Western Australian Government Should Focus on Alcohol Rehab, Not Bans

As the alcohol abuse problem in Australia worsens, there are growing demands for the Western Australian government to invest more in alcohol rehabilitation services instead of focusing on liquor bans.

Since the bans were introduced last month in Halls Creek, part of the Kimberly region of Western Australia, alcoholics have simply been drifting into other areas, and community leaders and charity workers are concerned that nothing is being done to help treat people with addiction.

Peter McCumstie, chairman of the Pandanus Park Aboriginal Community, says there is a desperate need for treatment facilities. “We’re in a situation here where we have one place in the Kimberly that alcoholics can go to,” he said. “The fact is that the government is ignoring their responsibilities.”

However, the Department of Health says it has not experiences an increase in demand for rehabilitation services since the bans were introduced in Halls Creek. Eric Dylan of the Drug and Alcohol Office says he is confident that the available services are adequate.
"There are a good range of drug services available in Halls Creek and the East Kimberley," he said.

"There can be waiting lists at times for residential services and that can be cyclical, but the facility at Wyndham has increased its bed capacity, so they are very well placed to meet any of the needs in Halls Creek in the future."
But alcoholics are likely just not speaking up about their need for help and instead looking to other areas to buy liquor.
 

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