Online alcohol sales link to DV under review

September 24, 2024

One of our clients, aged over 60, drinks alcohol at home, and when he runs out, will order more online, no matter the lateness of the hour.

The alcohol is delivered quickly and he drinks more. The more he drinks the more aggressive his behaviour becomes. On the receiving end of his increasingly aggressive behaviour is his aged mother who he lives with at home.

The neighbours and police are aware of the man’s alcohol-related aggression, and police have placed a domestic violence order on him.

Through engaging with Drug ARM, this male client was encouraged to self-exclude himself from online purchasing of alcohol from that outlet.

It’s a little-known strategy but anyone can ask to self-exclude from online purchasing and home delivery of alcohol by contacting the retailer. This helps to limit late-night sales, when bottle shops are closed and other restrictions on purchasing exist, thereby curtailing a well-advanced drinking session, which could, if extended, lead to domestic violence.

However, it took many months for our client to follow through and apply for self-exclusion. Resting the responsibility for the alcohol restriction with the client is not ideal as it is not easily achieved.

Yet the evidence shows that any strategy that makes it more difficult to purchase alcohol will lead to less alcohol-fuelled violence, and when we consider the shocking domestic violence rates across our nation, we see that reform of alcohol delivery to homes is long overdue.

The Commonwealth Government has recently released a report, which includes recommendations to address alcohol’s role in domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV).

Among its recommendations are the placement of restrictions on alcohol sale, advertising and delivery timeframes.

The report states: “Alcohol has long been known to increase both the incidence and severity of physical and sexual violence within intimate relationships and families.

“The Review notes that a failure to consider DFSV in alcohol policy has allowed unprecedented growth in alcohol availability, both in the density of liquor outlets and the length of online delivery hours. This increase in availability has been statistically linked to increases in alcohol-related DFSV.”

Other report recommendations include equipping GPs and alcohol and other drug services so that they may better identify and support DFSV victims-survivors. They also propose an increase in collaboration between the alcohol and other drug and DFSV sectors, in which a shared framework of care could be developed.

Drug ARM welcomes policy reform which would reduce the timeframe that alcohol can be delivered to homes.

The Queensland Coalition for Action on Alcohol (QCAA), an alliance of which Drug ARM is a member, is calling for comprehensive state regulations for the online sales and delivery of alcohol. The call embodies one of the four pillars in its 4 Point Plan, detailed in its recent 2024 Election Submission.

Towards creating safe and healthy environments through online sales and delivery reform, the QCAA proposes:

• alcohol deliveries should only be permitted from 10am to 10pm with a two-hour safety pause from order to delivery

Drug ARM also welcomes any funding or support for the upskilling of AOD workers so that they may better assess and manage clients who identify as experiencing or being at risk of DFSV.

The Commonwealth Government report states that over 60 per cent of males who killed a female intimate partner had engaged in problematic drug and/or alcohol use in the lead-up to, or at the time of, the homicide, according to the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network Data Report (2022).

The report also refers to service data which shows over 70 per cent of women accessing DFSV support via a state-wide helpline say that alcohol was a factor in their case.

“Our staff are wanting more training in domestic violence so that they are better equipped to manage identified cases. Reducing substance use would help to manage substance-induced domestic violence and so it would be beneficial to have a dual diagnosis model of care, where a client could work on both issues,” a leading Drug ARM clinician said.

She said because domestic violence was very much in the national spotlight, more people were aware of it and reporting it and having the courage to talk about it, creating a higher demand for support, which required an improved response across the sectors.

“Any funding or investment in upskilling support workers and in shared models of treatment which can provide comprehensive support to families would be very welcome,” she said.

One of our Brisbane-based clinical workers said that men who felt shame or guilt around their violent behaviour often turned to substance use to cope, creating a cycle of use and violence.

She said women affected by domestic violence were also using substances to cope, and when affected by alcohol or other drugs, sometimes participated in behaviour that exacerbated the conflict in the home, becoming part of the whole dynamic.

While problematic alcohol and other drug use is seen as one of the highest markers for DFSV, the use of substances itself can be a form of domestic violence.

“We have clients who have been coerced into using substances, creating dependency as a way of controlling their partner. Some clients have been injected with substances without their consent, that is while intoxicated or in their sleep.

The relationship between substance use and DFSV is complex and if harm is to be reduced, a collaborative approach is needed, where domestic violence and alcohol and other drug treatment services work together to determine the most appropriate supports for the client based on their individual circumstance.