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1.1 Purpose
The Dunedin Local Alcohol Policy (LAP) seeks to balance the statutory requirements and object of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act (the Act), with meeting the reasonable needs of residents and businesses, and the city’s desire to support vibrant, sustainable and resilient communities. The LAP emphasises the role of safe and responsibly-managed drinking environments in achieving this outcome.
This LAP will provide guidance to the District Licensing Committee (DLC) and to the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority (ARLA), setting expectations about aspects of the sale and supply of alcohol in Dunedin. Both entities must have regard to the content of any relevant LAP when making decisions under the Act.
1.2 The National Context
In New Zealand, alcohol is a legal drug and its production, consumption and availability is widespread. Alcohol is not, however, an ordinary consumer product – it is an addictive psychoactive substance – and excessive or inappropriate consumption results in considerable harm both to individuals and to the wider community.
In 2012, the Government passed the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act, thereby establishing a new national framework regulating the sale and supply of alcohol. The object of this legislation is twofold:
- 1 – the sale, supply, and consumption of alcohol should be undertaken safely and responsibly; and,
- 2 – the harm caused by the excessive or inappropriate consumption of alcohol should be minimised.
Harm is defined broadly by the Act, and includes –
- (a) any crime, damage, death, disease, disorderly behaviour, illness, or injury, directly or indirectly caused, or directly or indirectly contributed to, by the excessive or inappropriate consumption of alcohol; and
- (b)any harm to society generally or the community, directly or indirectly caused, or directly or indirectly contributed to, by any crime, damage, death, disease, disorderly behaviour, illness, or injury of a kind described in paragraph (a).
Establishment of the new framework has empowered the Dunedin City Council, in consultation with the community, to develop a LAP that is responsive to local alcohol-related challenges.
The Act is prescriptive about the aspects of sale and supply of alcohol that a Local Alcohol Policy can influence:
- further restrictions on the default maximum trading hours set by the Act
- limits on the location of licensed premises in particular areas or near certain types of facilities
- limits on the density of licensed premises in particular areas
- imposition of conditions on types of licences
- recommendations on discretionary conditions for licences.
1.3 The Local Context
Dunedin’s alcohol-related challenges result largely from the city’s unique geography and its demographics.
Dunedin has a compact urban core with the location of a high proportion of the city’s licensed premises clustered around the Octagon in the Central Business District (CBD). The Octagon operates as the main hospitality hub for the late night economy – concentrating both vibrancy and the problems associated with evening drinking. As the country’s second largest city by land area, Dunedin also has smaller suburban and rural centres serving more isolated communities, where licensed premises serve an important social function.
Dunedin Police have stated that the CBD is the primary area for alcohol-related calls for service. Calls to fights, disorder, assaults and breaches of the peace are the most common.
As a tertiary education hub, the city is home to proportionately more 15 – 24 year olds than other New Zealand centres. These young people arrive in Dunedin just as they reach the age that they are legally able to purchase alcohol (18 years), and at a time when they are seeking opportunities to meet and socialise with other young people. Student accommodation is clustered in the North Dunedin area which immediately surrounds the tertiary institutions, with student parties in the area acting as a magnet for non-students. This combination makes the city’s young people particularly vulnerable to hazardous drinking and alcohol-related harm.
- Dunedin Hospital reports that the highest numbers of alcohol-related presentations occur between 12 midnight and 4am with the 18 – 24 year age group the most commonly represented[1].
- The Otago region has a higher rate of alcohol-related hospital admissions for young people (15-24 year old age group) than other Southern District Health Board regions.
The city also faces challenges that are a function of nation-wide issues – New Zealand’s drinking culture, and a historically loose regulatory regime.
Analysis of police data indicates that:
- as the night becomes later, offences become more serious and the age of offenders increases
- 73% of those arrested for violence offences and 93% arrested for disorderly offences were affected by alcohol
- about 76% of alcohol purchased is consumed in off-licence settings for drinking in situations where there is little or no control.
Footnote
The references cited in the Local Alcohol Policy do not form part of the policy. They contain information to help users understand the rationale for the policy. The references may be updates at any time.
- “The Impact of Alcohol on the Health of Southern Communities”, Public Health South, July 2013
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