With alcohol bans being reinstated in the Northern Territory, we can expect more discussion about whether they are effective or not.
Former West Australian of the Year and Nyamal woman Tracy Westerman has previously stated that authorities are not addressing the root cause of alcohol abuse when speaking of her home state.
I agree with her and believe this is true for many other parts of Australia, for both non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal populations. The root causes are complex, but they must be dealt with.
To effectively help those impacted by alcohol abuse, we should adopt the sage advice of Thoreau: “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”
We need to continue hacking at the branches, but we also need to identify the roots and start hacking at them.
Alcohol bans typically only cut off access to alcohol but do little to prevent the desire amongst an affected population to want to drink excessively. Understanding why people drink excessively is “striking at the root” and fundamental to an effective solution.
When people are bored, lack a sense of self-worth, endure generational disadvantage, struggle to find meaning in their lives, fear for their safety, see family die too early, are not equipped to deal with the dominant culture in which they live, and lack hope for a better future, this culminates in emotional pain.
One immediate way of dealing with this pain is through alcohol abuse, which of course, while providing short-term relief, has tragic consequences.
Patching Up the Holes
Employment is one solution that plays an important part in addressing emotional pain but is one for which we have seen little progress in areas with a high proportion of Aboriginal people.Australian social researcher, Hugh Mackay, has suggested that: “Work gives us something to do, something that proves we are useful.”
When people feel useful, they typically want to look after themselves and those around them.
Of course, just putting people into jobs who have been unemployed and alcohol-dependent for a significant period of time can be challenging. People need to be trained, job opportunities need to be available, and social and cultural barriers must be addressed.
It is, therefore, encouraging that the Albanese government will provide $250 million (US$173 million) in extra funding for a range of initiatives in Alice Springs that includes employment. I am hopeful that similar investments will be replicated around the country where the same needs exist.
With the importance of employment for dealing with alcohol abuse identified, alcohol bans should not be hastily criticised and dismissed, as many currently do. Employment as a solution will take time, and so for now, there is a place for alcohol bans and restrictions.
To explain why alcohol bans must be used in conjunction with other strategies, such as employment, consider the following metaphor.
Imagine being in a boat that has several holes in it. While frantically bailing out the water, your friend is patching up the holes. He does a fine job, but the water continues to enter through the unpatched holes at a rate faster than you can bail it out. In effect, despite your combined efforts to save the boat (and the lives of those on board), it sinks.
It’s easy for critics to say: “bailing out the water and patching up holes doesn’t work.” When social problems continue, despite alcohol bans, critics are quick to shout that the bans have failed and often brand this intervention as racist.
Continuing with the metaphor, while alcohol misuse represents one hole in the boat, there are other much larger holes. High Aboriginal unemployment is a large metaphorical hole that must be dealt with. Unless all the holes are patched, the boat sinks.
Like all metaphors, this one is limited, but I’m sure you get the picture.
Alcohol bans must be used in conjunction with other strategies. If governments have failed to make Aboriginal communities peaceful and functional, it’s not because they don’t care. It is because they have failed to provide a multipronged solution that addresses both symptoms and underlying causes.
