OF LIQUOR ACT 1989Word文件下载.docx

OF LIQUOR ACT 1989Word文件下载.docx

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AlcoholandPublicResearchUnit

Runanga,Wananga,HauorametePaekaka

UniversityofAuckland

INTRODUCTION

Legislativecontroloverthesaleandsupplyofalcohol,andthewaylegislationisimplemented,hasimportantconsequencesforthehealthofindividualsandforthecommunityasawhole.TheregulatoryframeworkhelpscreatethesocialclimateandphysicalenvironmentsinwhichNewZealandersdrink,andcaninfluencetheextentofalcohol-relatedharm.In1989anewSaleofLiquorActintroducedradicalchangesintheavailabilityofalcohol,inwhatwasrequiredoflicensees,andinthewayliquorlicensingwasadministered.ThatActiscurrentlyunderreviewandislikelytobeamendedin1997.

Regulationofthesaleofalcoholisoneofasetofstrategiesinpublichealthpolicyrelatedtoreducingalcoholharm（Edwardsetal.1994,Holder1994）.InNewZealand,theaimoftheMinistryofHealth'

srecentlyreleasedNationalDrugPolicy,PartI（1996）istoreducealcohol-relatedharm,withitshighsocialandfinancialcosts（PublicHealthCommission1994）.Theassociationbetweenalcoholandroadfatalities,injuries,crimeanddomesticviolencehasledtotheinclusionofafocusonalcoholincrimepreventionandtrafficsafetystrategies（CrimePreventionAct1993,PrimeMinister'

sDept1994）.

TheAlcoholandPublicHealthResearchUnit'

s1995nationalsurveyofalcoholconsumptionshowedthatathirdoftheheaviestdrinkerswereyoungmenaged18to24.Thiswastheagegroupthatreportedmostproblemsfromtheirdrinking,suchasgettingintofightsordrinkdriving.Thelocationoftheirdrinkingwasanimportantpredictorofalcohol-relatedharm,withheavy-drinkingyoungmendoingmostoftheirdrinkinginlicensedenvironmentssuchashotels,tavernsandclubs（Casswelletal.1993,WyllieandCasswell1989）.Theseofferimportantopportunitiesforharmpreventionandenforcementeffortswhichhavebeenshowntobeeffectiveelsewhere（Room1984,McKnightandStreff1994）.Alcoholconsumedinprivatesettingsisboughtalsofromlicensedpremises.Off-license,wineshopsandsupermarketsaresourcesofalcoholfor14to17yearolds,significantnumbersofwhomreporteddrinkingtointoxicationatleastonceaweek（Wyllieetal.1996）.Enforcementandotherinterventionpracticesonthesepremisesarethereforealsoimportantinreducingharm.

FiveyeasaftertheintroductionofthecurrentActregulatingalcoholsalesoutlets,theAlcoholandPublicHealthResearchUnitundertookresearch（HillandStewart1996）（whichissummarisedinthispaper）ontheoperationofthelicensingsystem,withparticularattentiontothewayboththelegislationandlocalpracticesoperationalisedthestatedobject:

"

…toestablishareasonablesystemofcontroloverthesaleandsupplyofliquortothepublicwiththeaimofcontributingtothereductionofliquorabuse,insofarasthatcanbeachievedbylegislativemeans."

RegulatingtheSaleofLiquor

TensionbetweenthesocialpleasuresandthesocialconsequencesofalcoholarepartofNewZealand'

spoliticalhistory.IntroducedbythefirstPākehāvisitors,thepatternofalcoholuseintheearlyyearsofpredominantlymalePākehāsettlementwasoccasionalheavydrinkingbinges,coincidingwiththebreaksmentookfromlongperiodsworkingawayfromsettlements（Phillips1987）.Highlevelsofdrunkennesshelpedproduceastrongtemperancemovementaroundtheturnofthecentury,andliquorlicencesforveryrestrictedhoursoftradingbecamethemainmechanismforstateregulationofthesaleandconsumptionofalcohol.UndertheSaleofLiquorAct1962,ithadtobearguedbeforeaLicensingControlCommissionthatanynewliquoroutletwas"

necessaryordesirable"

tomeettherequirementsofthepublic.

Inthemid-1980samajorreviewwasundertakenoflicensingunderthe1962Act.TheWorkingPartyonLiquor,whoserecommendationsprovidedthebroadfoundationsforthecurrentlegislation,observedthattheActhadfailedtobreakwithhistoricpatterns.Itcontinuedtobe"

largelyavehicleforthereconciliationoftheconflictinginterestsoftheliquorindustryanditsopponents"

through"

adeepeninglegislativequagmire"

ofamendments（WorkingParty1986:

15）.Manycommentatorsnotedthat,whiletheexistenceoflicensinglegislationindicatedrecognitionoftheneedtocontroldistributionofapotentiallyharmfulsubstance,itseffecthadmoreoftenbeentoprovideforeconomicregulationandprotectionoftheliquorindustry（e.g.Makelaetal.1981,Bolinger1967,Nieuwenhuysen1988）.Restrictingthemarketinalcoholhadcreatedlocalmonopolies,andlicencesthemselvesbecamesaleablecommodities,transferablebetweenlocalities.Itwasthismarketinlicences,dominatedbybrewerychains,thatwasdismantledbytheSaleofLiquorAct,1989.Themarketforalcoholasaproducthasexpandedasaconsequencebut,asstatedintheobjectoftheAct,continuestobe"

subjecttoareasonablesystemofcontrol"

.

AyresandBraithwaite（1992）havenotedthatmarketliberalisationandprivatisationisfrequentlyassociatedwithincreasedregulation,ratherthanderegulation.Whilegovernmentsmaynolongerprovideordirectlycontrolservices,therehasbeenagrowthinpoliticalmovementsandcommunitypressurewhichholdgovernmentsaccountabletoensurethat"

marketforces"

meetexpectedstandardsoffairtrading,equitableaccess,andbothpublicandenvironmentalhealthandsafety.Newregulatoryframeworksaredesignedtoprovidegovernmentswithacontinuingoverviewandvaryingdegreesofcontrol.InAyresandBraithwaite'

sview,themosteffectiveregulationprovidesaflexiblerangeofsanctions,usingpersuasionbackedbycoerciontoencourageindustryself-regulation.

InconsideringthecurrentliquorlicensingregimeinNewZealand,the"

aimofareasonablesystemofcontrol"

maybeseenasthelinkinlogicbetweenthemarketliberalisationphilosophyunderlyingtheActandthesocialgoalof"

contributingtothereductionofalcoholabuse"

Inliberalisingthelicensingregime,aspectsofthe1989Acthaveincreasedalcoholavailability.Thenumberofsalesoutletsforliquoralmostdoubled,from6,200licencesin1990toapproximately10,800in1995,includingsupermarketssellingwine.Longerhoursoftradingincludedsomelicencestooperate24hoursaday.Atthesametimetheregulatoryframeworkwasenlarged,throughalocalleveloflicensingadministrationandbyprovisionsintheActdirectedatencouraginghealthierdrinkingenvironments.Adistinctivenewfeaturewasarequirementonlicenseestoprovidefoodandnon-alcoholicbeverages,aswellasalcohol.

AlthoughtheLiquorLicensingAuthorityretainscentraliseddecision-makingpowerovernewlicencescontestedrenewalsorobjectionsfromthepublic,thenewActgivesincreasedstatutoryresponsibilitytothreedifferentagenciesatthelocallevel.Licenceapplicationsareprocessedbyeachof74DistrictLicensingAgenciesonthebasisofinvestigationandreportsfromCouncillicensinginspectors.ThisrepresentsaconsiderableincreaseinresourcesoverthefourDepartmentofJusticeinspectorswhocoveredthecountryunderthe1962Act.Inaddition,licensingsergeantsandMedicalOfficersofHealtharerequiredtoinvestigateandreporttotheDistrictLicensingAgencyonlicenceapplicationsandrenewals.DistrictLicensingAgencieshavediscretionarypowertogrant"

special"

licencesforparticularoccasions,withoutinputfrompublichealthofficersoroverviewfromtheAuthority.Applicationsorrenewalsthatarecontestedbystatutoryofficers,orbythepublic,gotoLiquorLicensingAuthorityhearings,withtheAuthoritytravellingaroundthedistricts.

However,effectiveregulationdependsnotonlyonthewaypolicyiswrittenintothelegislation,butthewaythatlegislationisapplied.Forexample,researchinBritainandtheUnitedStateshasshownsignificantgainsincrimereductionwhenpolicefullyenforceexistinglaws（JessandSaunders1983,PreventionFile1995）,andthatimprovedservertrainingandpracticescouldsignificantlyreducealcohol-relatedharmsuchasdrinkdrivecrashes（HolderandWagnenaar1994,Saltz1987）.Theobjectoftheresearchreportherewastoinvestigatehowthenewregulatorysystemforthesaleofalcoholwasworkingatthelocallevel.

Fiveyearson,itwasexpectedthatofficerswithstatutoryresponsibilitieswouldhavesettledintoasetoffairlyroutineproceduresforprocessingandenforcingliquorlicencesintheirarea.Afocusoftheresearchwastheextenttowhichcurrentlocalpracticesoflicensingadministrationandenforcementwerebeingdirectedtowardsthetwinobjectsofreasonablecontrolandthereductionofalcohol-relatedharm.Ofparticularresearchinterest,inviewofexperienceselsewhere（Room1984,HolderandGiebrecht1990）,weretheorganisationalresponsestolicensingissuesandtheextentofinter-agencycooperationonproblempreventioninitiatives.

METHODOLOGY

Despitetheimportanceoflegislationasavehicleforpolicy,littleresearchiscarriedoutontheimplementationoflegislationandassociatedregulatoryregimes.TheobjectiveofthisresearchwastocontributeinsightsandanalysistoareviewoftheSaleofLiquorAct,1989byinvestigatingtheoperationofthecurrentlicensingsystem,asexperiencedbythelocalstatutoryofficerschargedwithitsadministrationandenforcement.

Theresearchaimedtodocumentandanalysetheactivitiesandimpressionsofkeyparticipantsintheliquorlicensingprocessin15NorthandSouthIslandcommunities.Selectedbypopulationsize,thelocationsrangedinsizefrom1000ormoreinhabitan