Page 4284 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 29 November 1994
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MRS CARNELL (Leader of the Opposition) (11.02): Madam Speaker, the Opposition, with pleasure, will support the Intoxicated Persons (Care and Protection) Bill 1994, which will provide for the care and protection of intoxicated persons, the licensing of carers, and the regulation of licensed places where intoxicated persons can be taken. The importance of this Bill is that it recognises that alcoholism in Australia is a problem and one that must be addressed. It also recognises that those people who consume alcohol beyond their capacity to do so safely should not be treated like criminals, but, indeed, need our help. The Bill will allow intoxicated people to be given into the care of a licensed carer - not taken into police custody, which was previously the case.
Unfortunately, Madam Speaker, excessive drinking continues to be a problem. In fact, in 1977 alcohol related problems were considered even then to have reached epidemic proportions. What is even more frightening, Madam Speaker, is that consumption, particularly amongst women, has continued to increase. In 1992 Australians were the highest consumers of alcohol per person of any English-speaking population in the world, ranking us fifteenth in the world in terms of per capita consumption. Excessive alcohol consumption can be blamed for many of the deaths of our young people on the roads today. Unfortunately, the statistics are true. Approximately 37 per cent of male and 16 per cent of female road traffic accidents are alcohol related. Given the level of the problem, we must remember that the emphasis must be on rectifying the cause of excessive alcohol consumption rather than trying to solve it once the problem has begun.
While this Bill does not seek to get to the root cause of drinking, it recognises that proper care must be given to those who drink to excess despite, as the Minister said, our best efforts to discourage them from doing so. It means that police will now have the power to take into custody those people who, because of drink, are behaving in a disorderly fashion, could cause injury to themselves or to another person, or are incapable of protecting themselves from someone else. The police will be able to detain the person for not more than 12 hours, or they may give the person into the care of a licensed carer, from where the person may leave at their own will. While the police have the power to search a person who is taken into custody and may take possession of any personal belongings, the person is entitled to the return of his or her possessions once he or she ceases to be detained.
While in the care of the carer, the person will have access to facilities and adequate opportunity to contact a responsible person, and may be transferred to the emergency department of a hospital if the carer is of the belief that the person is in need of medical treatment. The Bill provides for a carer to perform such caring duties if they have a licence to do so. The licence will be subject to conditions and the Minister will be able to amend, cancel or suspend the licence on certain grounds. The Minister will also be able to have licensed premises of carers inspected, as the Bill provides for inspectors. The inspectors will be from within the Government Service and will be permitted to inspect the licensed place and equipment used in connection with the care of intoxicated persons, inspect documents and records in the possession of the licensee relating to the conduct of the licensed place, and require the licensee to furnish information, books, documents and other records that are in their possession.
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