The Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act: Evidence, ethics and the law
Summary: The Northern Territory Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act 2013 (AMT Act) permits mandatory residential alcohol rehabilitation for up to 3 months. International guidelines and human rights law confirm that mandatory rehabilitation should only be used for short periods. Evidence concerning the e...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
2015
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34793 |
| _version_ | 1848754319994650624 |
|---|---|
| author | Lander, F. Gray, Dennis Wilkes, Edward |
| author_facet | Lander, F. Gray, Dennis Wilkes, Edward |
| author_sort | Lander, F. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Summary: The Northern Territory Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act 2013 (AMT Act) permits mandatory residential alcohol rehabilitation for up to 3 months. International guidelines and human rights law confirm that mandatory rehabilitation should only be used for short periods. Evidence concerning the efficacy of long-term mandatory alcohol rehabilitation is lacking, and minimal data concerning the efficacy of the scheme have been released. Specific legal issues also arise concerning the AMT Act, including its potentially discriminatory application to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The program only permits referral by police, despite the fact that it is ostensibly a medical intervention. Use of a treatment as a method of effectively solving a public intoxication problem is highly dubious, and should be of concern to the medical community. Given that more cost-effective and proven measures exist to combat alcohol dependence, the utility of the AMT Act is questionable. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:38:32Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-34793 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:38:32Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-347932017-09-13T15:24:45Z The Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act: Evidence, ethics and the law Lander, F. Gray, Dennis Wilkes, Edward Summary: The Northern Territory Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act 2013 (AMT Act) permits mandatory residential alcohol rehabilitation for up to 3 months. International guidelines and human rights law confirm that mandatory rehabilitation should only be used for short periods. Evidence concerning the efficacy of long-term mandatory alcohol rehabilitation is lacking, and minimal data concerning the efficacy of the scheme have been released. Specific legal issues also arise concerning the AMT Act, including its potentially discriminatory application to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The program only permits referral by police, despite the fact that it is ostensibly a medical intervention. Use of a treatment as a method of effectively solving a public intoxication problem is highly dubious, and should be of concern to the medical community. Given that more cost-effective and proven measures exist to combat alcohol dependence, the utility of the AMT Act is questionable. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34793 10.5694/mja15.00173 fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Lander, F. Gray, Dennis Wilkes, Edward The Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act: Evidence, ethics and the law |
| title | The Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act: Evidence, ethics and the law |
| title_full | The Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act: Evidence, ethics and the law |
| title_fullStr | The Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act: Evidence, ethics and the law |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act: Evidence, ethics and the law |
| title_short | The Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act: Evidence, ethics and the law |
| title_sort | alcohol mandatory treatment act: evidence, ethics and the law |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34793 |