Premium
The impact of Queensland's Tackling Alcohol‐Fuelled Violence Policy on nightlife and business trade
Author(s) -
Ferris Jason,
PuljeviĆ Cheneal,
Taylor Nicholas,
de Andrade Dominique,
Carah Nicholas,
Coomber Kerri,
Mayshak Richelle,
Grant Kristy,
Miller Peter G.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
drug and alcohol review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.018
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1465-3362
pISSN - 0959-5236
DOI - 10.1111/dar.13271
Subject(s) - nightlife , business , government (linguistics) , advertising , paradise , marketing , geography , history , archaeology , philosophy , linguistics , art history
Key elements of the Queensland Government's Tackling Alcohol Fuelled Violence (TAFV) policy included the introduction of mandatory identification (ID) scanners and reduced trading hours for licensed venues located within Safe Night Precincts (SNP). These measures raised concerns among licensed venue owners and other key stakeholders regarding the potential negative impact of the policy on business trade and nightlife. Using multiple data sources, this paper examines the impact of the TAFV policy on nightlife and trade in three Queensland SNPs: Fortitude Valley, Surfers Paradise and Cairns. Methods Data from ID scanners (2017–2019), foot traffic counters (2017–2019) and counts of liquor licences issued (2015–2019) were used to measure the policy's impact on the number of patrons and licensed venues within SNPs. Joinpoint regression and auto‐regressive integrated moving average models were developed to examine changes in these measures over time. Results No significant changes were observed in the number of ID scans over time, although Surfers Paradise showed a 0.13% reduction during high alcohol hours. Foot traffic counts from Fortitude Valley showed no significant impact of the policy on the number of patrons in the area during high‐alcohol hours. The number of commercial hotel licenses increased in all three regions, and commercial other‐bar licenses increased in all regions except Surfers Paradise SNP where numbers remained stable. Discussion and Conclusions Patterns in trading and the number of patrons within SNPs were mostly stable or increasing following the implementation of the TAFV policy beyond normal fluctuations.