ALCOHOL-FUELLED VIOLENCE

Although the issues associated with alcohol- fuelled violence affect young people the most, the voice of youth has not been heard. Following increased debate on alcohol-fuelled violence in NSW, YoungA21 held a pop-up roundtable in Sydney on Thursday, 27 February at the Ted Noffs Foundation premises in Randwick. Two papers on this topic were provided as background for participants and for anyone else who is interested: Alcohol – No ordinary commodity Violence in public places. Explanations and solutions What is a pop-up roundtable? A pop up roundtable brings together a diverse group of interested people at short notice to consider an important topical issue, particularly one which doesn’t have a black and white solution – like alcohol-fuelled violence. The roundtable provides an open discussion forum where people have the opportunity to speak and be heard. It is conducted under the Chatham House Rule, which means that if you agree to participate, you may talk about what happened at the meeting outside the group afterwards, but you may not quote anyone by name or by the group they represent. This protects everyone’s privacy and we hope it will encourage people to say what they really feel. Who was involved in the alcohol-fuelled violence roundtable? The group included young police officers, frontline medical professionals, nightclub industry workers and young party goers. Vivienne Moxham-Hall, Honorary Youth Adviser to the Board of Australia21 chaired the conversation and Jessica Sparks a YoungA21 volunteer assisted. They worked in partnership with Matt Noffs of the Street University and the Ted Noffs Foundation, which provides essential services for young people and their families who are experiencing drug and alcohol problems and related trauma. Before the conversation began the group was also briefed by: Dr Alex Wodak, an international expert on drug and alcohol abuse and a Director of Australia21 Nicholas Cowdery, former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Frank Hansen, former Local Area Commander, Rosehill, NSW Police Force Tony Brown, Alcohol Community Action project (ACAP) Manager, Chairperson of the Newcastle Community Drug Action Team (CDAT) What is the outcome? We will prepare a communique drawing on the results of the evening’s conversation which will be distributed to the media and to government. We also plan to prepare a short booklet on the outcomes for wide distribution.