Alcohol policy in New South Wales: a series of studies on outcomes, effects, culture, evidence, and problems ...

Background: Alcohol policy in New South Wales has been subject to rigorous evaluation through the lens of non-domestic violence and economic activity. Far less is known about the social outcomes produced by alcohol policies, the role of evidence in local alcohol policymaking, and the ‘problems’ local alcohol policies seek to address. Aims: This thesis aimed to 1) explore alcohol policymaking, with regards to how and when ‘evidence’ is used in the process and interrogate the problem-representations and lived effects inherent in local alcohol policies; 2) and explore social outcomes of alcohol policies. Methods: I carried out five separate research studies to address these aims: a controlled time-series analysis of domestic violence assault data, a secondary data analysis of qualitative interviews with people who frequented urban pubs in NSW (n=22), a qualitative interview study with informal event organisers (n=11), a content-analysis of a policymaking process, and a post-structural policy analysis. Results ...