Queensland Alcohol-related violence and Night Time Economy Monitoring project (QUANTEM): a study protocol

Abstract

BackgroundAlcohol-related harm is a substantial burden on the community in Australia and internationally, particularly harm related to risky drinking practices of young people in the night-time economy. This protocol paper describes a study that will report on the changes in a wide range of health and justice outcome measures associated with major policy changes in the state of Queensland, Australia. A key element includes trading hours restrictions for licensed premises to 2 am for the state and 3 am in Safe Night Precincts (SNPs). Other measures introduced include drinks restrictions after midnight, increased patron banning measures for repeat offenders, mandatory ID scanning of patrons in late-night venues, and education campaigns.MethodsThe primary aim of the study is to evaluate change in the levels of harm due to these policy changes using administrative data (e.g., police, hospital, ambulance, and court data). Other study elements will investigate the impact of the Policy by measuring foot traffic volume in SNPs, using ID scanner data to quantify the volume of people entering venues and measure the effectiveness of banning notices, using patron interviews to quantify the levels of pre-drinking, intoxication and illicit drug use within night-time economy districts, and to explore the impacts of the Policy on business and live music, and costs to the community.DiscussionThe information gathered through this project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Policy and to draw on these findings to inform future prevention and enforcement approaches by policy makers, police, and venue staff.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-017-4811-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

COVID‐19 makes a stronger research focus on home drinking more important than ever

“…The emergence in many countries of a vibrant but also sometimes perilous night-time economy (NTE) has been explored extensively. This includes quantitative studies of the prevalence and correlates of intoxication and assault [1] and qualitative studies of people's experiences within these settings [2,3]. Much of this research concerns young people, and the cultural value and meanings attached to intoxication for this age cohort [4][5][6], encouraged by commercial interests in the NTE.…”

Impacts of licensed premises trading hour policies on alcohol‐related harms

“…Simulation experiments were conducted that addressed a key alcohol policy issue that is the subject of debate in the state of New South Wales, Australia and internationally: the extension or reduction of closing times of licensed venues 33, 34. The baseline (business as usual) case simulated outcomes across a 5‐year period from January 2017 to December 2021 and assumed no changes to existing conditions across NSW; that is, varying densities of licensed venues across NSW, a state‐wide bottle shop closing time of 10 pm, and on‐license venue closing time up to 5 am.…”

“…Simulation experiments were conducted that addressed a key alcohol policy issue that is the subject of debate in the state of New South Wales, Australia and internationally: the extension or reduction of closing times of licensed venues [33,34]. The baseline (business as usual) case simulated outcomes across a 5-year period from January 2017…”

Understanding risk‐based licensing schemes for alcohol outlets: A key informant perspective

“…However, the stated aim of the policy is not to intervene and reduce alcohol-related harm, rather it is a revenue raising tool designed to off-set the extra costs of policing the 'night-time economy', which has some similarities to how some view RBL functioning. To date, there appears to be no studies that have looked at the effectiveness of EMROs specifically in reducing harm, although there is strong evidence that reducing hours of alcohol sales reduces a range of associated harms [9][10][11].…”