Don Weatherburn, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW

Title: The Longer-Term Impacts of Liquor Licence Trading Restrictions on Alcohol-Related Violence

Abstract: In February 2014, the government of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, introduced new restrictions (known as the ‘lockout laws’) on the sale of alcohol in licensed premises in two of Sydney’s most prominent entertainment districts, Kings Cross (KX) and the central business district (CBD). This study aimed to determine: (i) whether the introduction of the lockout laws was the point at which the time pattern of the assault series in the KX and CBD entertainment precincts changed; (ii) whether the apparent reduction in assault in these precincts persists when we control for common variations in assault across the entire state of NSW; (iii) whether the reduction in assault in the KX and CBD entertainment precincts resulted in a displacement of the assault problem into other areas; and (iv) whether there is a net reduction in assault after taking any spill-over or displacement effects into account. Structural break analysis was used to determine the date at which the time pattern of assaults changed. Interrupted time series analysis with a rest-of-NSW comparator was used to assess the change in assault. Some of the initial reduction in assault in KX and the CBD of Sydney, Australia, previously attributed to the February 2014 introduction of lockout laws may have been a response to publicity surrounding recent deaths connected with alcohol-related violence.

Presenter: Don Weatherburn, National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW

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