❓ The Minister for Racing and Gaming provides an update on the state government's efforts to support remote Indigenous communities with voluntary alcohol bans, including the addition of two new communities and ongoing monitoring and support.
AnsweredQoN 509Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
REMOTE INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES — ALCOHOL
BANS
509. Mr V.A. CATANIA to the Minister for Racing and Gaming:
The minister has previously reported
on the state government's efforts to support remote communities with
voluntary alcohol bans. Can the minister please update the house on this very
important issue?
BANS
509. Mr V.A. CATANIA to the Minister for Racing and Gaming:
The minister has previously reported
on the state government's efforts to support remote communities with
voluntary alcohol bans. Can the minister please update the house on this very
important issue?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for North West Central
for his question. I also thank him for his help in another area in which we are
trying to combat some of the alcohol problems in restricted premises; that is
going really well. Members will be aware that I have spoken quite a lot in
Parliament on the topic of section 175 applications, and I will keep doing so,
because it is a very important issue. Aboriginal communities that do not have
liquor outlets can ask me to ban the consumption of alcohol in their communities.
It is a voluntary thing that they come to me about. There have been two more
additions to the list of communities that have sought my assistance. They are
the Pilbara communities of Cheeditha, near Roebourne, and Warralong, north west
of Marble Bar. Following visits to those communities, I have agreed to their
requests to introduce alcohol bans. I reaffirm to Parliament that it is not a
rubberstamp process. I have found that considerable support is needed from the
community itself, as well as leadership from police, health and other
supporting agencies, which these communities are now receiving. I visit each
community to make sure that the community is prepared for the ban and that it
has leadership and its own processes in place, otherwise the ban will not work.
Mostly I find that there is strong support within the communities. Most of the
time they are organised, but in some cases they are not. There have been
probably four or five cases—I will not identify the communities—of
communities not being prepared or not having the structure in place to make
such a ban work. So we continue to work with those communities and try to get
to that situation.
I was very encouraged by what the
Cheeditha and Warralong communities have put in place to make sure that their
bans work. In fact, the Warralong community started its ban on a voluntary
basis, and this process will give the community that support. Alcohol bans are
now in place in 17 communities, and I have a couple more applications to
consider. The one thing that I ask myself, and that as a government we look at,
is how sustainable are these bans and how they will work into the future. I try
to revisit these places to see how they are going, and generally they are going
well. In some instances, some of the bans have been broken and we have had to
reaffirm what takes place. We work closely with the police. The consumption of
alcohol in these areas is a complicated problem and there is no silver bullet.
I will wind up, but I want to let
the house know, so that members get a proper understanding of this, that with
the assistance of the Minister for Mental Health, Hon Helen Morton, the Drug
and Alcohol Office is conducting follow-up studies to provide information to
ensure that we achieve what we want to achieve in these communities. I have
seen firsthand a lot of the benefits of this program and I am committed to
continuing this process. We will continue to monitor it and report to the
Parliament.
for his question. I also thank him for his help in another area in which we are
trying to combat some of the alcohol problems in restricted premises; that is
going really well. Members will be aware that I have spoken quite a lot in
Parliament on the topic of section 175 applications, and I will keep doing so,
because it is a very important issue. Aboriginal communities that do not have
liquor outlets can ask me to ban the consumption of alcohol in their communities.
It is a voluntary thing that they come to me about. There have been two more
additions to the list of communities that have sought my assistance. They are
the Pilbara communities of Cheeditha, near Roebourne, and Warralong, north west
of Marble Bar. Following visits to those communities, I have agreed to their
requests to introduce alcohol bans. I reaffirm to Parliament that it is not a
rubberstamp process. I have found that considerable support is needed from the
community itself, as well as leadership from police, health and other
supporting agencies, which these communities are now receiving. I visit each
community to make sure that the community is prepared for the ban and that it
has leadership and its own processes in place, otherwise the ban will not work.
Mostly I find that there is strong support within the communities. Most of the
time they are organised, but in some cases they are not. There have been
probably four or five cases—I will not identify the communities—of
communities not being prepared or not having the structure in place to make
such a ban work. So we continue to work with those communities and try to get
to that situation.
I was very encouraged by what the
Cheeditha and Warralong communities have put in place to make sure that their
bans work. In fact, the Warralong community started its ban on a voluntary
basis, and this process will give the community that support. Alcohol bans are
now in place in 17 communities, and I have a couple more applications to
consider. The one thing that I ask myself, and that as a government we look at,
is how sustainable are these bans and how they will work into the future. I try
to revisit these places to see how they are going, and generally they are going
well. In some instances, some of the bans have been broken and we have had to
reaffirm what takes place. We work closely with the police. The consumption of
alcohol in these areas is a complicated problem and there is no silver bullet.
I will wind up, but I want to let
the house know, so that members get a proper understanding of this, that with
the assistance of the Minister for Mental Health, Hon Helen Morton, the Drug
and Alcohol Office is conducting follow-up studies to provide information to
ensure that we achieve what we want to achieve in these communities. I have
seen firsthand a lot of the benefits of this program and I am committed to
continuing this process. We will continue to monitor it and report to the
Parliament.
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