Introduce minimum unit pricing to reduce alcohol harms
- ACV Admin
- Feb 1
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 15
Key takeaways
> Minimum unit pricing sets a legal floor price to ensure alcohol products cannot be sold below a certain cost per unit of alcohol. This measure targets the cheapest alcohol products that drive the most harm.
> Cheap alcohol is a major driver of alcohol-related harms, particularly among people with heavy alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence.
> Minimum unit pricing is proven to reduce alcohol harms, especially among those who drink most heavily, and has been associated with decreases in alcohol-related ambulance attendances, hospital admissions, and treatment episodes.
What minimum unit pricing is
Minimum unit pricing sets a threshold which ensures alcohol is not sold below the minimum unit price per standard drink (i.e., per unit of pure alcohol). For example, a minimum unit price of $1.50 would ensure an alcohol product containing 10 standard drinks is not sold for less than $15. This policy is supported by the World Health Organisation as one of “the most effective and cost-effective measures to reduce alcohol consumption and harms.”¹
Cheap alcohol is driving increasing harms
Australian alcohol taxes differ for different types of alcohol. Taxes on spirits and beer are based on the alcohol content of the beverage, while taxes on wine are based on the retail price of the beverage as it is sold. This means that there is much less tax per unit of alcohol on cheaper wines, which are often sold in larger quantities in casks.
Low-cost alcohol (e.g., cask wine) is widely available in packaged liquor outlets across Australia. For example, in Western Australia 4 litre cask wine is sold for as little as $0.26 per standard drink, with a total price of less than $10.²
Low income groups and people who drink heavily are more likely to purchase low-cost alcohol.³ Consumption of low-cost cask wine by the top 40% of people who consume the most alcohol accounts for 83% of all cask wine consumed by Victorian households.⁴
The annual cost of alcohol-related harms to Australian communities is $67 billion, 7 times more than the alcohol tax revenue recorded in FY 2023-24.⁵ These harms are concentrated among a small group of Australians, with the heaviest drinking 5% consuming more than a third (36%), and the heaviest drinking 10% consuming more than half (54%) of all alcohol.⁶
Minimum unit pricing benefits individuals and communities
The Northern Territory (NT) is the only Australian jurisdiction that has implemented minimum unit pricing,⁷ with a price of $1.30 per standard drink.⁸ The stated aim of minimum unit pricing was to reduce the availability and consumption of low-cost cask wine. The policy has successfully achieved this aim, with per capita consumption of cask wine decreasing by almost 50% across the NT in the year following the introduction of minimum unit pricing.⁹
When alcohol is more expensive people drink less¹⁰ and harms decrease.¹¹ An evaluation of minimum unit pricing in the NT found an association with decreased ambulance attendances, hospital admissions, treatment episodes, alcohol-related assaults, and protective custody episodes.¹² Minimum unit pricing in the NT is also cost effective and has had no negative economic impact on industry, tourism, or the economy.¹³ Recent estimates also suggest it had almost no impact on the expenditure on alcohol of moderate drinkers in the NT.¹⁴ Unfortunately, the Northern Territory Government repealed minimum unit pricing in early 2025, despite its success and increasing use internationally.¹⁵
Scotland implemented minimum unit pricing in 2018. Among those experiencing alcohol dependence who were accessing health services, almost half reported they sought treatment for their alcohol use following the introduction of minimum unit pricing, while 1 in 5 also reported ‘drinking less alcohol on each day’, ‘drinking alcohol on fewer days’, or ‘giving up drinking’.¹⁶ Scotland recently increased its minimum unit price from 50 to 60 pence per unit of alcohol,¹⁷ which underscores the importance of indexation to ensure minimum unit pricing remains effective as inflation pushes alcohol product prices higher over time.
Recommendation
Minimum unit pricing should be implemented and indexed so the cost of alcohol sends a price signal that reduces high risk alcohol consumption and associated harms.
References
1 World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, No Place for Cheap Alcohol: The Potential Value of Minimum Pricing for Protecting Lives (Report, 20 June 2022) viii <https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289058094>.
2 Tina Lam et al, ‘Which Alcohol Products Might Be Affected By The Introduction of a Minimum Unit Price in Western Australia? Findings From a Survey of Alcohol Retail Prices’ (2023) 42(4) Drug and Alcohol Review 915, 918.
3 Sarah Callinan et al, ‘Who Purchases Low-Cost Alcohol in Australia?’ (2015) 50(6) Alcohol and Alcoholism 647, 647; Jan Gill et al, ‘Alcohol Purchasing by Ill Heavy Drinkers; Cheap Alcohol is No Single Commodity’ (2015) 129(12) Public Health 1571, 1573.
4 Anurag Sharma, Brian Vandenberg and Bruce Hollingsworth, ‘Minimum Pricing of Alcohol Versus Volumetric Taxation: Which Policy Will Reduce Heavy Consumption Without Adversely Affecting Light and Moderate Consumers?’ (2014) 9(2) PLOS One 1, 7.
5 Approximately $8.73 billion. Australian Treasury, Budget Strategy and Outlook (Budget Paper, No 1, 14 May 2024) 180 <https://budget.gov.au/content/documents.htm>.
6 Megan Cook, Yvette Mojica-Perez and Sarah Callinan, Distribution of Alcohol Use in Australia (Report, 18 March 2022) 2 <https://fare.org.au/new-report-alcohol-companies-reliant-on-people-who-drink-at-heaviest-levels/>.
7 Cassandra Wright et al, ‘Cheap Grog, New Drunkenness Offence and Mandatory Rehab: Why 9 Experts Think Proposed NT Alcohol Reforms Would be a Disaster’, The Conversation (online, 18 October 2024) <https://theconversation.com/cheap-grog-new-drunkenness-offence-and-mandatory-rehab-why-9-experts-think-proposed-nt-alcohol-reforms-would-be-a-disaster-241373#>.
8 Liquor Act 2019 (NT) s 121 (2).
9 Yarning and Frontier Economics, Evaluation of Minimum Unit Price of Alcohol in the Northern Territory (Report, 6 July 2022) 13-14 <https://health.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/1146448/evaluation- mup-alcohol-nt.pdf>; Nicholas Taylor et al, ‘The Impact of a Minimum Unit Price on Whole-Sale Alcohol Supply Trends in the Northern Territory, Australia’ (2021) 45(1) Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 26, 26, 29.
10 Anurag Sharma, Kompal Sinha and Brian Vandenberg, ‘Pricing as a Means of Controlling Alcohol Consumption’ (2017) 123(1) British Medical Bulletin 149; Alexander Wagenaar, Matthew Salois and Kelli Komro, ‘Effects of Beverage Alcohol Price and Tax Levels on Drinking: A Meta-Analysis of 1003 Estimates From 112 Studies’ (2009) 104(2) Addiction 179, 187.
11 Collin Calvert et al, ‘Effects of Restricting High Alcohol Content Beverages on Crime in California’ (2020) 55(3) Substance Use & Misuse 481, 487.
12 These declines were observed in the Darwin/Palmerston area, where results were not confounded by the simultaneous introduction of Police Auxiliary Liquor Inspectors. Kerri Coomber et al, Investigating the Introduction of the Alcohol Minimum Unit Price in the Northern Territory (Final Report, February 2020) xxv <https://alcoholreform.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/ 0007/818278/investigating-introduction-of-alcohol-minimum-unit-price-nt-final-report.pdf>.
13 Yarning and Frontier Economics (n 9).
14 Nicholas Taylor et al, ‘Estimating the Impact of the Minimum Alcohol Price on Consumers’ Alcohol Expenditure in the Northern Territory, Australia’ (2023) 47(3) Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 1, 3.
15 Liquor Legislation Amendment (Repeal of Minimum Pricing) Bill 2024 (NT).
16 Penny Buykx et al, Impact of Minimum Unit Pricing Among People Who Are Alcohol Dependent and Accessing Treatment Services: Interim Report: Structured Interview Data (Report, June 2021) 9 <https://glyndwr.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/18126/1/WURO_interim-report-Impact%20of%20MUP.pdf>.
17 ‘Minimum Price of Alcohol in Scotland Rises by 30%’, BBC (online, 30 September 2024) <https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg2d2kdgzeo>.
