Learning from alcohol (policy) reforms in the Northern Territory (LEARNT): protocol for a mixed-methods study examining the impacts of the banned drinker register

Abstract

IntroductionThe Banned Drinker Register (BDR) was reintroduced in the Northern Territory (NT) in September 2017. The BDR is a supply reduction measure and involves placing people who consume alcohol at harmful levels on a register prohibiting the purchase, possession and consumption of alcohol. The current study aims to evaluate the impacts of the reintroduction of the BDR, in the context of other major alcohol policy initiatives introduced across the NT such as Police Auxiliary Liquor Inspectors and a minimum unit price for alcohol of US$1.30 per standard drink.Methods and analysesThe Learning from Alcohol (policy) Reforms in the Northern Territory project will use a mixed-methods approach and contain four major components: epidemiological analysis of trends over time (outcomes include health, justice and social welfare data); individual-level data linkage including those on the BDR (outcomes include health and justice data); qualitative interviews with key stakeholders in the NT (n≥50); and qualitative interviews among people who are, or were previously, on the BDR, as well as the families and communities connected to those on the BDR (n=150). The impacts of the BDR on epidemiological data will be examined using time series analysis. Linked data will use generalised mixed models to analyse the relationship between outcomes and exposures, utilising appropriate distributions. Qualitative data will be analysed using thematic analysis.Ethics and disseminationEthics approvals have been obtained from NT Department of Health and Menzies School of Health Research Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC), Central Australia HREC and Deakin University HREC. In addition to peer-reviewed publications, we will report our findings to key organisational, policy, government and community stakeholders via conferences, briefings and lay summaries.

Impacts of Northern Territory banned drinker register on police recorded youth assault

“…Finally significant coefficients were divided over pre-BDR averages to quantify the magnitude of step or slope changes. The broader analytic approach was outlined in the wider protocol paper [22].…”

Key informant perspectives on the enforcement of police‐imposed barring notices and prohibition orders in Western Australia

“…Interviews have provided a particularly informative element of previously successful projects in this area (e.g., [8,[19][20][21]), and WA Police sought to follow a similar phenomenological process. The stakeholder interviews explored the perceptions and experiences of those charged with implementing and enforcing the provisions: primarily licensees and venue staff.…”

“…liquor retailers across WA were sourced from online listings, with care taken to include venues of different types and across a wide range of locations, including remote and regional areas of the state. There were no specific inclusion/exclusion criteria and the overall sampling approach was one of convenience, in common with comparable studies [20,21]. In total, 145 venues were contacted initially by email, with a telephone follow-up for those who responded: 88 generated no response, 6 declined and 51 expressed interest.…”

Police‐recorded adult sexual assault in the Northern Territory, Australia: Alcohol involvement and alcohol policy effects

“…In recent years, there have been three major supply reduction policies introduced in the NT: the Banned Drinker Register (BDR), a Minimum Unit Price (MUP) and Police Auxiliary Liquor Inspectors (PALI) (details provided in Table 1). This paper is part of a broader project evaluating their impacts, called LEarning from Alcohol (policy) Reforms in the Northern Territory (LEARNT) [26]. The BDR, an individual‐level supply control policy, was reintroduced in September 2017.…”