Reports of increased drunkenness in NT

That was the title of an ABC News story on Fri Oct 19 2012. The new government here is looking at building two "prison farms" (their words), in order to force mandatory alcohol rehabilitation on people who have alcohol abuse issues. Not sure what the process for referral would be (I'm guessing the government don't know at this stage either), but at some point each person will have to come before the Courts as it is to be mandated by them.

These "prison farms" don't actually exist as yet and they haven't even started to built them but it hasn't stopped the government from lifting the banned drinking register which I blogged about previously.  Alcohol abuse in the aboriginal population is such a HUGE issue here and as one police sergeant, who has lived his whole life in the NT told me, "It's all been tried before, twice over and nothing works."

This ABC News audio clip is worth listening to as it is talking about the issues here in Katherine and has the people talking from the communities around here that I largely see through the watch house here.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-19/reports-of-increased-drunkenness-in-nt/4323818?section=nt


After I wrote this blog, the NT government announced how the above will work once these prison farms are built:

Rehab push to get chronic drinkers off streets

By Rick Hind

Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:21pm AEDT

       

The Northern Territory Government says mandatory alcohol rehabilitation legislation planned for next year could see hundreds of chronic drinkers taken off the streets.

Attorney-General John Elferink has told Parliament that drinkers who are taken into protective custody three times in three months will be given a court order to stop drinking in public.

If they breach that order they will be put into mandatory rehabilitation facilities for three months.