NATIONAL
LIQUOR NEWS – June 2006
DSICA’s Submission to Government by Gordon Broderick
Each year in the lead up to the Commonwealth Budget DSICA provides a submission to the Government calling for reforms in areas that affect our members’ business. Areas DSICA usually highlights includes the taxation treatment of spirits and RTDs, taxation revenue, alcohol consumption patterns and trends, and rebutting myths surrounding spirits and RTDs.
DSICA’s Pre-Budget submission also contains some of the most reliable and comprehensive liquor industry statistics in Australia. Finally, DSICA’s submission is not just about taxation and red tape; it contains a strong social aspects focus and includes what we believe to be a first in Australia – a comprehensive matrix of alcohol indicators to measure the levels of drinking by young Australians.
In DSICA’s 2006/07 Pre-Budget submission we flag our strong support for the principles of evidence-based policy making as set out in the National Alcohol Strategy. It has been a constant theme of DSICA’s that effective alcohol policy can only be built upon the foundations of the best available evidence. Related to this, DSICA also believes that the advocates of change bear the burden of proof in demonstrating the need for that change. Too often our industry faces calls for change based on the flimsiest of evidence.
DSICA argued that the 2006-07 Budget should not make any taxation changes on alcohol products unless:
- those changes are based on the best available evidence; and
- there is reliable evidence that the changes will achieve the Government’s objectives.
DSICA submitted there is no reliable evidence that justifies any increase in the tax on RTDs. In fact, there is now a wide range of reliable evidence that refutes any link between the increased popularity of RTDs and levels of harmful alcohol consumption by young drinkers.
On the social aspect front, DSICA believes that the highest priority should be given to reducing the levels of high risk drinking amongst vulnerable groups in our community, including amongst underage (12-17 year olds) and young adult (18-24 year olds) drinkers, older Australians and indigenous groups. We collectively need to develop a comprehensive range of harm-reduction strategies to achieve the National Alcohol Strategy’s goal of reduced levels of high risk drinking amongst vulnerable groups in our community.
We argued that priority should be given to ensuring taxation equivalence for packaged RTDs and packaged beer at the low-alcohol and mid-strength levels. This is an important incremental change which could be made with minimal cost to government revenue. Such a change is strongly supported in the National Alcohol Strategy and by health advocacy groups such as the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA).
It continues to be a major flaw in the current taxation structure that there is no similar incentive to produce low-alcohol and mid-strength RTDs as applies in the case of packaged beer. A change along these lines would be a significant contribution to the National Alcohol Strategy initiatives to reduce the levels of harmful alcohol consumption amongst young people.
DSICA encourages readers to view our 2006/07 Pre-Budget Submission, which can be found at: www.dsica.com.au
