31 July 2010

Menzies School of Health Research today released a report that shows the cost per person of alcohol-related harms in the Northern Territory is more than four times the national level.

The high costs of alcohol related harms to the NT are generated by consumption levels that remain substantially above those experienced elsewhere in the country.

The Harms from and Costs of Alcohol Consumption in the Northern Territory study was conducted for Menzies by the South Australian Centre for Economic Studies.

Using data from the 2004-05 year, the report analyses the total social cost of alcohol consumption, including costs relating to healthcare, road accidents, crime and premature loss of life.

The total social costs of alcohol consumption in the Northern Territory in 2004-05 were estimated at $641.8 million, including healthcare costs of $39.7 million, costs from road accidents of $36.6 million.

According to this report, the total social cost of alcohol-related harm in the NT in 2004-05 was the equivalent to $4197 per adult, compared a national cost of $943 per adult.

This study is based on a methodology developed by Associate Professors David Collins and Helen Lapsley to measure the national costs of alcohol-related harm.

While alcohol consumption in the Northern Territory generated $70.9 million in additional revenue during 2004-05, the report found that only $0.14 million of that money was received by the Northern Territory Government.

The study also examined the extent to which policy can influence the costs of alcohol-related harm by examining the NT Living with Alcohol Policy which was in place between 1992 and 2001. The study concluded that such a policy could achieve a total net savings of $92 million based on the 2004-05 figures. This figure also takes into account reduced taxation revenue from lower alcohol consumption levels.
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Prof Peter d’Abbs, Menzies School of Health Research, 0407 720 510
The report is available from the Menzies School of Health Research website
http://menzies.edu.au/publications/other-publications-and-resources
Reference
South Australian Centre for Economic Studies. (2009). Harms From and Costs of Alcohol Consumption in the Northern Territory: Final Report. Adelaide: South Australian Centre for Economic Studies.