eputy Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs, Member for Lingiari Warren Snowdon, today welcomed the Committees final report into the harmful use of alcohol in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
The report further highlights the need and urgency expressed by Committee members for further work to be done in this area, Mr Snowdon said.
,^^^,THE HON WARREN SNOWDON MP
SHADOW PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
SHADOW PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR NORTHERN AUSTRALIA
SHADOW PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR EXTERNAL TERRITORIES
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR LINGIARI
BREAKING THE SILENCE ON ALCOHOL IN COMMUNITIES
Deputy Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs, Member for Lingiari Warren Snowdon, today welcomed the Committees final report into the harmful use of alcohol in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
The report further highlights the need and urgency expressed by Committee members for further work to be done in this area, Mr Snowdon said.
The report urges the adoption of all the recommendations as a matter of urgency given the measure of harm and intergenerational pain caused when alcohol is misused.
The report also identified the impact alcohol is having on young children whose parents have become incarcerated due to harmful alcohol abuse, leading to the need for out of home care at record rates, missed schooling and all too often leading to young people themselves becoming alcohol addicts or users of other illicit substances.
Some of the key report recommendations include:
Recommendation 4: The introduction of a national minimum floor price on alcohol, and prompt consideration be given to the recommendations of the Henry Tax Review on volumetric tax.
The report further highlights the need and urgency expressed by Committee members for further work to be done in this area, Mr Snowdon said.
Recommendation 6: That the Commonwealth take steps to ensure a nationally consistent and coordinated approach to alcohol advertising.
Recommendation 8: That the Northern Territory Government re-introduce the Banned Drinkers Register and set up a comprehensive data collection and evaluation program which monitors criminal justice, hospital and health data.
Recommendation 9: That the Commonwealth re-establish the National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Committee.
Recommendation 14: That the Commonwealth, States and Territories, through the COAG process implement justice reinvestment to reduce the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people incarcerated as a result of harmful alcohol use.
Recommendation 17: That the Commonwealth, as a priority, ensure that the National FASD Diagnostic tool and accompanying resource are released without any further delays.
Whats further alarming are the rates of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are amongst the highest in the world and yet these conditions are not recognised as a disability for many social security allowances
Labor stands willing and ready to work with the Government and community to overcome the serious impacts of alcohol on communities.
If the Abbott Government is genuinely serious about Closing the Gap, then the recommendations tabled in the Committees report need to be implemented, not just more rhetoric, Mr Snowdon said.
THURSDAY, 25 JUNE 2015
MEDIA CONTACTS: CHANSEY PAECH (SNOWDON) 041 381 758