• Jason Payne, Josh Sweeney
• Australian Institute of Criminology

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Image: Danny Guy / flickr

06 May 2011This report provides information to address alcohol-related disorderly conduct offences which may not necessarily be violent.

A group that is largely overlooked by both the media and in research is alcohol-related disorderly conduct offenders whose behaviour is not necessarily physically violent, but is likely to contribute significantly to the alcohol-related workload of operational police, as well as to the community costs associated with alcohol misuse.

The data from this report provide important information supporting a range of complementary strategies such as regulatory controls and their enforcement (eg licensing restrictions and mandatory responsible service of alcohol provisions), social marketing campaigns targeting young people and building community awareness of the dangers associated with alcohol misuse.

Key findings:

• The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) interviewed 161 offenders detained for disorderly conduct offences on Friday and Saturday nights as part of the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program. Analysis of new questions about alcohol use provides valuable information to support a range of alcohol harm reduction strategies, including Operation Unite.

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

• Detainees who had consumed alcohol in the past 48 hours and were charged with disorder on a Friday and Saturday evening were nearly twice as likely as those charged at other times to have been mixing drinks on the last occasion they drank (37% versus 27%). This was particularly the case for young males aged 26 to 35 years (44%).

• Disorder offenders consumed substantial amounts of alcohol in the lead up to their arrest. The median number of standard drinks consumed was 15, although this was higher for males aged 26 to 35 years who had been mixing drinks on the last occasion they drank (29 standard drinks).

• Of those who had been drinking alcohol, 40 percent of all disorder offenders consumed their last drink at a licensed premise. Thirty-nine percent had been drinking at a private residential location. Younger males aged 18–25 years were more likely to have been drinking at a licensed premise.

• Disorder offenders charged on a Friday and Saturday night were more likely than those assault offenders charged in the same time period to have consumed their last alcoholic drink at a licensed premise.

Image: Danny Guy / flickr