The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education has been in the media a lot lately relating to its ten point plan to reduce the harm alcohol is doing in society. The plan is meant to provide government with an overall solution to the alcohol problem.
 

Given the effect on society and devastating recent alcohol related events, the organisation believes that new legislature is needed and new restrictions on licencing and alcohol service as proposed by authorities will not be sufficient to solve the problem.
 

Some of the proposals put forward by FARE include:

• FARE is calling for government to introduce more public consultation and control on new liquor applications which would not make it so easy for licensees to gain liquor licences.  New licences would also be reviewed in light of public transportation times, which FARE wants to be introduced at night.
• Better crowd management especially in high density areas is also called for.
• Another part of the plan by FARE includes a call to ban shots and other drinks with more than 5% alcohol after 10pm as well as limiting the number of drinks to 4 at a time per patron.
• FARE is also advocating a 1am lockout for all venues with trading hours ending at 3am.Venue that choose to trade past midnight should pay a risk-based licencing fee according to FARE’s plans which would be used towards alcohol related harms.

This post on TheSHout.com.au has more about the proposal:
 

The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) has released its ten-point plan to ‘Reduce Alcohol Harm’ in NSW, which it claims offers the NSW Government a “complete solution” to reducing alcohol-related harm.
 

 FARE’s chief executive, Michael Thorn, believes the NSW Government is “at the crossroads” and new licensing and alcohol- serving restrictions for Kings Cross proposed by NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell do not go far enough.
 

 According to FARE, alcohol-related violence affects 34 per cent of people in NSW, and Thorn wants the government to implement its ten-point plan across the state.
 

“The people of NSW know only too well the devastating effects of alcohol use and misuse and they also understand that those harms extend beyond the drinker and impact people in the broader community.
 

“Now is the time for the Premier to implement positive alcohol policy reforms that would address the concerns of the wider community and result in a safer and healthier NSW,” Thorn said.
 

FARE wants more public consultation and control on new liquor applications, as well as the introduction of late night transport and crowd management plans in high density areas, and for public transport operating times to be factored in when new licences are issued.
 

 One of the more contentious proposals of the plan is the call to ban the sale of shots, RTDs with more than 5 per cent ABV, and any mixed drinks with more than 30ml of alcohol after 10pm. The plan also wants to limit the number of drinks a patron can purchase to four at a time.
 

 FARE is also calling on the NSW government to restrict late night trading hours to 3am, with a 1am lockout, for pubs and clubs across the state during a 12-month trial period that it wants “independently evaluated to ascertain the social, health, crime and economic effects of these trading controls”.
 

It also wants the government to impose a moratorium on new liquor licences that would allow venues to trade past midnight and to introduce a “risk-based licensing fee” to contribute to the costs of alcohol-related harms.
 

 The plan also urges the government to introduce a “cluster controls” policy, claiming that there are “too many licensed venues in NSW” and new licences should not be issued in areas perceived to already have a high density of venues.
 

Source: http://www.theshout.com.au/2012/08/27/article/A-plan-to-restrict-liquor-licences-across-NSW/LUDIYDQOBV.html