Violence

The Australian alcohol beverages industry has zero tolerance for violence and is committed to helping tackle this social problem.

Violence has no place in Australian society and we support governments cracking down on violent offenders.

Intoxication is never an excuse for violent behaviour and should not be accepted as a justification.

There is no simple causal relationship between alcohol and violent behaviour.  There is no evidence that, for most normal healthy individuals, the presence of alcohol in the brain results in, encourages or unleashes violence.

The vast majority of Australians enjoy alcohol without becoming violent.

The industry rejects the simplistic and inaccurate term of alcohol-fuelled violence because it lays the blame entirely on alcohol.

It’s simply violence, and until we stop trying to blame it all on alcohol we won’t even begin to get rid of it.

There are many contributing factors to violent behaviour, including the individual, the social environment, attitudes and values.

In order to stop violence, we need to understand why it’s occurring, who is committing it and then change the culture that generates and endorses it, not look to simplistically restricting the availability of alcohol.

For industry media comment regarding this issue please contact Alcohol Beverages Australia