Curfews, time delays on alcohol delivery urged after woman drank herself to death
Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association chief executive officer, Chris Christoforou said almost 1-in-3 presentations they see for drug and alcohol treatment are alcohol related.
Of those treatment requests, requests for alcohol support has risen 50 per cent since the pandemic.
Christoforou said part of the problem with delivery services were they are transactional with no opportunities to assess a person’s wellbeing, which could be done at physical bottle stops.
”This poor person had chronic alcohol usage issues and was able to feed that through a lack of regulation,” Christoforou said.
“As the coroner pointed out, there’s been no plan for more than a decade in Victoria to tackle alcohol usage issues. We need the creation of an alcohol taskforce to help access concerning patters of behaviour to themselves and others.
“About 60 per cent of family violence cases involve alcohol. It’s a problem that needs action.”
Arnold’s mother told coronial investigators easy access to alcohol through food and alcohol delivery platforms had impacted her daughter’s efforts to maintain sobriety.
This issue, the coroner said, was first raised in mid-2022, when the 30-year-old’s mother contacted her local MP with concerns about how food delivery services provided alcohol to her daughter.
This, the mother believed was often outside legislated alcohol delivery limitations and hours, including as late as 4am, without proper ID checks and at times while Arnold was connected to medical equipment.
In late 2023, a Liquor Control Victoria inspector conducted investigations into Arnold’s access to alcohol using delivery services. Two restaurants were found to have supplied Arnold with alcohol in volumes exceeding delivery restrictions, and one supplied alcohol to her outside its licensed hours.
In the six months before her death, Arnold made 213 food delivery orders over 182 days. Of these, 98 orders contained alcohol, for a total of 319 alcohol-based products including wine, vodka and cider.
The coroner noted the 30-year-old had a complex history of mental health issues and substance misuse since she was as teenager, and, as an adult, presented to hospitals about 50 times for treatment of conditions including alcohol and drug use, an eating disorder, depression and liver cirrhosis.
She was also engaged with alcohol and drug services, and reduced drinking at times, but was unable to stay sober.
Each year about 150 deaths involving the acute toxic effects of alcohol are reported to the coroner’s office.
However, Giles found these deaths represent only a proportion of all alcohol-related deaths, as most deaths resulting from chronic alcohol use are not reportable to the coroner as they are considered to be due to natural causes.
To identify further potential harm reduction opportunities, Giles reviewed various state and
federal policies and inquiries addressing alcohol-related harms – including submissions to the current Australian Parliament Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport Inquiry into the Health Impacts of Alcohol and Other Drugs in Australia.
She said consistent themes across the submissions suggested a range of areas must be targeted to reduce
alcohol-related harms. These include pricing, regulation, advertising, healthcare, education and
social attitudes towards alcohol.
Giles said Victoria’s alcohol action plan expired 12 years ago with no follow-up plan to build on what was trialled, implemented and achieved.
While the state announced plans to develop a new 10-year strategy to address alcohol and other drug harms, in April 2024, Giles noted this work was still in the early stages.
Her recommendations include prohibiting the home delivery of alcohol between 10pm and 10am, and require a minimum two-hour delay between order and dispatch of alcohol for home delivery in the state.
She’s also called on the state government to develop a new alcohol action plan.
