Sydney’s lockout laws have led to a significant decrease in the most life-threatening alcohol-related injuries, doctors from St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst say.
In the 12 months since the laws were introduced, there was a 25 per cent decrease in the most critically injured patients, according to data gathered by the hospital.
Emergency professionals said there was also little evidence to suggest that the CBD lockout laws, which focus on Kings Cross, were pushing alcohol-related violence or injuries to other parts of the city.
The lockout laws were introduced by the NSW Government in February last year after a series of deaths in the inner-city nightclub precinct.
The laws imposed 1:30am lockouts for many hotels, nightclubs and bars, a ban on shots after midnight and a 3:00am last drinks policy.
Professor Gordian Fulde is the director of the emergency department at St Vincent’s Hospital, which borders the area affected by the lockouts.
He has compared data from the 12 months before the laws were brought in, with the 12 months since.
“It showed that there was decrease all through the week but the most significant decrease was over the weekend,” Professor Fulde said.
“High alcohol time was Friday night to Sunday morning and it showed a 25 per cent decrease in seriously injured patients coming in over the weekend.”
Lockout laws do not appear to be pushing the problem to other suburbs, with hospital and police statistics showing no increase in severe injuries in the year since the laws were brought in.
“There were more drinkers in Newtown but in the first year we are anecdotally told there was no increase to Royal Prince Alfred,” Professor Fulde said.
“So in the first year there wasn’t any shift or people going out and bashing each other up somewhere else.”
‘I don’t think one size fits all’
Despite the encouraging figures, Professor Fulde is not certain the lockout should be rolled out across Sydney or New South Wales.
“Country towns might have problems. I don’t think one size fits all,” he pointed out.
The laws have been criticised as contributing to a “nanny state” but Professor Fulde said people should take a look at “the amount of misery that is saved, the amount of money that is saved from all the ambulances, the intensive care, all that sort of stuff”.
“We’re not saying, nobody is ever saying, don’t drink. Nobody is ever saying you can’t get alcohol,” he said.
“I mean it’s just stupid because it’s so much a part of our society and it always will be I think.
“But what we’re saying is let’s get the really, really out of control drunk people off the streets.”
The data has been published in the Medical Journal of Australia.