Learning from 50 Years of Aboriginal Alcohol Programs : Beating the Grog in Australia

This open access book deals with community-based attempts on the part of Aboriginal communities and groups in Australia to address harms arising from alcohol misuse. Alcohol-related harms are viewed as both a product of colonisation and dispossession and a contributor to ongoing social, economic and health-related disadvantage, both in Australia and in other countries with colonised Indigenous populations, such as Canada, the US and New Zealand. This book contributes to an evidence-base by bringing together a selection of existing Australian documents considered by the editors to have continuing relevance to all those concerned with dealing with alcohol-related harms among Aboriginal peoples, These are contextualised in original chapters that recount key events, ideas, and programs.

The book is a practical resource for all people and groups concerned with addressing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander alcohol-related harms, both at the community level and at thelevel of policy-making and administration.

Peter d’Abbs is a sociologist with an extensive research background in alcohol and other drug policy issues and program evaluation. He holds Honorary positions with the Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin, and the School of Public Health, University of Queensland. From 2001 to 2010 he was a Director of the Alcohol Education & Rehabilitation Foundation (AERF―subsequently renamed Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, or FARE), and in 2007 he was placed on the Honour Roll of the National Drug and Alcohol Awards for his research into substance misuse in remote and regional settings. Between 2016 and 2021 he was a committee member of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Alcohol Working Group appointed to update the NHMRC drinking guidelines.

 

Nicole Hewlett is a proud Palawa woman with demonstrated knowledge translation experience in a range of areas including palliative care, suicide prevention, Close the Gap policy, cancer prevention, diabetes management and maternal use of alcohol, tobacco and other substances. Nicole currently holds positions with Queensland University of Technology, University of Queensland, and is a board member and Treasurer of the National Organisation for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (NOFASD). At University of Queensland, Nicole is part of the First Nations Wellbeing team as well as the collaboration to revise the FASD assessment and diagnostic guidelines. From 2016 to 2021, Nicole was a committee member of the NHMRC Alcohol Working Group, appointed to update the NHMRC alcohol drinking guidelines.