The NSW government and opposition are being asked to commit $800,000 to fund a community defenders office. This would help residents navigate the alcohol licensing and planning systems for proposed liquor outlets in their area.
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The proposal - similar to the existing Environment Defenders Office, which specialises in environmental law - is to be unveiled on Tuesday as part of the election platform of the NSW-ACT Alcohol Policy Alliance.
The alliance comprises 44 health organisations, including the NSW branch of the Australian Medical Association, the Police Association of NSW, St Vincents Hospital, and the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.
Its platform, "Not One More", says the March 2015 election "provides the people of NSW with an opportunity to ensure that their next government continues to work towards a comprehensive plan that addresses alcohol harms".
The alliance says the NSW government deserves credit for measures it introduced in January, including 1.30am lockouts and 3am last drinks for high-risk venues in the CBD and Kings Cross.
But it describes them as "tentative first steps".
"NSW must now complete the job that it started last January," it says.
Among the measures being called for is $600,000 in funding over four years to help domestic violence services collaborate with alcohol and other drugs services to develop shared care.
The group wants all existing 24-hour liquor licences abolished, tougher marketing rules and a ban on supermarket "shopper docket" promotions featuring cheap alcohol.
NAAPA's proposal is for a new community defenders office to be funded with $800,000 over four years.
Its purpose would be "to support and assist communities in having a say in how alcohol is made available in their communities".
"There is no targeted support for communities to interact with the liquor licensing or planning systems," the platform says.
"This results in unsuccessful objections and complaints or community members not engaging with these systems at all."
The chief executive of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, Michael Thorn, said that each day in NSW there were three deaths, 66 assaults, 28 emergency department presentations and 142 hospitalisations.
"That the state is enduring such a high level of preventable harms is simply unacceptable, and NAAPA says, 'Not one more'," he said.
"Last January the government took tentative steps to address the harms from alcohol, but it's now time to take more comprehensive action."
