Resources | Case Study

Manukau, the second largest city in the Auckland region, introduced a LDS (Last Drink Survey) project in 1994.  In 1999, when the local liquor liaison group became concerned at the lack of commitment to dealing with significant alcohol-related issues around licensed premises, it decided to take a more pro-active approach to the LDS in Manukau City. <BR><BR>The Manukau City LDS is a model developed by <A href="http://www.ahw.co.nz/" target=_blank>Alcohol Healthwatch </A>and Counties Manukau Police.  It involves Police officers collecting all alcohol-related offence information at the time they make an arrest or when issuing a summons notice to an offender.  Whenever alcohol is identified as having been consumed by an alleged offender prior to committing an offence, the apprehending officer collects alcohol-related information including:<UL><LI>where the offender consumed his/her last drink<LI>if the offender purchased his/her drink where he/she consumed it<LI>t

Manukau, the second largest city in the Auckland region, introduced a LDS (Last Drink Survey) project in 1994. In 1999, when the local liquor liaison group became concerned at the lack of commitment to dealing with significant alcohol-related issues around licensed premises, it decided to take a more pro-active approach to the LDS in Manukau City.

The Manukau City LDS is a model developed by Alcohol Healthwatch and Counties Manukau Police. It involves Police officers collecting all alcohol-related offence information at the time they make an arrest or when issuing a summons notice to an offender. Whenever alcohol is identified as having been consumed by an alleged offender prior to committing an offence, the apprehending officer collects alcohol-related information including:

where the offender consumed his/her last drink
if the offender purchased his/her drink where he/she consumed it
the time the offender consumed his/her drink
had the offender consumed alcohol at any other location in the last few hours

The liquor liaison group (consisting of representatives from Police, Public Health, the DLA, and a health promotion agency) met monthly and used the collated data to identify high risk on and off licensed premises, and to decide on its approach in dealing with these. Licensees received their own monthly data if they featured in the LDS.

Multi-agency night visits were carried out by the liquor liaison group to monitor and observe practises within high risk premises. These were carried out three or four times a year and usually consisted of visits to seven or more premises in the one evening. The visits provided a formal opportunity for licensees and the statutory agencies to voice their concerns.

Cumulative LDS information was provided to the licensee, along with analysis of their data to highlight trends for the use of the LDS as a management tool. Host Responsibility resources may also have been left with the licensee and a follow up visit made two or three days later to ensure compliance with the Sale of Liquor Act.

The purpose behind the night visits was to assist the licensees to improve management practices, thereby alleviating local Police workload and reducing the licensee's chances of ending up in court. This in turn benefited the community by reducing alcohol-related harm.

Results from the use of LDS data saw a drop in Police call-outs to problem premises, and a reduction in data identifying problem premises. The programme ran successfully for two years.

To a large extent, successes hinged upon the commitment and enthusiasm of individual members of the statutory agencies involved. These consisted of local people working in their local area with a real interest in seeing a reduction in alcohol-related harm.

The following organisations may be active or interested in this topic area:

District Licensing Authority
Liquor Licensing Police
Public Health Service
Medical Officer of Health
Hospitality Association of New Zealand
Road Safety Co-ordinator and Community Action Programme (CAAP) committee.