Queensland Indigenous leaders and communities hope they will gain more flexibility around Alcohol Managements Plans (AMPs) after the Minister for Local Government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Mark Furner met with Indigenous health and policy expert Professor Alan Clough last week.
Central to the meeting was a discussion around addressing unintended negative impacts of AMPs including the rise of 'sly grog', increasing drug use and discriminatory and arbitrary policing.
In a discussion with the LGAQ, Professor Clough said while he believed AMPs had resulted in improvements in alcohol related problems, there was increasing evidence the 'one size fits all' approach was having many unintended, harmful impacts.
"While generally people recognise there have been some favourable outcomes from AMPs - they did break the cycle of violence that was linked with alcohol - my urging to the Government has been to work with the communities to resolve the issues that are troubling them most, those unintended consequences: criminalisation, discrimination and the sly grog issue," he said.
Professor Clough, an epidemiologist with over two decades of experience in Indigenous issues, added that discrimination was unfairly embedded into AMPs and cited the simple action of buying alcohol at licensed premises where it was clearly evident.
"The licensees are required to ask an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Person where they are going to be taking alcohol they have purchased. From my own direct experience this is discriminating between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and everybody else... it’s a practice of discrimination that has been given effect by the alcohol restrictions," he said.
Professor Clough said these unintended consequences could be mitigated by the Government working collaboratively with communities and councils using a case-by-case approach and relinquishing some authority to communities.
"Councils don’t have the authority as police do to seize illegal alcohol, however the councils and communities could play a role in supporting the police to do their job. Hopefully the Government and the councils can essentially reinforce their own efforts from both directions to address those issues and to take the inequity out of alcohol restrictions so they can be meaningful and fair."
After meeting the new Minister at the first ever Indigenous-focused Cabinet meeting held in Cairns this week, Mayor of Palm Island Alf Lacey said he was feeling optimistic about Mr Furner's enthusiasm to connect to Indigenous issues and Alcohol Management Plans. He added he believed there needed to be a change in how AMPs were applied and that policy needed to be formulated by direct consultation with communities who had on-the-ground knowledge and experience.
"We're not asking for a one-size-fits-all approach, we are advocating for some balance and flexibility in choices," he said.
In 2011 the LGAQ created a forum that comprised Indigenous mayors and council executive staff - the Indigenous Leaders Forum (ILF) - and passed a resolution at the annual conference calling for a review of AMPs in Indigenous communities; a motion that was supported by the vast majority of councils.
Whilst the Minister has given no indication of his timeline or next steps with regards to AMPs it is expected he will be producing a statement of intent in the near future, with a motion passed at the Cabinet meeting that a Technical Working group be established to work closely on the issue of AMPs.
"I think Mr Furner will take the message on board. I think he is likely to have practical ideas," Professor Clough said.
Mr Furner's office was contacted for comment.