Specialist doctor quits NT alcohol rehabilitation program in protest

"The grave concern is that here we are, essentially incarcerating people for three months, who have committed no crime," Dr Nixon said.

"A large number of them had little understanding of the process, and at the end of the time when they were there, were still asking, 'Why am I here?'"

Michael Coggan ABC News 29 November 2013

A doctor who played a key role in establishing the Northern Territory Government's new mandatory alcohol rehabilitation program has quit in protest at the way the program has been run, as well as the treatment of Aboriginal drinkers.

Addictive medicine specialist Lee Nixon says he hopes his decision to speak out will prompt the Government to rethink its reluctance to stem the flow of alcohol in the Territory.

Dr Nixon has been a doctor for three decades, including 20 years as an addictive medicine specialist.

He agreed to help set up the mandatory rehab program to make sure it was done properly, but now he is packing his bags in protest and heading home to New Zealand.

"I fail to see how it can possibly have any long-term effects as long as there is no attention being paid to changing the drivers of drinking," he said.

"It was pushed through to begin on July 1, as the Government wanted, and that meant that any sense of carefully planning assessment for it was abandoned."

Drinkers taken into police custody three times in two months are locked up for treatment in a 12-week program.

"The grave concern is that here we are, essentially incarcerating people for three months, who have committed no crime," Dr Nixon said.

"A large number of them had little understanding of the process, and at the end of the time when they were there, were still asking, 'Why am I here?'"

While the program is in its infancy, several people have escaped treatment and others have been readmitted after failing to stay off alcohol, including one man who Dr Nixon says was hoping to gain custody of his son after getting out.

"He was back within about three weeks, and he said, 'It's impossible out there. There's no work for us. All my friends drink and alcohol is so readily available everywhere,' and those were his words," said Dr Nixon.

"And he almost exactly paraphrased what the research says. At the outset it was clear that we were introducing a program with no evidential base for effectiveness."

The mandatory treatment laws have been enforced in the Territory since July.

The Government has refused media access to see the process in operation until a six-month review is completed but Dr Nixon told the ABC's Lateline program there is no review in process.

"The great tragedy is, as I say, that it's an experimental program and the indecent haste in which it was introduced has precluded any good assessment of whether it was going to achieve anything or not," he said.

Despite a lack of evidence, the Territory Government is convinced mandatory treatment will work.

Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles says the program is delivering real results.

"We accelerated as quick as we could because we knew people that people were dying on our streets because of the effects of alcohol on their lives, on themselves, their families and their communities," he said.

"We are firmly committed to delivering long-term solutions to people who've got chronic alcohol abuse and misuse issues."

Under the Banned Drinkers Register, more than 2,000 people were banned from buying take-away alcohol.

The scheme was scrapped when the Country Liberals won government last year.

'The NT government are incarcerating people for three months who have not committed a crime'.
(ABC Lateline)

Along with Dr Nixon, police are urging the Government to do more to stem the supply of alcohol.

The NT Police Association's Vince Kelly says it is too early to judge the effectiveness of the program and that the issue of alcohol supply should be addressed.

"I defy anyone in government to tell me that mandatory treatment's had an effect at this point," he said.

"It's a little bit too early to judge, but I would say, equally, it was too early to judge the effectiveness of the Banned Drinkers Register.

"One of the ways to deal with that is the issue of supply and neither the Labor Government or the CLP Government has covered itself in glory when it comes to that type of thing because they're simply too close to the industry."

The Territory Government is also being criticised for moving to introduce new alcohol protection orders (APOs) aimed at banning people from drinking.

"They will be prohibited from either possessing or drinking alcohol, and if they break that, they will then be jailed," said Dr Nixon.

Mr Giles has defended the move.

"The alcohol protection orders are designed to help people get off the grog for people who are charged with a criminal offence that ascertains to more than six months imprisonment," he said.

"I hear lot of negative commentary about APOs where people are trying to defend the people who are drunk committing crimes."