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Family and domestic violence (FDV) is a significant social issue that causes major harm across Australia. Alcohol has been identified as a contributing factor to FDV, and as such increased understanding of the role of alcohol in police-reported FDV incidents may provide the basis for developing specific clinical and forensic approaches. This study aims to identify the key correlates of alcohol-related FDV within police-reported FDV incidence. Data sourced from several states and territories across Australia were used to profile demographic and personal factors involved in police-reported FDV incidents, and to identify the types of incidents involving alcohol. For each state, three separate binary regressions were conducted for family violence, intimate partner violence, and FDV incidents in which alcohol was involved. Between 24% and 54% of FDV incidents reported to police were classified as alcohol-related. Although there appeared to be an association between relative socioeconomic disadvantage and an incident being alcohol-related, this association varied across states. Where victim and offender data were available, offenders were significantly more likely to be alcohol-affected than victims. Alcohol-related FDV incidents were also twice as likely to involve severe physical violence including injuries that were life threatening, as well as an increased likelihood of recidivism. This study demonstrates that alcohol plays a substantial role in police-reported FDV across Australia. It also demonstrates that other factors such as drug use, breach of orders, and repeat offending are associated with alcohol involvement across family violence and intimate partner violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Police-imposed patron bans seek to reduce alcohol-related harm in and around licensed premises. This study examined the offending records of people who received bans and explored whether anti-social offences reduced after the imposition of a police-imposed ban. A de-identified dataset was obtained from Victoria Police, comprising persons who received police-imposed bans in one Australian city between 2010 and 2017. Analyses were conducted to examine charging histories and offence types before and after receipt of the ban. Of those who received bans, 70.7% had recorded offences before the ban. The median number of charges before and after receiving a ban were not significantly different with respect to both anti-social behaviours and other behaviours. However, when examining short term effects (two years prior and post receiving a ban), there was a significant increase in anti-social offending, specifically public order offences (d = 0.67), after receiving a ban compared to before. Most of the ban recipients had an established record of anti-social behaviours. As a short-term sanction which limits access to specific locations, Victoria's police-imposed bans do not appear to deter recipients from repeat offending or change already established patterns of anti-social behaviours. Consideration should be given to extending the permissible length of bans and to ensuring more effective enforcement. In addition, alternative interventions or diversions for those with a record of anti-social offending, which could be initiated on-the-spot, may be more effective in reducing undesirable behaviours in and around licensed premises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to parental violence can have devastating consequences for children, including significant personal, social, and academic problems. The present study determined the situational factors that are associated with children's exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) incidents. To examine whether these factors were unique to child witnesses' presence at IPV incidents, we also determined the factors that are associated with children's exposure to family violence (FV) and other family member witnesses' exposure to IPV incidents. Participants responded to an online panel survey investigating the role of alcohol and other drugs in family and domestic violence incidents in Australia. Nine hundred fifty-two respondents reported an IPV incident and 299 reported an FV incident; they provided details about their most recent incident. Results showed that child witnesses were more likely to be present during IPV incidents if the incident took place at home (odds ratio [OR] = 3.10), if a similar incident had occurred previously (OR = 1.66), if drugs were involved (OR = 1.60), and if a police report was made (OR = 2.61). There was some overlap with the other witness and violence combinations: The presence of a police report also predicted child witnesses' presence at FV incidents, and a home location also predicted other family member witnesses' presence at IPV incidents. These results enhance our understanding of the situations in which children might witness IPV incidents; future research is needed to determine whether these situational factors can be used to judge risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug use has been shown to interact in complex ways with the occurrence and prevalence of family and domestic violence (FDV), with illicit drug use being associated with an increased risk for FDV. The current study aims to extend upon the literature by investigating the role of illicit drugs in intimate partner violence (IPV), family violence (FV), and other violence (violence between people other than partners or family) within a representative Australian sample (n = 5,118). Participants were recruited through an online survey panel and completed an online self-report survey assessing the role of alcohol and other drugs on violence, with a specific focus on FDV. Binary logistic regression showed that respondents who reported having used any illicit drug in the past 12 months (with or without alcohol use) had over three times the odds of experiencing any violence in the past 12 months (OR = 3.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [2.25, 4.48]) compared with those not using illicit drugs. Furthermore, drug involvement in FDV (IPV or FV) was significantly more likely than other violent incident types (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = [1.25, 2.19]). For the most recent FDV incident, age group was the only significant demographic predictor of drug involvement at this incident; younger age groups were over twice as likely to report drug involvement than those over 65 years of age. Drug involvement at the most recent FDV incident was also associated with over twice the odds of injury (OR = 2.38, 95% CI = [1.67, 3.38]) and significantly greater negative life impact. The findings that drug use increases both the risk for and impact of FDV indicate the need for policy that advocates for interventions addressing both drug use and violence in combination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Night‐time entertainment precincts (NEP) are the site of a disproportionate amount of alcohol‐related violence, injuries and anti‐social behaviour. To combat this the Queensland government introduced patron bans in October 2014, giving police the power to exclude individuals from NEPs and preventing patrons from remaining in or entering the designated area or from designated premises for the ban duration. Mandatory identification scanners within licensed venues were also introduced, which are used to enforce patron bans. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of police‐issued 10‐day patron bans for preventing alcohol‐related violence or anti‐social behaviour occurring within NEPs during high‐alcohol hours. Methods: Queensland's largest NEPs; Brisbane central business district, Fortitude Valley and Surfers Paradise central business district; were examined. Time‐series autoregressive integrated moving average analyses were used to estimate the influence of 10‐day patron bans on police‐recorded serious assaults, common assaults and good order offences. Analyses controlled for the introduction of relevant policy and identification scanners. Results: The number of police‐issued patron bans did not significantly predict changes in serious assault, common assault or good order offence trends the weekend following the ban (within the 10‐day period). Discussion and Conclusions: The current study was unable to find evidence indicating that 10‐day patron bans reduced alcohol‐related harms experienced in Queensland's largest NEPs in the short term. Further research needs to be conducted examining other types of patron bans, particularly longer bans issued in other jurisdictions or by licensees, and whether bans change individual's behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Aims: Street service care providers in Queensland, Australia are organisations tasked with assisting vulnerable individuals and aiding intoxicated patrons that are at risk of harm in night-time entertainment precincts (NEP). Members of these organisations patrol NEPs and provide services, such as first aid, to individuals in need. There has been no research conducted on their impact on crime, injuries and on the duties of Australian frontline service resources (e.g. police and ambulance services). This study evaluated the introduction of a single street service care in the Cairns NEP on police-recorded assaults, emergency department injury presentations and ambulance service utilisation during high-alcohol hours.Design and Methods: Police-recorded assaults (common and serious), emergency department injury presentations and ambulance attendances for the Cairns suburbs were examined. Autoregressive integrated moving average time series analyses were used to determine the impact of street service care on monthly counts for each dataset.Results: Serious assaults during high-alcohol hours significantly declined after the introduction of the support service in Cairns, with a one-month lagged impact (B = -1.66, 95% confidence interval -3.02, -0.30). No other significant impact on common assaults, emergency department injury presentations or ambulance attendances were found.Discussion and Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence that street service care may help to decrease assaults within a single NEP. However, further research investigating the impact of street services in larger cities, and determining what other roles the service may be able to play in preventing alcohol-related harm, is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]