9 Conclusions
This chapter presents summary information from each Chapter before an overall conclusion is presented.
Scope of the report
This report has presented some statistics, available up to five years following the law change, relevant to assessing the impact of lowering the purchase age. The statistics presented are mostly limited to those statistics that are routinely collected on a national basis for various purposes. The statistics do not explicitly measure the impact of lowering the minimum legal purchase age. Rather, they are indicators of the possible impact of lowering the purchase age. Changes in indicator levels over time may also be due to other factors, such as changes in Police practices or recording practices. For these reasons these statistics represent only a partial picture of the likely impact of lowering the purchase age.
Alcohol availability
The three indicators - the amount of alcohol available for consumption per person, the volume of alcohol beverage of various types available for consumption, and the number of liquor licences - show a trend of increased amounts of alcohol available and more places to drink and purchase alcohol.
Minors drinking or possessing alcohol in a public place
Police dealt with more minors drinking or possessing alcohol in a public place in each year after the purchase age was lowered than in previous years. Part of the increase may have occurred because of changes in Police practice.
Minors in restricted or supervised areas of licensed premises
The number of minors in restricted or supervised areas of licensed premises who were dealt with by the Police has shown a decreasing trend with the figures between 2001 and 2004 being lower than those in all previous years. The numbers of such offenders who were dealt with by the Police each year between 2001 and 2004 were less than half the numbers each year between 1995 and 1996. The Police indicated that the decrease may be related to changes in Police practice.
Minors purchasing liquor from licensed premises
In each year between 2000 and 2004 Police dealt with fewer minors purchasing liquor from licensed premises than they apprehended in previous years (1995 to 1999). Police identified some difficulties associated with the enforcement of this section of the Act. However, they noted that the difficulties were not new, and had not changed as a result of the 1999 Amendment Act.
Offences related to minors committed by managers, licensees, or employees
The number of managers, licensees or employees convicted for offences related to minors under the Sale of Liquor Act 1989 tended to decrease from 1995 to 2001. In the last three years the numbers have fluctuated at a higher level than previously. However, convictions provide only a partial picture of this type of offending as Police in different districts may use different practices to proceed against licensed premises.
Indicators of alcohol-related offending by minors and all ages – disorderly behaviour
The number of disorderly behaviour offences committed by those under 18 years old, and those between 18 and 19 years old, increased after the changes to the Sale of Liquor Act 1989. However, disorderly behaviour offences also increased for older age groups – possibly due to changes in Police practice. For those under 18 years old, the increase in disorderly behaviour offending was similar to increases in other age groups. For those between 18 and 19 years old, the increase in 2000 was slightly greater than that for older age groups, although in the last four years the rate of increase has declined relative to other age groups.
Indicators of alcohol-related traffic offending by those under 20 years old and all ages
The three traffic indicators – percentage of drivers under 20 exceeding their legal breath alcohol limit, prosecutions for driving with excess alcohol, and numbers of drivers involved in crashes who had alcohol recorded as a factor – show different trends. One of the indicators shows no increase in young drink-drivers after the purchase age was lowered. But the other two indicators show increases in young drink-drivers after the purchase age was lowered.
Health indicators
After the legal minimum purchase age was lowered, publicly funded hospitalisations of young people where the primary diagnosis was alcohol related continued the increasing trend since 1997 until 2002. (The proportion of all alcohol-related hospitalisations for young people also increased in the same period.) In 2003, these trends continued for those between 18 and 19 years old, but for those between 15 and 17 both the number and proportion decreased. (Some of the increase may be due to some hospitals including Emergency Department patients from 2000.)
Educational indicators
Although there was no statistical information available on schools and alcohol before the law change, the available statistics suggest that alcohol does not appear to be a major reason for students being suspended or stood-down from school following the law change.
Age-verification practices
Results from the three Auckland Pseudo Patrons Projects show that in 2004 just over half (56%) of the off-licensed premises surveyed sold alcohol to the pseudo patrons without ID, a significant increase from 2003 where the proportion was just under half (46%). Between the previous surveys (2002 and 2003) there had been a significant decrease from 61% to 46%. In each year staff at grocery shops were the most likely to sell alcohol to 18 year olds without ID, as 80% of the visits in 2002 and 71% of the visits in 2003 and 2004 resulted in sales.
In 2004, the use of signage that alcohol cannot be sold to those under 18 years old, and signage that ID may be requested from those who look under 25 years old, was approximately the same in 2004 and 2003. The proportion of off-licensed premises surveyed in Auckland with signage present and easily visible was 62% in 2004, similar to the 66% in 2003. The proportion in 2003 was a significant increase from the 50% in 2002.
Conclusion
The statistics presented in this report show a mixed picture of the possible impact of lowering the purchase age. Some of the indicators, for example minors drinking or possessing alcohol in public places, prosecutions of young people for driving with excess breath or blood alcohol, and crashes where alcohol was recorded as a factor, indicate that the change in legislation may have had a detrimental effect on young people's drinking behaviour. Other indicators, for example apprehensions and convictions for disorderly behaviour, show an increasing trend after the change in legislation, but the changes are a continuation of trends established before the law changed. Some of the changes in the indicators have been influenced by other factors, e.g. changes in Police practice or traffic enforcement, which are difficult to quantify. Overall, it is not clear to what extent any of these changes can be attributed to the changes in the legislation.
