Monday 25 February 2013

Australians love a drink, and some see no problem at all with drinking to excess. But now doctors, police and paramedics have called "time", warning that alcohol-fuelled violence has reached crisis levels.

"We are not facing a crisis, we're in a crisis. It's occurring right now."

Read the statistics and it's hard to argue with these dire warnings. The latest figures show that each year as many as 70,000 people are involved in alcohol-related assaults. In all, it is estimated that alcohol-related violence costs the community $187 million each year. Four Corners also reveals there's a growing body of evidence that shows a link between binge drinking and brain damage. As one expert explained:

"You will face assault, you will assault, you will have falls. You will find yourself with a brain injury as a result of the long-term use of alcohol."

While the overall incidence of alcohol-related violent crime varies in each state in Australia, one thing is clear: the violence associated with alcohol abuse is getting more extreme. Indeed one key judicial figure has taken the unusual step of opening his court to the cameras and telling Four Corners:

"One day someone is going to sit down and weigh up the benefit in terms of taxes to government from the sale of alcohol, against the detriment or the cost to governments of servicing the consequences of violence."

Next on Four Corners, reporter Janine Cohen tells the story of one young man who did nothing more than take his girlfriend out to a club. Without provocation he was attacked, his skull fractured and his life changed forever. The story of alcohol abuse didn't end there. His attacker, who'd consumed 10 cans of bourbon and cola, was arrested, found guilty and sentenced to six years jail. His family was devastated.

Despite such occurrences, the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) argues that alcohol isn't the only cause of violence and its increasing intensity. The organisation claims that drugs are the real problem and that people must take more personal responsibility.

"Well it's a society problem, it's not the AHA's problem. The AHA work closely with the community, work closely with government, works closely with police to ensure they provide safe venues."

Out on the streets Four Corners found a rather different picture. Accompanying police on patrol, it soon became clear that alcohol and violence are close companions. The cameras captured the moment when police themselves are attacked, and go with the paramedics who are forced to clean up the carnage after violence flares. At the hospital emergency ward things are no better. Doctors and nurses are forced to tend to a constant stream of people who've become victims of alcohol-related violence.

Why won't government do more to reduce the amount of alcohol sold? For some the answer is clear: they are frightened to take on the powerful liquor industry. Meanwhile the level of violence is intensifying.

"Punch Drunk", reported by Janine Cohen and presented by Kerry O'Brien, goes to air on Monday 25th February at 8.30pm on ABC1. It is replayed Tuesday 26th February at 11.35pm. It can also be seen on ABC News 24 on Saturday at 8.00pm, ABC iview and at abc.net.au/4corners

Transcript

"Punch Drunk" Monday 25 February 2013

(Shots of uniformed police wrestling with drunk men outside pubs)

KERRY O'BRIEN, PRESENTER: In our streets, in our hospital emergency wards...

(Police trying restrain a man in a hospital)

...a lethal cocktail of alcohol and violence.

(Long shot of a young man in a wheelchair on a beach)

MARGARET FORD, MOTHER: What's your life like now, Sam?

(Sam makes a thumbs down gesture)

Not very good?

SAM FORD, BASHING VICTIM: Nah...

KERRY O'BRIEN: A national pastime that's got well out of hand. Welcome to Four Corners.

Alcohol is not only often seen as a rite of passage in Australia, it's also embedded in our culture. It's when the drinking gets out of hand and the drinker loses all sense of judgement that bad things can happen.

Tonight's program will contend - through the eyes of police, paramedics, doctors and nurses - that in Australia, public drinking and the aggression it often generates have reached crisis proportions.

About 70 per cent of police street work is consumed with alcohol related incidents, and hospital emergency departments are often overloaded at weekends.

There are about 70,000 alcohol-fuelled assaults across Australia each year. While alcohol related assaults are not on the increase in all states, it seems drinkers are now inclined to drink more spirits and trauma doctors say the severity of assaults has dramatically increased.

Tonight we show the terrible ripple effect, not only on the victims and their families but also on the perpetrators.

Janine Cohen is the reporter.

(Long shot of Coolangatta skyline at night)

JANINE COHEN, REPORTER: It was a typical busy Saturday night in Coolangatta on Queensland's Gold Coast.

Eighteen year old Sam Ford was walking to a nightclub with his girlfriend.

(Superimposed photograph of Sam Ford with his girlfriend)

RYLAND FORD, SAM'S BROTHER: Sam was actually walking to the nightclub to meet me. It was his first time going out clubbing since he turned 18.

(Shot of a street at night with muffled jeers and shouting)

CRAIG BLANCH, QLD POLICE DETECTIVE: Sam and his girlfriend heard a male voice from behind and he was yelling abuse towards him, trying to entice Sam to fight him.

MICHAEL FORD, SAM'S FATHER: Sam was trying to avoid a fight at any cost. He was trying to protect his girlfriend.

DETECTIVE CRAIG BLANCH: Sam was backing away from the incident, trying to text on his phone to his brother to tell him what was going on.

JANINE COHEN: Sam's girlfriend tried to shield Sam and was knocked to the ground.

(Shadows of people fighting)

MICHAEL FORD: This man swung violently at Sam.

(Thud of a punch)

MARGARET FORD: The punch was so forceful, when Sam's head hit the ground witnesses said it sounded like a log cracking open.

(Mobile phone video footage of the street after the incident)

JANINE COHEN: A crowd quickly gathered. These scenes were captured on a mobile phone.

Several people rang triple zero.

(Excerpts from Triple 0 calls)

MAN: Can I please get someone as soon as possible at Greenmount Beach? There's a guy that got knocked out on the road and he's- I think he's having a fit, he's snorting...

WOMAN: Oh my god.

OPERATOR: What I need you to do is actually wave the ambulance down when they get there. I'm going to let them know where you are.

WOMAN: I will, I will. But there's actually now about I'm saying probably 15 to 17 teenagers. It's not looking good.

(Confused footage of kids milling about the accident scene)

MICHAEL FORD: Sam's brother Ryland came, got there after he received the text and found Sam on the ground.

RYLAND FORD: I got on the phone. I was actually yelling a bit - someone call an ambulance. I made a call myself.

MICHAEL FORD: There's Sam's girlfriend screaming, people yelling, running everywhere and all he could do was hold Sam in his lap while they waited for an ambulance to come.

RYLAND FORD: I just remember leaning over him and just holding the sides of his head gently and just continuously talking to him - 'Sammy, can you hear me?' Trying to get any response. 'I am here', you know, 'Blink your eyes - just let me know you can hear me'.

There was nothing.

JANINE COHEN: Still clearly intoxicated, the attacker returned to the scene of the crime and was confronted by Sam's friends.

(Confused footage of the scene and people running)

WOMAN (speaking to Triple 0): Stop, stop. There was a bloke who just committed the crime is coming back to the scene now. It's not pretty.

Okay, can we actually have some police here as well?

OPERATOR: Yep. We'll need to get the ambulance there first...

WOMAN: Oh my god.

OPERATOR: If you can move away from the noise so I can actually talk to you and hear you.

RYLAND FORD: The attacker had drunk 10 cans of bourbon and coke that night, obviously was heavily intoxicated when the attack happened.

(Sirens wail)

JANINE COHEN: Sam was rushed to Tweed Heads Hospital in a critical condition with a fractured skull and massive brain damage.

MICHAEL FORD: I could only look through the doors of the emergency and I could see him. He was obviously unconscious, he looked a mess.

He looked... (sighs) He looked dead.

(Still of Sam Ford intubated in a hospital bed)

MARGARET FORD: It was horrific. I had no idea that it was going to be as bad as what it was. He was covered in blood and vomit and his ears were bleeding.

(Different shots of Sam in the hospital)

MICHAEL FORD: The doctor said Sam wouldn't make it through the night. They said he needed emergency surgery, that his skull would have to be opened to relieve the swelling.

RYLAND FORD: We were taken into a small room where we just had to just sit and wait - hope, pray.

(Close up of stitches all the way along Sam's hairline)

MICHAEL FORD: We had to sign a release to say that they wouldn't revive him if it got to a certain point because it was virtually pointless, and that's probably the hardest thing I have ever done.

(Bows his head)

JANINE COHEN: It is unlikely that the attack on Sam would have happened without vast quantities of alcohol.

(An ambulance with sirens on speeds through the night streets)

Police, paramedics and trauma doctors across the country are frustrated and tired of alcohol-fuelled violence.

Tonight we are on the front line with Sydney's Rocks Police.

(Paramedics talk over the radio in the ambulance)

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL, NSW POLICE: Those people have to know that what they are doing is going to do some sort of damage. I don't care how drunk they are.

(Shots of drunken revellers)

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY, NSW POLICE: Sometimes in the heat of the moment I don't think they are thinking, you know? They've had that much alcohol.

(Constable Burnell speaking to a drunk man on the street)

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Where's your ID? Get your wallet out.

MAN: Wow!

JANINE COHEN: Police say about 70 per cent of their street work is taken up with alcohol-related cases...

MAN: That guy over there...

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Get your ID out. We've asked you three times - get your ID out, please.

JANINE COHEN: ...some of it petty, much of it not.

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: I am Katie. This is Shane. We are from the Rocks Police. Alright, you approached us before and kept asking for lifts home and we asked you to leave.

MAN: Yes...

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Now you're back. Okay.

MAN: Yes, and I'm trying to help you. The guy over there is trying to argue with me and he's trying to fight we me over there. He is drunk.

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Maybe you started it, Samuel.

MAN: I started it?

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Maybe. Please go and get a taxi, please.

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: I think it is part of the Australian culture to go out and have a drink. It's just knowing when to stop, when enough is enough. And people at the moment, they don't know it. And they keep going and keep going.

(Drunk man shouting after the police)

MAN: Why do you care about drunkards?

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: And a lot of the times when we turn up to jobs, people are that incoherent they don't even know where they are.

And I think a lot of the onus has to be put on licensed premises as well. They need to be more vigilant, they need to be standing in there and looking at who they are serving.

(Outside a different establishment)

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: What's happened?

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: You've been asked to leave a venue.

(inaudible response)

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Mate I've seen enough, alright? It's obvious that you're argumentative.

(Man falls over)

MAN: Woah!

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: You're blind! Get up. You're blind drunk. Look at you! Let's go, let's go to the station. Up, up...

(Police help man up and walk him away)

JANINE COHEN: How often do you get called to cases where people simply are drunk and won't leave the premises?

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Just about every one, just about everything that we come across on a Friday and Saturday night is called a 'fail to quit', which means that the person will not leave the licensed premises.

JANINE COHEN: Drunk?

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Drunk. They've been asked to leave because they're either quarrelsome, disorderly, just misbehaving in some regard.

JANINE COHEN: Violent sometimes?

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Yep. Definitely.

MAN: I don't even know what happened...

JANINE COHEN: After 12 warnings, this man has been given an official move on direction but still won't go home.

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Reg, I am so over you. I've got to tell ya. I'm done.

REG: Don't say that 'cause I will fucking go over there...

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Are you threatening me? Are you threatening me?

REG: Are you a butch girl or what?

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Are you threatening me?

REG: Are you a butch girl or what?

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: What's 'butch' got to do with it? I have got a job to do.

JANINE COHEN: For 10 minutes Reg refuses to leave the entrance of the Rocks Police Station.

REG: You guys need to pull your head out of your arse. There are other trouble makers around.

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: Okay...

(Reg walks across the street to another pub)

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: He's going to go straight over there.

POLICEMAN: Straight back over!

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Alright, let's go and lock him up. He's got to get locked up.

JANINE COHEN: This is the third time Reg has returned to the hotel.

(Constable Katie Burnell follows Reg to the pub, where he is arguing with a security guard)

SECURITY OFFICER: I asked you to take your drink inside... There you go.

(Police escort Reg away and he falls again)

See you later. Oh here we go again.

JANINE COHEN: Reg is given a $550 fine and put in the police lock up. He has taken up the time of five police officers, some for over an hour.

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY (to Reg): It would only take me, trust me...

REG: Are you joking?

NICK KALDAS, NSW POLICE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER: Alcohol imposes a huge cost on emergency services. It's not just the police, it's the ambulance, paramedics, the hospital workers - doctors, nurses and so on.

An enormous amount of effort and anguish is expended on people who have simply got themselves in such a drunken state that emergency services have to become involved to look after them or patch up the mess that they leave.

(Shots of girls dressed up and on the town. The constables walk down the street)

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL (getting out of the police car): It's very frustrating...

JANINE COHEN: Thirty minutes after locking Reg up, Constable Lindsay and Constable Burnell see a drunken scuffle outside a bank and pull over.

(The constables approach a couple at an ATM)

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Our mate's obviously been annoying these guys, which is fine, and this bloke just pushed him to the ground.

WOMAN: He was harassing us.

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Straight to the ground.

WOMAN: He tried to push us as well.

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: Just get them to move on.

(to the other party) How much have you had to drink.

MAN: Me?

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: Fair bit?

MAN: Yeah. Yeah.

(Put's his hand on Constable Lindsay's shoulder)

I-I...

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: Don't touch me, bro, just relax.

MAN: Sorry, sorry, sorry. I am not a bad bloke...

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: I don't think you are. I just think you've had too much to drink. You need to go home.

MAN: No, no that's fine but this bloke over here...

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: Yeah.

MAN: ...has dead set just shoved me around like I am a little bitch all night. And I just want to go home and go to bed.

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: I reckon that is just the best thing you've had.

My name is Constable Lindsay from Rocks Police. I am giving you an official move along direction. You are not to be in the city for another six hours, alright man?

MAN: No worries, no worries.

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: Enjoy your night. Go home.

MAN: No worries.

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: Go that way. See ya.

MAN: Yep, no worries. Thanks very much, officer.

(Constable Lindsay walks back over to the couple standing near the ATM with Constable Burnell)

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Get out of here.

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: Go that way, man.

I'd much rather turn up and break it up and get them on their own way than turn up and someone be injured or in a worse way. So it was good work by Katie.

(Whooping on Oxford Street, Constable Lindsay speaking to a man)

Hey, talk to me, don't talk to him.

JANINE COHEN: For every good result the young constables get, there's a bad one just around the corner.

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: You're acting like a child, mate. Grow up.

(Outside another venue)

My name's Constable Lindsay from the Rocks Police. Get your license out...

JANINE COHEN: It's 3am and a man is refusing to leave the Argyle Hotel at the Rocks.

(Police struggle with a large drunk man, someone tries to block the camera)

MAN: Get on the ground! You touch me?

JANINE COHEN: Constable Lindsay takes the man outside, who suddenly becomes violent and attacks him.

(Several police subdue the man on the street)

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: My name is Constable Lindsay. You are under arrest for assaulting police. Do you understand that?

MAN: Oh yeah...

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: Anything you say or do, I will record. Do you understand that?

MAN: Yes.

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY (panting): Right, now he's got to get handcuffed.

POLICE: He's resisting.

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Pull your arm out!

MAN: Pull your arm out, dickhead!

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Why are you here?

JANINE COHEN: Outside the police station, Constable Burnell has to deal with the offender's drunken friends.

FRIEND 1: He was ganged up upon and taken away so that's why I am here.

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: 'Ganged up upon?'

FRIEND 1: Yes.

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: He just had me pushed up against the wall up there. I have got a sore elbow.

FRIEND 1: I'm sorry that you have got a sore elbow.

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: So I want you to go away.

FRIEND 1: He's the...

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: We don't get paid enough money to get bashed, okay?

We're not here to be assaulted.

FRIEND 1: That guy is just the most pure of soul that you will ever meet in your life. I promise you that.

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: I'm telling you now, from what I just saw he is feral.

FRIEND 2: No he's not. Respect to everything you do but he's not like that.

(Inaudible comments from another friend)

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Look at him up there! We had to get three cops to get his hand down to handcuff him.

FRIEND 1: That's just stock standard what you do, though.

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Really?!

JANINE COHEN: Tonight the cells at the Rocks police station are full, mostly of drunk and violent people.

(Three police approach the station with a shirtless man)

CONSTABLE KATIE BURNELL: Shirt off, never a good sign. Why do guys always want to take their shirt off when they fight?

JANINE COHEN: This man was also charged with assaulting police after he refused to leave a hotel.

POLICE OFFICER: Just letting you know, you're under arrest for assaulting police, like we said before...

JANINE COHEN: Thousands of police across the country are assaulted each year in alcohol-fuelled attacks.

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: You can't go in there.

WOMAN: This is my boyfriend - please!

CONSTABLE SHANE LINDSAY: Just wait!

DEPUTY COMMISSIONER NICK KALDAS: The most frustrating and probably distressing thing is when you get up in the morning and you read the reports and you realise that some of your officers have been hurt. And they've been hurt by someone who is so drunk that they couldn't exercise proper judgement in what they were doing.

It's unnecessary. It's unacceptable.

(Close up of hospital chart for Sam Ford)

JANINE COHEN: Sam Ford survived the alcohol-fuelled attack three years ago in Coolangatta but it has left him profoundly disabled.

(Video footage of Sam being massaged on a hospital bed while in a coma - 18 Oct 2009)

After 38 days in a coma, doctors thought he would never leave his hospital bed.

(Close up of Sam's eyes staring blankly)

MARGARET FORD: Sam has severe brain damage. He can't walk, he can't talk. He's deaf in his left ear. He has double vision. He can only see with one eye patched. He can't smell.

He can't do anything for himself, really, and it's very difficult for him to communicate.

So for the first two years I continued to work and visit the hospital every night.

(Talking to Sam in the present day)

Good morning, buddy.

(Sam smiles, his father leaning against him on the bed)

MICHAEL FORD: Are you ready to get up, okay?

SAM FORD: Mm.

MICHAEL FORD: Going to have a shower?

(Michael pulls Sam up out of bed) Ready, set, up.

JANINE COHEN: Margaret and Michael have given up their careers to look after Sam.

MICHAEL FORD: There you go...

JANINE COHEN: He needs 24 hour care.

JOEL FORD, SAM'S YOUNGER BROTHER: Sam's life now... to describe it is pretty hard. Every day is more of a job. Every day is a routine for Sam. It's wake up in the morning, have breakfast and dad has to come and shower him and put him on the toilet.

JANINE COHEN: Sam is paralysed down one side and has seizures.

(Margaret Ford chopping watermelon)

MARGARET FORD: So I have to chop everything up for him. He has to sort of have everything just in bite size pieces.

(Sam eating watermelon pieces from a tray)

Just one piece of watermelon at a time, buddy. You are going to choke on it!

See? It's too big. And it always makes you cough. Because, you know, the watermelon juice. Alright?

One piece at a time. Okay.

(Sam nods)

Alright. Good.

(Home videos of Sam before the accident, fit, tan and leaping off a cliff into the sea)

JANINE COHEN: Before the attack, Sam was a natural athlete.

JOEL FORD: He just lived in the water and since we were really young, when Dad used to take us up the beach, it was just always hard to get him out.

(Still photograph of Sam at the beach)

MARGARET FORD: He was really well liked. He was good at sport, he was good at everything. He made everyone laugh, just loved life.

Everyone loved Sam - heaps of friends. The girls loved him too. He's such a handsome boy.

PHYSIOTHERAPIST: Again, just standing on that right knee...

JANINE COHEN: Now Sam is trying to learn to walk again.

He needs several intensive therapies, including three 90 minute sessions of physiotherapy a week.

(Physiotherapist supports Sam as he walks haltingly along a path)

PHYSIOTHERAPIST: Chest out - lovely job...

MICHAEL FORD: Physiotherapy is incredibly important to Sam's recovery and I feel he would not be out of bed - or if he was, he'd be just sitting in a corner somewhere and we won't let that happen.

PHYSIOTHERAPIST: Good job... heel-toe, heel-toe...

JANINE COHEN: Financially, the family are struggling with the huge medical costs. At one point they thought they would lose their home. Friends have set up a trust to pay for some of Sam's expenses.

RYLAND FORD: Sam's journey over the last three years has been very rocky, an uphill battle really.

(Shot comes into focus on a ceiling mounted CCTV camera, muffles shouts and screams in the background)

JANINE COHEN: The night of October 10, 2009 has also changed another young man's life.

(Still shots of Damian Ford in handcuffs)

The day after the attack, police arrested 18 year old Damian Ford - no relation. He was jailed for six years and nine months but with good behaviour served only two.

(Mug shot of Damian Ford's face with a black eye)

Damian Ford was a promising local footballer whose life changed forever in a moment of drunken rage.

(Police video of the interview with Damian Ford)

POLICE OFFICER: So how long have you been diabetic now?

DAMIAN FORD: Since I was ten, so eight years.

POLICE OFFICER: Alright...

JANINE COHEN: In his record of interview, Damian Ford told police that Sam didn't attempt to throw even a punch.

DAMIAN FORD: I don't really like drinking that much because stupid stuff happens.

POLICE OFFICER: Yep.

MICHAEL FORD: Like there's no excuse, drunk or not drunk. There's no excuse for picking someone out in the street and just... going after them.

What is that? I don't understand that violent action.

(Police video of the interview with Damian Ford)

DAMIAN FORD: I've seen on the news about the guy that got punched and... died from it...

JANINE COHEN: It wasn't the first time Damian had been drunk and angry.

DAMIAN FORD: Because I've been in a few fights before and knocked a couple of guys out cold and I've always been scared that I was going to hurt someone too much, like from someone trying to fight me.

Just, kind of... I just wish I didn't do it, really.

POLICE OFFICER: (inaudible)

DAMIAN FORD: I don't know, like, I have always been brought up just to look after myself and never really, if someone comes at me, never back down.

MICHAEL FORD: There's nothing I can do. I could go and out and kill this guy - I mean, really. And what would that do? It won't help Sam. We have to live with it and so does he.

(Photograph of Damian Ford's family)

JANINE COHEN: Living with it has been challenging for Damian Ford and his family.

(Phone rings)

ANNETTE FORD, DAMIAN'S MOTHER: He has learnt a very hard lesson.

He just wants to try and move on the best he can.

JANINE COHEN: Why did he want you to talk?

ANNETTE FORD: He wants to let people know his remorse. He is sorry.

LUKE FORD, DAMIAN'S BROTHER: If he could do it himself he would, but obviously he can't. But he wants everyone to know what he has done, he never intended and he's really sorry about it.

JANINE COHEN: And it was wrong?

LUKE FORD: It was wrong. He'll feel sorry about it for the rest of his life now, so...

(Exterior of Sam Ford's house)

JANINE COHEN: Do you feel sorry in a way for the young man that attacked Sam?

SAM FORD: No...

JANINE COHEN: You don't feel sorry for him, Sam?

SAM FORD: No... nup.

MARGARET FORD: Of course... sort of in ways, I guess I do.

JANINE COHEN: As a mother?

MARGARET FORD: As a mother.

(Sam shakes his head and moans, visibly distressed)

MARGARET FORD: No, darling, no... I know. It's just to think that someone so young is in jail and that you know, their life has changed forever - no.

But of course I don't feel sorry for the fact that he's been sent to jail because he has, you know, destroyed Sammy's life.

But you know, to see someone so young in jail is... you know, is pretty hard.

SAM FORD: Mm mmm...

MARGARET FORD: I know, babe.

No.

JANINE COHEN: Sam, are you alright?

I don't feel sorry for him that way, darling, because he's done terrible things to us. He's done terrible things to our life, but you know...

JANINE COHEN: The devastating effects of alcohol-fuelled violence is something that New South Wales Chief Magistrate Graeme Henson sees every day.

JUDGE GRAEME HENSON, NSW CHIEF MAGISTRATE (in court): This offense, the charge of affray, carries a maximum jail sentence of ten years imprisonment...

JANINE COHEN: He allowed Four Corners into his court where he is sentencing a 22 year old man who admits, along with three other men, to attacking a stranger in the city.

DEFENCE LAWYER: Although he doesn't recall very much of the incident, he doesn't want to use his intoxication as an excuse for what has happened. And he's truly remorseful over what he has done and...

JUDGE GRAEME HENSON: Tell me why, Mr Kwon, why he shouldn't be sent to jail today.

DEFENCE LAWYER: This is a first offence and...

JUDGE GRAEME HENSON: You don't get one free go.

The police couldn't even interview you because you were so drunk and then without reason, without cause, setting upon some other innocent member of the community, knocking them to the ground, stomping on their head - in company with three or four other peoples - causing the person sufficient injuries for them to be carried away to hospital.

Now the prevalence of violence within the community, particularly upon our streets, where it is alcohol related violence, has reached such epidemic proportions and the consequences of such violence in terms of injury upon people within the community has reached such a stage, that society - and rightly so - is fed up with people such as yourself and your colleagues.

You're set and convicted, sentenced to imprisonment...

JANINE COHEN: The student was sentenced to nine months in prison and will be eligible for parole after four.

JUDGE GRAEME HENSON: Fifteen, 20 years ago a common act like this would be one punch, and then people would walk away or run away, as the case may be.

Now the violence tends to be ongoing, it tends to involve knocking people to the ground, it tends to involve kicking and stamping on somebody who's curled in a foetal position on the ground.

(Shot of a police man bending over an injured man on the ground)

What possesses somebody to do something such as that? I don't know.

I think what happens now is there are more people out for a longer period of time in licensed premises, so that the potentiality for people right across the social spectrum to get involved in alcohol-related crime has increased correspondingly.

JANINE COHEN: There is a growing body of research that shows people who drink a lot are more likely to end up in the court system.

John Eyer sees the links between violence and brain damage from alcohol abuse every day at Arbias, an organisation that looks after people with an acquired brain injury.

JOHN EYRE, EXECUTIVE MANAGER, ARBIAS: The injury or the damage to the brain is such that a person progressively and insidiously over time loses the ability normally to be able to make those sorts of decisions that would have you walk away from confrontation, for example. In fact. you'll do the opposite, you'll engage in it.

(Police officers arresting a man)

POLICE OFFICER: You're under arrest for assault. You don't have to say anything...

JOHN EYRE: You will face assault, you will assault, you will have falls, you will find yourself with a brain injury as a result of long-term use of alcohol. There's too much evidence on this that verifies it.

(Footage of drunken revellers on the street)

JANINE COHEN: A large number of John Eyer's clients have a brain injury from binge drinking. And the concerning news is that they are getting younger.

JOHN EYRE: We are now seeing people who are aged between 20 and 30, which is a significant drop, suggesting that people in that age group are drinking far too much, far too much.

(Shot of police helping a drunk man into an ambulance)

JANINE COHEN: But the powerful lobby group, the Australian Hotel's Association, claims it's drugs mixed with alcohol which is causing most of the problems.

PAUL NICOLAOU, CEO OF THE AUSTRALIAN HOTELS ASSOCIATION NSW: You're not going to like it but drugs is an issue and you just have to look at the mixing of drugs and alcohol is causing problems.

JANINE COHEN: What evidence do you have for that?

PAUL NICOLAOU: Well, I don't have to tell... see you, you just have to pick up the newspapers, you just have to click on the radio. No one has done any full on research when it comes to the mixing of alcohol and drugs.

JANINE COHEN: So no evidence?

PAUL NICOLAOU: No. No evidence.

JANINE COHEN: There's been claims that increased violence is really not about alcohol, it's caused mostly by illicit drugs.

JUDGE GRAEME HENSON: Well I think that claim was made by the Hotels Association and I think that's, just as I said at the time, ludicrous. It may be that illicit drugs are part of the problem but they are not the problem itself.

PAUL NICOLAOU: Drugs are a major problem and the concern...

JANINE COHEN: The Chief Magistrate is saying that's a ludicrous argument and that alcohol is the major problem.

PAUL NICOLAOU: Well, I'd like to see the Chief Magistrate's statistics.

(Ambulance sirens wail)

JANINE COHEN: It's Friday night in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs and Four Corners is on the road with the NSW Ambulance Service.

(Outside Hotel Bondi, paramedics work on a man in the ambulance)

Call after call to the paramedics is alcohol-related.

This man has been hit over the head with a glass inside Hotel Bondi. His head has a deep gash requiring stitches.

LUKE, VICTIM'S FRIEND: Just having a quiet drink and the next thing you know this guy got really aggressive because we were sitting close to where he was, and then he got the glass and he smashed the glass into my friend's head.

The next thing you know there was like blood coming down and this sort of stuff.

JANINE COHEN: Police caught the alleged offender.

Minutes later another call to another Bondi pub, the Beach Road Hotel.

GILES BUCHANAN, PARAMEDIC: I would say half of our assaults would be inside a pub or directly outside.

JANINE COHEN: This man was knocked unconscious for a few seconds with a punch to the head from another person inside the hotel.

JUDGE GRAEME HENSON: One day someone is going to sit down and weigh up the benefit in terms of taxes to government from the sale of alcohol against the detriment, or the cost to governments, of servicing the consequences of violence.

(Camera pans across a street scene with pubs and nightclubs)

JANINE COHEN: What responsibility does the AHA take for the amount of alcohol-related violence and injury?

PAUL NICOLAOU: Well it's a society problem, it's not the AHA's problem. The AHA work closely with the community, work closely with government, works closely with police to ensure that they provide safe venues for patrons to go and visit.

JANINE COHEN: What responsibility should the AHA and the liquor industry take for the amount of alcohol-related crime and injury?

A/PROFESSOR BRIAN OWLER, PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION NSW: Well, I think they should take more responsibility than what they're taking at the present time.

(to a young man) No wheelchair today?

PATIENT: No, not any more.

PROFESSOR BRIAN OWLER: All gone.

JANINE COHEN: Neurosurgeon Brian Owler is the head of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Medical Association. His association has joined forces with police, hospitals, nurses, paramedics and universities.

They want new restrictions on the availability, price, sale and promotion of alcohol, which is more affordable and available than ever before.

PROFESSOR BRIAN OWLER: The severity of the violent attacks has been on the increase. Now, the number of glassings that we see these days and the number of severe head injuries, the types of king hits that we never used to see before, have been on the rise for the past few years. And so that's a real worry.

(Exterior of St Vincent's hospital)

JANINE COHEN: What happened to you tonight Steve?

STEVE MITCHELL: I just got glassed.

(Removes gauze from his face to show cuts)

JANINE COHEN: Oh god!

It is Saturday night and Stephen Mitchell is in St Vincent's Hospital Emergency in Sydney.

DOCTOR (dressing Steve's wounds): Have you got some scissors, or grab my scissors?

JANINE COHEN: Stephen was having a few drinks at the Sydney Star Casino when an argument broke out with some other men.

STEVE MITCHELL: There was a group of them, kind of had a bit of a disagreement about a chair. I told them 'You know, don't worry about it' and then boom one of his mates hit me with a glass.

I was supposed to go to the Cross tonight but I thought I'd give it a miss, you know? Too many drunk people out and the casino was definitely going to be a bit safer - but obviously not.

JANINE COHEN: It is not the sort of thing expect to happen on a Saturday night?

DOCTOR: You expect it whenever you go these days. You don't really expect it to happen to you but you expect it.

DRUNK PATIENT: Ahh... my lord! (inaudible)

JANINE COHEN: The vast majority of people brought into Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital this Saturday night are heavily intoxicated.

(Man vomiting into a bag)

One woman's blood alcohol level was seven times the legal driving limit.

PARAMEDIC (to woman on a stretcher): You can't even walk, that's why you were falling up the stairs before.

DRUNK WOMAN: I know I am at the hospital but can I leave like in the next hour or..?

PARAMEDIC: If you sober up you can.

MAN: Oh... can't breathe...

JANINE COHEN: A man is rushed in after reports that he had been attacked by a group at a city bus stop.

STEPHEN ZEITCH, PARAMEDIC: He's had a fair bit to drink.

(Patient on stretcher behind him hold up two victory signs)

He thinks he's okay so in terms of his obvious broken nose there, he thinks he's fine. He wants to go home. So he does need some medical attention and quite intoxicated, so needs to be here.

But yeah, nothing too serious by the looks of it.

(Patient struggles to sit up)

Lie down, lie down!

JANINE COHEN: But as the night moves on, things do become serious.

(Security guards attempt to restrain the patient as he tries to leave)

JOHN: You've got no right to touch me! I know the law, mate!

JANINE COHEN: John, who is still very drunk, is caught by security guards trying to escape.

JOHN: Just relax boys, mate... I'm going home to watch Neighbours...

(struggling) Youse can just [expletive] relax! Don't touch me like that!

(inaudible)

Let go of me! What are you doing?

(Guards wrestle John to the ground)

By far and away alcohol is the biggest offender when it comes to these sorts of violent incidents that occur within hospitals, particularly in our emergency departments.

JOHN: I can't breathe!

PROFESSOR BRIAN OWLER: And I think if your talk to any doctor or nurse in an emergency department, I think you'll find- it would be very difficult to find one that hadn't directly experienced alcohol-related violence on a regular basis.

JOHN (restrained on the floor): My neck's sore, my neck's sore - my neck is sore!

JANINE COHEN: As the situation escalates, Four Corners is told to turn off its cameras.

John's blood is cleaned from the hospital floor.

(Hospital worker wipes up blood)

HOSPITAL WORKER: I haven't seen it quite as bad as this, to be honest.

JANINE COHEN: The security guards are covered in blood too. And this is just a typical Saturday night in Australia for many emergency departments.

WOMAN PATIENT (off camera): Oh, plee-ease...

PAUL NICOLAOU: It's a society problem. If you just look at just recently you've had a number of house parties where people are consuming alcohol at their home, where they've had to call in extra police because the police are being bashed or things are being thrown at them.

We believe it is a society problem and we need to be looking and working together with society to resolve the problems of alcohol and drugs that are in our community.

JANINE COHEN: Okay, why is there so much alcohol-fuelled violence in your opinion?

PAUL NICOLAOU: Well... there isn't.

JANINE COHEN: Back in emergency, things have gotten even worse for assault victim John, who had to be physically restrained earlier.

A/PROFESSOR STEVEN FAUX, ST VINCENT'S HOSPITAL, SYDNEY: If you are very aggressive and the staff are at risk of being injured, the safest thing to do is to be intubated and paralysed. So unfortunately for this chap, during that process he vomited and inhaled his own vomit.

JANINE COHEN: After a breathing tube is inserted, John is sent to the hospital's intensive care unit.

SCOTT WEBER, PRESIDENT, POLICE ASSOCIATION OF NSW: They tie up our entire emergency service system, and especially on Friday and Saturday nights.

JANINE COHEN: Is the country facing a crisis?

SCOTT WEBER: Well we are not facing a crisis, we're in a crisis. It's occurring right now. It costs the community over $15 billion a year.

But that's not even the ripple effect. What about the families that have to deal with the aftermath?

(Paramedics help a groaning man out of a car)

PARAMEDIC: Use you legs - that's it.

PROFESSOR BRIAN OWLER: I think we've been in a crisis for a long time. And when you see 70,000 cases of alcohol-related assaults, 24,000 cases of alcohol-related domestic violence and 20,000 cases of alcohol-related substantiated cases of child abuse, Australian society has a crisis with harmful effects of alcohol.

PROFESSOR STEVEN FAUX (looking at a head x-ray): Is there any blood in the fissure?

JANINE COHEN: Back in St Vincent's intensive care unit, John is in a serious condition.

PROFESSOR STEVEN FAUX: So he's punched in the nose, fell back and hit his head...

JANINE COHEN: He is in the care of neurologist Steven Faux, an expert on brain injuries.

PROFESSOR STEVEN FAUX: The main problem here is this fracture and it's at the back of the brain. And then what we will see is some development over time. Well, we're just going to go and have a quick look at him.

JANINE COHEN: The vomit in John's lungs has led to pneumonia. He also has a fractured skull, broken nose and facial bones, and possible bleeding on the brain.

PROFESSOR STEVEN FAUX: You've had a bit of a fracture at the back of your head and you might have a little blood around your brain.

(Footage of John in the Emergency ward)

JANINE COHEN: One of the reasons for his aggressive behaviour in emergency, besides the fact that he was very drunk, may have been his head injury.

PROFESSOR STEVEN FAUX: By the time he was admitted he was cerebrally irritated and he began to lash out, so difficult to manage.

JANINE COHEN: Now we've been told he was actually assaulted. How common are alcohol-fuelled assaults?

PROFESSOR STEVEN FAUX (laughs): They are every weekend. They are par for the course. We do our rounds. We start on Mondays and we see these guys, they usually wake up by Thursday.

JANINE COHEN: Professor Faux is called to see yet another assault victim back in the emergency department.

There's been a drunken brawl in the city. One man was stabbed and this man was punched and kicked to the head before losing consciousness.

(Professor Faux rolls a patient over on a hospital bed)

PROFESSOR STEVEN FAUX: Do you know what year it is?

PATIENT: No...

PROFESSOR STEVEN FAUX: Okay. Have you been kicked there?

Yeah...

JANINE COHEN: Doctors have to wait until this man and his friend sober up before possibly operating.

While assault rates in some states are falling, the injuries are becoming more serious.

PROFESSOR STEVEN FAUX: And what we are finding is the numbers haven't increased but their length of stay has, which indicates the severity of the injuries has increased.

I think people are drinking more, there's a lot more focus on spirits and shots, so they are getting a little bit more aggressive. And I think people are becoming much more violent in those sorts of settings.

(Long shot of boys fighting on the street)

JANINE COHEN: Back in 2008 in Newcastle, local police and residents lobbied for a mandatory trial to help combat alcohol-fuelled violence.

Most hotels were forced to close at 3.30am rather than 5am. Lock outs were introduced after 1.30am and there was a ban on shots and doubles after 10pm.

This resulted in a 37 per cent drop in assaults.

If Newcastle works, why isn't it rolled out across the country?

SCOTT WEBER: This is the thing that police officers across the country can't understand. Look, we've had other states look at this. It's the best practice. It's the best model.

JANINE COHEN: New research to be published soon shows that Newcastle hospital admissions have fallen by 26 per cent and general street offences have dropped by 50 per cent.

PROFESSOR BRIAN OWLER: Clearly Australia has a problem alcohol-related violence and the only way we are going to change things is to use evidence that's been gathered from trials like this and apply it to other communities.

JANINE COHEN: Did the Newcastle model work?

PAUL NICOLAOU: No it didn't. What you've seen is a decimation of the night-time economy in Newcastle. You've also seen the number of hotels drop from fifteen down to nine. And in addition to that, what you're seeing is people coming down to Sydney, going to other places and you're dispersing the problem.

PROFESSOR BRIAN OWLER: There's been no evidence to say that people are going to other areas.

To the contrary, they actually looked at the patterns of consumption in the surrounding areas and found that people weren't going out of area to consume more alcohol.

JANINE COHEN: Critics say a raft of reforms are desperately required but governments will need courage to take on the alcohol lobby.

SCOTT WEBER: There just seems to be such an issue with this powerful industry actually maintaining governments and saying 'Hang on a minute, you're not taking away our trading hours, you're not taking away our business'.

JANINE COHEN: Now some of your critics claim that the reason that governments across the country aren't doing anything is because your industry is too powerful.

PAUL NICOLAOU: Well... so is the mining industry, so is hundreds of other industry-based organisations.

(Exterior of a pub with noisy revellers)

PROFESSOR BRIAN OWLER: Clearly there are close personal relationships between people in government and the industry. I think they've donated quite large amounts of money to political parties on both sides, and we know that this has been a problem for a long period of time.

How we reverse this problem is going to be very challenging.

(Ryland and Sam Ford talking in Sam's bedroom)

RYLAND FORD: Home Aussie?

(Sam laughs)

What's your name, Aussie? Want to sing your song?

(sings) My, my, my, my - why, why, why, why...

JANINE COHEN: The challenge is to take action now and stop any more horrific attacks like the one on Sam Ford.

RYLAND FORD: Why what?

SAM FORD: Lilah...

RYLAND FORD (enunciating clearly): De-li-lah.

SAM FORD: Deni-nah...

RYLAND FORD: He knows how he wants to respond but he just can't. He is just trapped in the body that he can't use. He knows exactly what is happening but he just can't respond to it.

SAM FORD: ...li-lah...

RYLAND FORD: Oh, a bit more enthusiasm, buddy!

(Sam laughs)

JANINE COHEN: And it is not just Sam that has to live with the devastating results of alcohol fuelled violence.

That night had a terrible ripple effect on the whole family.

(The Ford family around the pool at home)

RYLAND FORD: Dad actually asked us not to go out that night and we still did. It is hard.

Had we not gone out that night, it wouldn't have happened. We wouldn't be in the situation we are in.

I blamed myself for it for a long time but you've got to stop that, move on.

(to Sam) What movies have we got? What movie do you want to watch?

JANINE COHEN: Like the rest of his family, Ryland has struggled.

RYLAND FORD: I felt depressed. I was at rock bottom. It was a real grind just getting through the day.

I mean I just had, at work, just photos and photos I would just stare at for half the day, old footage from when we would go on holidays and stuff and just watch it over and over.

JANINE COHEN: Sam's youngest brother Joel was 16 at the time of the attack and about to start year 12.

(Home video of Joel and Sam after the attack)

JOEL FORD: At my worst I just shut down completely, basically, and every time I'd try and do some work I'd just pick up the pen and all I could see in my head was Sam so I was just like writing his initials, just SJF and all that.

JANINE COHEN: Where were you writing his initials?

JOEL FORD: Just like on my hand, on my legs like just... wherever, wherever I had free skin. Some days I was coming home from school and mum was upset cause I had- I'd just drawn on myself all day, like up my arms and up my legs.

JANINE COHEN: Joel did badly in his HSC but blames no one, especially not Sam.

(Joel talking to Sam in the pool)

JOEL FORD: Oh words can't even describe how much I love Sam. He's everything in our lives.

Normally, like, brothers fight and brothers do all these things but it takes something like this to realise how much you actually do love him and how much you actually um... enjoy his company (crying).

Sorry.

JANINE COHEN: Like Joel, Margaret and Michael have battled depression.

(Long shot of the family on the beach with Sam in a wheelchair)

MARGARET FORD: I still wake up every morning and wish it hadn't happened and I wake up sort of thinking 'Oh my god, it wasn't a dream'.

And I feel really, really sad first thing in the morning and... I just wish I could take it away from Sam. If I could take over the injury I would, you know in a split second.

(Crying) I struggle. I struggle all the time.

Some days it's really hard. You just have to pick yourself up and we pick each other up because we all struggle.

It's just like a rollercoaster. You've just got to keep picking yourself up and you've just got to keep saying, 'I'm doing this for Sam. I'm doing this so he can get back'.

JANINE COHEN: Any changes to the liquor laws in Australia will come too late for Sam and his family.

MARGARET FORD: What's your life like now Sam?

(Makes the thumb down sign)

Not very good?

SAM FORD: No.

MARGARET FORD: And Sam what is the message for other young people thinking of drinking and going and punching people? What would you say to them?

(Puts his thumb down)

SAM FORD: No. Mm mmm... (shakes his head)

MARGARET FORD: No, it's devastating isn't it - devastating to lives like yours.

(Sam nods)

KERRY O'BRIEN: It's worth nothing that trials like that in Newcastle have occured in Northbridge, Western Australia, Whyalla, South Australia, and in limited form in Inner City Melbourne.

Both the Northbridge and Whyalla trials led to reduced alcohol-related offenses and arrests. The Melbourne trial fell away after 25 per cent of licensed venues took legal action to exempt themselves from the trial.

Next week on Four Corners, a salutary tale for anyone with investment savings. Don't miss it.

Until then, good night.

END OF TRANSCRIPT

Background Information

RELATED NEWS AND MEDIA

A brief history of alcohol consumption in Australia | The Conversation| 25 Feb 2013 - Although most Australians would probably say we've always been a heavy-drinking nation, the consumption of alcohol has followed a roller coaster curve since European invasion.

Social acceptance of alcohol allows us to ignore its harms | The Conversation| 25 Feb 2013 - Alcohol-related health information should be delivered in a way that generates discussion and consideration of its personal relevance, so it's not easily dismissed as an issue for other people.

State's anti-boozing site links children to online dating, peptides webpages | SMH | 20 Feb 2013 - Children have been directed to websites containing adult relationship advice, instructions on taking peptides and other inappropriate content through a new government site that is supposed to raise awareness about alcohol misuse.

Drugs, grog blamed for more attacks on police | ABC News | 20 Feb 2013 - The top police officer in the Kimberley says drugs and alcohol are to blame for a blowout in assaults against police in the past year.

Media Release: Small Bars Legislation introduced in Parliament | Minister for the Arts | 20 Feb 2013 - The purpose of the new licence is to provide an alternative for patrons who prefer a small, intimate venue and a quiet night out. The introduction of a small bar licence also recognises that larger venues which attract significant numbers of patrons can contribute to alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour. [PDF 94Kb]

Media Release: Increased physical assaults in 2011-12 | Australian Bureau of Statistics | 19 Feb 2013 - The number of physical assaults in 2011-12 rose to 2.2 million, up 44 per cent since 2010-11, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures released today.

Media Release: UK expert backs AMA call for tighter controls on alcohol marketing | AMA | 18 Feb 2013 - The AMA is calling on the Federal Government to launch an inquiry into the marketing of alcohol amid an unprecedented push by the industry to lure young people into early and potentially harmful drinking patterns.

The perfect cocktail...and other tips for safer, healthier alcohol regulation | Crikey.com | 18 Feb 2013 - At an alcohol policy forum hosted by the Australian Medical Association in Canberra, Sir Ian, the Royal College of Physicians' Special Advisor on Alcohol and Chair of the United Kingdom's Alcohol Health Alliance, described how a mix of persistent advocacy, serendipity and evidence created a cocktail for change in alcohol policy.

Audio: My Intoxicating Career | Radio National | 17 Feb 2013 - Whether they're actors, musicians or poets there can be repercussions from taking to the stage night after night in pubs and theatres. We'll hear some performers strut their stuff on stage and we'll find out what goes on in the dressing rooms, behind the front and in the minds, of these entertainers.

Media Release: Alohol Advertising and Children - Call for Action | MCAAY | 12 Feb 2013 - A Jim Beam Racing children's clothing product has been described as the most shocking example of alcohol advertising yet seen in Australia. The McCusker Centre for Action on Alcohol and Youth has called for urgent action by the Federal Government to end alcohol advertising targeting or using children and young people. [PDF 200Kb]

Jim Beam brand driven home to children | SMH | 11 Feb 2013 - Jim Beam-branded clothing is being sold to children as young as four, in what public health experts have said is one of the most shocking examples of alcohol advertising they have seen.

KEY REPORTS

DANTE Report: Dealing with Alcohol-related harm and the night time economy | NDLERF | Dec 2012 - 'The estimated cost of alcohol to the community is $15.3 billion, including crime, violence, treatment costs, loss of productivity and premature deaths in 2004-05.' 'Alcohol has been identified as a factor in three quarters of assaults, and offensive behaviour on the street.' Read more in this report from the National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund. [PDF 7.6Mb]

Draft Report Exploring the Public Interest Case for a Minimum (floor) Price for Alcohol | ANPHA | Nov 2012 - View the full report from the Australian National Preventative Health Agency, plus summary and submissions, here.

Young adults' experience of responsible service of alcohol in NSW: 2011 update | Crime and Justice Bulletin | Apr 2012 - Aim: To determine whether the provision of responsible service of alcohol (RSA) changed in NSW licensed premises between 2002 and 2011. [PDF 477Kb]

Inquiry into Alcohol-Related Violence - Final Report | Qld Law, Justice & Safety Cttee | Mar 2010 - This Parliamentary report focuses on alcohol related violence around licensed premises. [PDF 531Kb]

The Range and Magnitude of Alcohol's Harm to Others | Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation | 2010 - This study represents a sustained and comprehensive effort to quantify alcohols harm to others. According to the report, almost three-quarters of all adults in Australia were negatively affected over a one-year period by someone elses' drinking, in ways ranging from minor annoyance to physical violence or death.

MORE INFO AND LINKS

The Alcohol Policy Coalition is a collaboration of health agencies with shared concern relating to the misuse of alcohol and its health/social impacts on the community. alcoholpolicycoalition.org.au/

Arbias provides support services to people with an acquired brain injury, specialising in alcohol and other drug related brain injury. www.arbias.org.au/

Binge drinking | @ReachOut_AUS - Information on short and long term effects of binge drinking on your physical and mental health. au.reachout.com/All-about-binge-drinking

Centre for Alcohol Policy Research | @CAPRAustralia - An innovative, world-renowned research facility at the forefront of informed alcohol policy development. www.capr.edu.au/

Cringe the Binge | @CringeTheBinge - A national campaign to reverse youth binge drinking. www.cringethebinge.com.au/

Drink Tank | @DrinkTankAu - Aims to generate meaningful commentary and debate about alcohol policy, and to provide a platform for all members of the Australian community to share their views and concerns. drinktank.org.au/

DrinkWise Australia is an independent, not-for-profit organisation focused on promoting change towards a healthier and safer drinking culture in Australia. www.drinkwise.org.au/

FARE Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education | @FAREAustralia - An independent, charitable organisation working to prevent the harmful use of alcohol in Australia. www.fare.org.au/

Help and Support | DrugInfo - For information about alcohol and other drugs browse the DrugInfo website or call 1300 85 85 84. www.druginfo.adf.org.au/.../help-and-support

Last Drinks Campaign - A campaign launched by concerned emergency service workers, aimed at lessening the burden that alcohol-related violence places on their services, and the greater community each year. lastdrinks.org.au/

McCusker Centre for Action on Alcohol and Youth - The aim of MCAAY is to reduce levels of drinking, harmful drinking and alcohol problems among young people. www.mcaay.org.au/

National Alliance for Action on Alcohol is a national coalition of over 70 health and community organisations from across Australia that has been formed with the goal of reducing alcohol-related harm. www.actiononalcohol.org.au/

The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre | @NDARCNEWS - Conducts research to increase the effectiveness of treatments for drug and alcohol related harms. www.ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/

NHMRC - Federal Government guidelines on safe drinking. www.nhmrc.gov.au/your-health/alcohol-guidelines

The Police Association of NSW | @PoliceAssocNSW - Represents the professional & industrial interests of around 16000 police officers in the state of NSW. www.pansw.org.au/

ReGenUC | @ReGenUC - To promote health and reduce alcohol and other drug related harm. www.regen.org.au

SMART Recovery Australia is a voluntary self-help group that assists people in recovering from alcohol, drug use and other addictive behaviours. smartrecoveryaustralia.com.au/

Turning Point Alcohol & Drug Centre was established in 1994 to provide leadership to the alcohol and drug field in Victoria. www.turningpoint.org.au/

Youth Off The Streets is a non-denominational community organisation working for young people who are disadvantaged, homeless, drug dependent and or recovering from abuse. www.youthoffthestreets.com.au/