Retail Drinks Australia has criticised new research from the La Trobe University's Centre for Alcohol Policy Research into the online alcohol sale and delivery sector in Australia.
Among the findings were that more than one-third of respondents aged 25 years and under (36%) didn’t have their ID checked when receiving their alcohol order.
Retail Drinks CEO Julie Ryan argued the findings were so deeply flawed that reliance on them could only be characterised as irresponsible, and that the study cannot be used as a basis for regulating the sector.
“The new research released yesterday from La Trobe University, entirely funded by a research grant from the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), bears all the hallmarks of a poorly executed and unreliable study, which has clearly been designed with the sole purpose of painting an overly alarmist view of the online alcohol sale and delivery sector," Ryan said.
“The minuscule sample size of this study alone (528 respondents) is enough to seriously bring its reliability and subsequent findings into question.
“It is plainly impossible for this study to draw valid conclusions about the national state of Australia’s online alcohol sector when it is based on survey responses from roughly 0.002 per cent of the population."
FARE Chief Executive Michael Thorn said the burgeoning online sales and delivery market has outstripped Australia’s inadequate system of alcohol regulation, creating significant risks for younger Australians.
“The CAPR report shows that younger risky drinkers are the biggest users of rapid delivery services, which enables them to extend existing drinking sessions,” Mr Thorn said.
Thorn noted the new research suggests the convenience of ordering alcohol through on-demand delivery services is facilitating a pattern of heavy, risky drinking by younger Australians.
“Sixty-nine per cent of respondents who had alcohol delivered within two hours reported consuming five or more standard drinks during the same session, while 28%" consumed 11 or more drinks on the same occasion,” Thorn said.
Thorn added that it was also concerning that more than one-third of respondents aged 25 years and under (36%) didn’t have their ID checked when receiving their alcohol order, which increases the risk of underage drinking.
La Trobe University researcher Dr Sarah Callinan said new research in the report, 'Alcohol home delivery services: An investigation of use and risk', found that on-demand delivery services were most popular among the youngest age group of 18- to 29-year-olds.
“Our study indicates that while a wide range of people use online alcohol delivery services, there is a cohort of young risky drinkers who are using on-demand delivery services to prolong their drinking occasions,” Dr Callinan said.
“One in five participants (22%) who ordered alcohol via an on-demand delivery service did so because they were over the blood alcohol limit to drive. Meanwhile, more than a quarter who used on-demand services (28%) reported that the delivery enabled them to continue drinking when they would otherwise have had to stop,” she said.
New research at odds with data from AIHW
However, Ryan said: “This study has also unfairly and improperly categorised young Australians as risky drinkers and using online alcohol delivery services to further this behaviour, which is at odds with data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) showing that this demographic is now less likely to drink to excess than ever before.
“This study is far from the ground-breaking research on the online alcohol delivery sector that it purports itself to be. The idea that a study as flawed as this one could provide any sort of blueprint for future government policy is utterly ridiculous.”
Ryan (above) also highlighted the inherent hypocrisy in FARE’s approach towards the authors’ recommendations, noting that respondents to the online-only survey were not subjected to any kind of verification procedures to confirm their identity or accuracy of the information supplied. The survey explicitly stated that the responses provided to the survey were entirely anonymous.
“The hypocrisy of relying on unverified survey respondents and unsubstantiated information to then call for stronger verification procedures on online alcohol deliveries is quite frankly staggering.
“If academics and lobbyists such as FARE wish to inform government policy, they have a moral responsibility to conduct their research in a robust and methodologically sound manner. The authors of this study have clearly failed this duty at every step of the way,” Ryan said.
Ryan noted that sound and well-balanced government policy is derived from a fact and evidence-based approach, and that idealistic and extremist views seeking to create unnecessary panic or alarm were irresponsible.
“In commissioning and funding a study which can only be described as illegitimate, FARE have shown a brazen level of recklessness and disregard for a fact and evidence-based approach towards the development of alcohol policy in Australia.
“Had this study sought to verify any of its own claims against industry data, or any other available data for that matter, it would have quickly discovered the extent to which its claims are entirely false and contrary to what is actually going on in the online alcohol delivery sector.
“By way of example only, the study alleges that the main users of online alcohol delivery services are between 18 and 24 and yet industry retail data shows us that the average age of users of these services is actually over 30, which is based on hundreds of thousands of actual transactions by verified consumers.
“There is no evidence in this study of any illegal supply of alcohol, just baseless and alarmist supposition to support a pre-determined agenda on online alcohol delivery.”
In condemning the new research, Retail Drinks expressed its strong support for the measured and considered approach of government towards alcohol regulation evident in recent consultations surrounding online alcohol delivery.
“The fact is governments across Australia have done the right thing in proactively seeking out data directly from industry as part of a proper and robust policy-making process, refuting the notion presented in the study that liquor regulators have been asleep at the wheel.
“The Retail Drinks Online Alcohol Sale and Delivery Code of Conduct is being internationally endorsed as representative of best practice in regulation, supporting the collaboration between industry and government to contribute to meaningful harm reduction.
“The ultimate regulatory approach towards the online alcohol sale and delivery sector should be based on significant quantities of industry data on the actual alcohol deliveries themselves, and measured and verified risks, rather than a crudely designed online survey masquerading as academic research.”
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