• Josh Sweeney, Jason Payne
• Australian Institute of Criminology

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06 May 2011This report examines the prevalence and nature of alcohol consumption by a sample of violent offenders detained by the police during times consistent with those targeted through Operation Unite.

The findings provide valuable insight into the alcohol consumption patterns of assault offenders, illustrating not only that the majority of assault offenders had been drinking prior to their arrest, but that the quantities of alcohol they had consumed were likely to result in high levels of intoxication.

• The AIC interviewed 170 assault offenders detained on Friday and Saturday nights as part of the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program. Analysis of questions about alcohol use provides valuable information to support a range of alcohol harm reduction strategies, including Operation Unite.

• Those charged with assault on Friday and Saturday nights were more likely than those charged at other times to have consumed alcohol in the past 48 hours and attribute alcohol as a factor in their offending.

• Detainees who had consumed alcohol in the past 48 hours and been charged with assault on a Friday and Saturday night were nearly twice as likely as those charged at other times to have been mixing drinks on the last occasion they drank. This was particularly the case for young males aged 18 to 25 years (48%).

• Assault offenders consumed substantial amounts of alcohol in the lead up to their arrest. The median number of standard drinks consumed by assault offenders was 14, although this was higher for young males who had been mixing drinks on the last occasion they drank (22 standard drinks).

• Of those who had been drinking, half of all assault offenders consumed their last drink at a residential location. Thirty percent had been drinking at licensed premises. Younger males aged 18–25 years were more likely to have been drinking at a licensed premise.