Regional variation in alcohol consumption in the Northern Territory.

OBJECTIVE

To identify any regional variation in per capita consumption of alcohol and the types of beverages consumed in the NT; and to estimate the relative contributions to consumption by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.

METHOD

Per capita consumption estimates were based on wholesale purchases of alcohol by license and Census population data. Mean levels and the percentages of each beverage type consumed were compared between regions and through time. Estimates of per capita levels of consumption between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal segments of the population were based on reports of the proportion of frequent and occasional drinkers in each group and the ratio of consumption among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal drinkers.

RESULTS

Mean quarterly per capita consumption was higher in both the Lower Top End (4.22 litres) and the Central NT (4.04 litres), and less in the Barkly (3.44 litres) than in the Top End (3.55 litres). Over the four-year period, consumption in the Top End rose 6.4%, but dropped 22.5% in the Barkly. In the Lower Top End and the Central NT a larger percentage of alcohol was consumed as cask wine than in the Top End. Before licensing restrictions were introduced, this was also the case in the Barkly. In the NT, per capita consumption among Aboriginal people is approximately 1.97 times, and among non-Aboriginal people about 1.43 times, the national average.

CONCLUSIONS

Alcohol consumption in the NT is greater than in Australia as a whole and there is significant regional variation. The problem is not simply an Aboriginal problem, and a broad range of strategies--including a component to address regional variation--is required to reduce it.