Legal Drinking Age In Australia Essay
Should the legal age of drinking in Australia be lifted to 21?
An exposition by Jazmin Maree Watson
Daily media and conversation is often about the consumption of alcohol. Alcohol is part of the Australian culture whether we like this or not. It is only natural that teenagers and young adults choose to drink early; to change the legal drinking age is to disregard our traditions and the Australian culture. Every teenager will tell you that an 18th birthday celebration is a staple in every young adult’s life; this is when they will experience their first ‘legal’ alcoholic beverage. Certain people will agree to the legal drinking age being lifted; this is mostly due to adults whom it does not effect or those who have made their judgments upon people such as Corey Delaney, a ‘imperceptive party boy’ who made his 15 minutes of fame by hosting an out of control under-age drinking ‘house party’, which caused over $20,000 worth of damage. Some youths did label this young teen as a male protagonist, but most commented that he was a ' …show more content…
little boy who needs to grow up and find your place in the world '1.
Raising the age of drinking will not deter underage drinking. In reality the situation is bound to become more of a predicament. The amount of young adults that drink is phenomenal; the idea of an alcoholic beverage is a fixture in young society. If the government is to raise the legal drinking age to 21, then the amount of under age drinkers is set to rise astoundingly as 12% of all drinkers are between the ages of 18-212; This would then incur on Australia’s national crime rate.
At the age of 18, an Australian citizen is able to vote for who they want to represent and govern Australia; they are able to purchase cigarettes which are classed as a legal drug (alcohol is also classed as a legal drug). An 18 year old is able to marry another person without parental consent; an 18 year old is also able to buy a property under their own name. An 18 year old can also purchase weapons legally and also enter and or purchase from erotica retail outlets. The justice system of Australia will charge someone of 18 years as an adult. All this evidence shows that once we are 18 that Australia believes us to be responsible adults who can care for ourselves. All young Australian citizens want is to have a good time with peers while sharing an alcoholic beverage. We are responsible enough.
If the legal drinking age is changed to 21, Australia would once again be in a state of confusion. Australia lowered the drinking age from 21 to 18 in Western Australia on July 1, 1970, while Queensland changed their legal drinking on February 18, 1974. In South Australia the drinking age was lowered from 21 to 20 years on December 19, 1968, it was then lowered to 18 years as of April 8, 1971. The reason the age was lowered was due to the Vietnam War; politicians and the public thought that if a young Australian man could fight for his country and vote, then he was surely responsible enough for alcohol. Although those Australian states mentioned have only ‘recently’ changed their laws, states such as New South Wales and Victoria have allowed their general public to drink at the age of 18 since 19063.
If we were to modify our laws again, some states will be in agreement and others won’t, and all states will have different dates in which to apply these laws. This will cause misunderstanding for Australian citizens but also tourists who may have not looked up the new law.
The quantity of money that the government receives from alcohol taxation is phenomenal. In 2006 the Australian government received over $35 million from the taxation of spirits alone. Over $125 million is gained in revenue just from imported beer4. These ridiculous amounts of money are then used for funding for things such as hospitals, tourism, education, etc. If Australia were to raise the legal age of drinking the amount the government receives from alcohol tax would be heavily cut. Since 18-24 year olds consume 20% of all alcohol sold in Australia2, the government would lose an estimated minimum of $19.3 million (12%).
Australia depends on alcohol.
Our ‘entertaining’ culture promotes tourism. Alcohol revenue creates funding for Australia. The sale of alcohol provides jobs in all areas of industry.
Young Australians are bright, adventurous and responsible people that only wish to enjoy a cold alcoholic beverage when they are finally initiated as an ‘adult’. Lifting the legal drinking age will not deter underage drinking nor will it do the economy any good. Australia is finally in agreement with our current rules and regulations; our great country has been fundamentally fine with our drinking laws up until now. One spoken sentence from our now ex-prime minister, Kevin Rudd and the whole of Australia is in debate.
Mr. Rudd should know that everything and everything he says will be taken out of context, including this matter. Kevin Rudd’s words were just an opinion and so are mine. But the difference is, I have researched and he has just spoken.
Words:
880
1. Opinions of Corey Delaney on social networking sites by young adolescents. http://skin.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=5623204082
2. statistics from Australian bureau of statistics – alcohol consumption http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mf/4832.0.55.001/
3. legal consumption of alcohol in Australia http://www.drugfree.org.au/fileadmin/Media/Reference/UnderAgeDrinking.pdf
4. Alcohol tax in Australia – as of November 2006 (government Pdf file)
An exposition by Jazmin Maree Watson
Daily media and conversation is often about the consumption of alcohol. Alcohol is part of the Australian culture whether we like this or not. It is only natural that teenagers and young adults choose to drink early; to change the legal drinking age is to disregard our traditions and the Australian culture. Every teenager will tell you that an 18th birthday celebration is a staple in every young adult’s life; this is when they will experience their first ‘legal’ alcoholic beverage. Certain people will agree to the legal drinking age being lifted; this is mostly due to adults whom it does not effect or those who have made their judgments upon people such as Corey Delaney, a ‘imperceptive party boy’ who made his 15 minutes of fame by hosting an out of control under-age drinking ‘house party’, which caused over $20,000 worth of damage. Some youths did label this young teen as a male protagonist, but most commented that he was a ' …show more content…
little boy who needs to grow up and find your place in the world '1.
Raising the age of drinking will not deter underage drinking. In reality the situation is bound to become more of a predicament. The amount of young adults that drink is phenomenal; the idea of an alcoholic beverage is a fixture in young society. If the government is to raise the legal drinking age to 21, then the amount of under age drinkers is set to rise astoundingly as 12% of all drinkers are between the ages of 18-212; This would then incur on Australia’s national crime rate.
At the age of 18, an Australian citizen is able to vote for who they want to represent and govern Australia; they are able to purchase cigarettes which are classed as a legal drug (alcohol is also classed as a legal drug). An 18 year old is able to marry another person without parental consent; an 18 year old is also able to buy a property under their own name. An 18 year old can also purchase weapons legally and also enter and or purchase from erotica retail outlets. The justice system of Australia will charge someone of 18 years as an adult. All this evidence shows that once we are 18 that Australia believes us to be responsible adults who can care for ourselves. All young Australian citizens want is to have a good time with peers while sharing an alcoholic beverage. We are responsible enough.
If the legal drinking age is changed to 21, Australia would once again be in a state of confusion. Australia lowered the drinking age from 21 to 18 in Western Australia on July 1, 1970, while Queensland changed their legal drinking on February 18, 1974. In South Australia the drinking age was lowered from 21 to 20 years on December 19, 1968, it was then lowered to 18 years as of April 8, 1971. The reason the age was lowered was due to the Vietnam War; politicians and the public thought that if a young Australian man could fight for his country and vote, then he was surely responsible enough for alcohol. Although those Australian states mentioned have only ‘recently’ changed their laws, states such as New South Wales and Victoria have allowed their general public to drink at the age of 18 since 19063.
If we were to modify our laws again, some states will be in agreement and others won’t, and all states will have different dates in which to apply these laws. This will cause misunderstanding for Australian citizens but also tourists who may have not looked up the new law.
The quantity of money that the government receives from alcohol taxation is phenomenal. In 2006 the Australian government received over $35 million from the taxation of spirits alone. Over $125 million is gained in revenue just from imported beer4. These ridiculous amounts of money are then used for funding for things such as hospitals, tourism, education, etc. If Australia were to raise the legal age of drinking the amount the government receives from alcohol tax would be heavily cut. Since 18-24 year olds consume 20% of all alcohol sold in Australia2, the government would lose an estimated minimum of $19.3 million (12%).
Australia depends on alcohol.
Our ‘entertaining’ culture promotes tourism. Alcohol revenue creates funding for Australia. The sale of alcohol provides jobs in all areas of industry.
Young Australians are bright, adventurous and responsible people that only wish to enjoy a cold alcoholic beverage when they are finally initiated as an ‘adult’. Lifting the legal drinking age will not deter underage drinking nor will it do the economy any good. Australia is finally in agreement with our current rules and regulations; our great country has been fundamentally fine with our drinking laws up until now. One spoken sentence from our now ex-prime minister, Kevin Rudd and the whole of Australia is in debate.
Mr. Rudd should know that everything and everything he says will be taken out of context, including this matter. Kevin Rudd’s words were just an opinion and so are mine. But the difference is, I have researched and he has just spoken.
Words:
880
1. Opinions of Corey Delaney on social networking sites by young adolescents. http://skin.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=5623204082
2. statistics from Australian bureau of statistics – alcohol consumption http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mf/4832.0.55.001/
3. legal consumption of alcohol in Australia http://www.drugfree.org.au/fileadmin/Media/Reference/UnderAgeDrinking.pdf
4. Alcohol tax in Australia – as of November 2006 (government Pdf file)