Since 1989, local governments in New Zealand have been responsible for administering and enforcing aspects of legislation concerning the sale of alcohol. The rationale behind this devolution of responsibility from central government was that it would facilitate greater community control over the sale of alcohol. More recently, local governments were given the power to adopt bylaws to control alcohol in public places, protect the public from nuisance, and protect and promote public health. These statutory responsibilities and legislative powers provide local governments with the opportunity to adopt policies to restrict the availability of alcohol in their communities. These can complement other local strategies aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm.

Aims:

• To measure public sentiment on alcohol issues in a diverse set of New Zealand communities;
• To identify factors underlying public sentiment toward local government alcohol policies;
• To examine the association between public sentiment and local government policies; and
• To investigate local authority responses to alcohol issues in selected communities, and the process by which alcohol policies and strategies are developed and adopted.

Project Team: Brett MacLennan, Kypros Kypri, John Langley, Robin Room

Funding: Accident Compensation Corporation PhD scholarship (Brett MacLennan)