Northern Territory: Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act 2013 starts operation

Wednesday 14 August 2013 @ 11.01 a.m. | Legal Research

The Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act 2013 (No. 17 of 2013) said by the Northern Territory government to deliver on a key government commitmentof providing for the mandatory assessment, treatment and management of persons who are misusing alcohol repeals and replaces the Alcohol Reform (Substance Misuse Assessment and Referral for Treatment Court) Act and the Alcohol Reform (Prevention of Alcohol-related Crime and Substance Misuse) Act and commenced operation on 1 July 2013. To date the the legislation has been the subject of controversy with, as the ABC reports, "supporters of the scheme argu[ing] that the move will save lives and help those most in need of alcohol rehabilitation" and "critics arguing that people who have not actually committed a crime could end up in jail".

What the legislation contains

The legislation provides an extensive legislation scheme, divided into nine Parts overall. Each Part deals with a discrete aspect of the new mandatory assessment and treatment process. Of particular interest is Part 2 of the Act which deals with the assessment of "assessable persons" and matters such as:

  • When mandatory treatment order may be made

  • Criteria for a mandatory treatment order

  • Mandatory community treatment order

  • Mandatory residential treatment order

  • Income management order.

Also of interest is Part 3 which deals with "mandatory treatment orders" and the hearing of applications made following assessment, the variation, revocation or replacement and content of orders, and as well, appeals to the local courts and suspension of mandatory treatment orders. 

The new law also provides for an "Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Tribunal" to make decisions and review cases under the legislation.

Reactions to the new law

Already the Tribunal has been referred to as a "controversial new tribunal" on the ABC's Law Report Program, having as it does the power to order people into 12 weeks of residential rehabilitation, and if they were to abscond three times from such to be taken to have broken the law and jailed.

The Law Report continues to say:

"Critics say this is a dangerous blending of the healthcare system and the criminal justice system. But the president of the new tribunal, barrister Tom Berkley, rejects this view. He says there are lots of misconceptions about the tribunal, which he says is squarely focused on helping people".

To date there have been 12 mandatory treatment orders, all of them residential according to Mr Berkley as quoted in the ABC's Law Report Program.

Affects on indigenous Australians

Another area of strong crticism of the new law is with respect to how it affects indigenous Australians, with some sources saying the law is targeted at indigenous Australains:

"A new Australian state law is set to force problem drinkers into mandatory rehabilitation. The move, however, is being criticized for targeting indigenous Australians and for not tackling alcohol abuse issues properly."

Website DW quotes Russell Goldflam, the President of the Northern Territory Criminal Lawyers Association:

"There's no question that this legislation will disproportionately impact upon the indigenous population of the Northern Territory... A lot of the rhetoric by government members in promoting this legislation was that this is about getting people off the streets. And I do think that it is part of the intent of this scheme." But, while the policy may help in making the streets of Alice Springs safer, it doesn't necessarily solve the underlying problems.

The new laws have been in place for a month and many of the first detained for treatment are indigenous alcoholics. Reaction to the new laws has been varied and wide with even the former Prime Minister Gillard writing to the Northern Territory Chief Minister Giles on the issue to express concern. A key concern is that "aboriginal deaths in custody have historically been an issue" and there are fears that the laws might add to the problem. The Australian Medical Association is also quoted as saying that "it's wrong that addicted people can end up as criminals". However the Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles is quoted as replying that "the cost of not sending problem drinkers to mandatory rehabilitation is much greater".

Like the federal governments intervention this will be a legislative development that is set to divide and will remain controversial.

Sources:

TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products.

Related Articles: