagers believe it is easy to get alcohol and 75 per cent say they get their alcohol from friends or parents,’’ Mr Fraser said.

Alcohol found in cars and public places that police reasonably suspect is destined for unsupervised consumption by minors can be disposed of or confiscated.

“Last year it was widely reported that parents were not only providing alcohol to their children for Schoolies but were actually going down to the Gold Coast to re-stock supplies when they ran out.

“This practice is now against the law and parents can face a fine of up to $6000.

“The new law does not target the parent or uncle who allows a 17-year-old a beer at the family wedding but it will target those parents and those older friends who knowingly and recklessly supply minors.

“A raft of reforms to the Liquor Act have been passed in Parliament to strengthen responsible supply by the industry. People must start taking responsibility for their actions. We hope this campaign will help remind parents and young people of this responsibility.

Media enquiries: Treasurer’s Office 3224 6361, 3224 5982