Today, a landmark report revealing the scale of harms to Australians from others' alcohol use will be launched at Victoria's Parliament House by a coalition of leading alcohol and health experts and the Victorian Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation.
Alcohol's Harm to Others in Australia: Patterns, Costs, Disparities and Precipitants is the most comprehensive analysis to date of harm beyond the person using alcohol. The report found:
- Almost half of Australians are negatively affected by others' alcohol use.
- Alcohol is involved in almost half (47%) of all police-reported family and domestic violence incidents, underscoring calls for urgent reform.
- One in six children (17%) are harmed by someone else's alcohol use. Alcohol is an identified factor in up to 5% of child protection intake assessments and 13% of cases progressing to court.
- More than half of women who reported physical or sexual assault between 2011 and 2021, said alcohol was a contributing factor in the most recent incident.
The multi-year project is a collaboration between researchers from La Trobe University and Central Queensland University in partnership with the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), the Australian Institute of Family Studies, Monash Health, the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, and the Australian Rechabite Foundation.
FARE CEO Ayla Chorley said, "Alcohol is fuelling violence and harm in Australian homes every day and the scale of the problem should shock us all."
Alcohol also drives child maltreatment, including abuse, neglect, and disrupted care. Children living in a home with heavy alcohol use face higher risks of experiencing poor mental health, school disengagement, and intergenerational harm.
"These harms can be reduced and disproportionately impact women and children, but they remain overlooked in alcohol policy. That needs to change," Ms Chorley said.
"Today's launch presents practical, evidence-based measures that put community safety first.
"We know from expert recommendations, including the federal government's own panel on the prevention of violence against women and children, that implementing common-sense measures around alcohol delivery is an effective way to reduce harm to women and children."
Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Enver Erdogan, said: "Reducing alcohol harm is a shared responsibility, and the Victorian Government is working with other jurisdictions to deliver meaningful change,"
"This report reinforces why we must work together to protect families and communities, and we welcome its evidence-based insights into the real impact of alcohol on children and families."
"Victoria is actively participating in the national review of alcohol laws that is exploring practical reforms that reduce harm and improve safety to support those most affected."
Lead researcher, Professor Anne-Marie Laslett, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at La Trobe University's Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, said, "Alcohol causes significant harm to the community. This is not only harm to the person that is drinking, but also to those around them, including from injury, violence, deaths, and relationship breakdowns."
"Effective government policies are needed to help support the community and reduce these harms, and services to support people who drink heavily, and their families, are crucial.
"It is most common for harms to be driven by heavy alcohol use of men, and policies and service provision must acknowledge that gendered, social and economic inequalities exacerbate harms to individuals and families from alcohol."
FARE Lived Experience Advisor Kym Valentine said: "I thank the Victorian government for acknowledging the role alcohol plays in exacerbating domestic, family and sexual violence,"
"This is a national crisis that demands a sense of urgency: lives depend upon it. We are looking forward to the next steps both for Victoria, and nationally.
"We have never had clearer, more actionable evidence; we know what actions must be taken to reduce harm to women and children."
The report provides a compelling case for governments to mandate alcohol screening in all family and domestic violence and child protection cases, restrict outlet density and trading hours in high-risk areas, and regulate online sale and home delivery to limit late-night access.
Also for closing data gaps by requiring police, health, justice, and social services to record alcohol involvement in incidents, and to investment in evidence-based, public health alcohol harm prevention campaigns.
The findings are in line with the national Rapid Review of evidence-based approaches to gender-based violence, which explicitly highlighted alcohol's role and called on state and territory governments to review liquor licensing regulations.
