Size does matter: An exploration of the relationship between licensed venue capacity and on-premise assaults.

AIMS: Venue capacity has been proposed as a factor associated with increased number of violent incidents on-premises, though no specific research has demonstrated this association, and instead has tended to focus on the relationship between crowding and aggression. The aim of current paper is to investigate the association between venue capacity and the number of violent incidents on-premises. METHODS: Venue capacity data (the maximum capacity listed on the liquor license) were obtained for all venues in central Melbourne from 2010 until 2016. These data were then matched with police-recorded on-premises assaults that occurred within high-alcohol hours (Friday and Saturday 8 pm-6 am) inside the venue. RESULTS: Analyses were conducted on 5729 venue-years (yearly assault counts per venue, per year) across central Melbourne. Compared with venues that have a maximum capacity of between 0 and 100 patrons, venues with higher capacities have increasingly more recorded assaults. Venues with maximum capacities between 501 and 1000 are 6.1 times more likely to have an assault recorded compared with venues with a maximum capacity between 0 and 100. Further, each additional high-alcohol hour that a venue can be open for is associated with a 72% increase in the number of recorded assaults. CONCLUSIONS: Greater venue capacity was found to be strongly associated with an increased risk of violent incidents for any given venue. This was further exacerbated by late-night trading which substantially adds to the risk of assaults inside the venue.

Neurocognitive functioning among people accessing an addiction neuropsychology clinic with and without a history of offending behaviour.

Effectiveness of interventions for violent behaviour may be undermined by the presence of neurocognitive impairment, which is known to be common among alcohol and other drug (AOD) users and violent offenders. The current study aimed to examine whether the cognitive functioning of individuals with AOD histories presenting to a specialist addiction neuropsychology service differed according to their offending history (i.e. non-offending, non-violent offending and violent offending), using a retrospective case file audit design. Data were extracted from 190 clients. Tests assessed a breadth of cognitive domains. Violent offenders demonstrated the lowest premorbid IQ out of the three groups, and a significantly higher proportion of violent offenders presented with impaired divided attention and impaired cognitive inhibition compared to non-violent offenders. Rates of impairment across groups were well beyond those expected within the general population. Delivery of both AOD and violence interventions should be adapted to accommodate individuals' cognitive difficulties.

Reciprocal associations between early adolescent antisocial behavior and depressive symptoms: A longitudinal study in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, United States.

PURPOSE: Reciprocal prospective associations between adolescent antisocial behavior and depressive symptoms were examined. METHODS: Seventh grade students (average age 13 years; N=2,314/2,348) were surveyed (T1), and then followed-up 12 (T2) and 24 months (T3) later, using the same methods in Washington State and Victoria, Australia. RESULTS: Negative binomial regressions showed antisocial behavior (T1, T2) did not prospectively predict depressive symptoms (T2, T3). T1 multivariate predictors for T2 depressive symptoms included female gender (incident rate ratio [IRR] = 1.70), prior depressive symptoms (IRR = 1.06), alcohol use (IRR = 1.13), family conflict (IRR = 1.13), antisocial peers (IRR = 1.08) and bullying victimization (IRR = 1.06). Depressive symptoms (T1, T2) did not predict antisocial behavior (T2, T3). T1 multivariate predictors for T2 antisocial behavior included female gender (IRR = .96), age (IRR = .97), prior antisocial behavior (IRR = 1.32), alcohol use (IRR = 1.04), antisocial peers (IRR = 1.11) and academic failure (IRR = 1.03). CONCLUSIONS: Depressive symptoms and antisocial behaviors showed considerable predictive stability in early adolescence but were not reciprocally related. Prevention and intervention strategies in adolescence may benefit by targeting common predictors such as alcohol, peer interactions and early symptoms for depression and antisocial behavior.

Short-term changes in nightlife attendance and patron intoxication following alcohol restrictions in Queensland, Australia.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to explore short-term changes following the introduction of alcohol restrictions (most notably 2 am to 3 am last drinks). We examined patterns of nightlife attendance, intoxication, and alcohol use among patrons shortly before and after restrictions were introduced in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane: the largest night-time entertainment precinct of Queensland. METHODS: Street-intercept patron interviews were conducted in Fortitude Valley in June (n = 497) and July (n = 562) 2016. A pre-post design was used to assess changes in time spent out drinking/partying prior to the interview, time of arrival in the precinct, pre-drinking, and blood alcohol concentration (BAC). RESULTS: Regression models indicated that after the policy introduction, the proportion of people arriving at Fortitude Valley before 10:00 pm increased (OR = 1.38; 95% CI = 1.04, 1.82). Participants reported going out, on average, one hour earlier after the intervention (ß = - 0.17; 95% CI = 0.11, 0.22). There was a decrease (RRR = 0.58; 95% CI = 0.43, 0.79) in the proportion of participants who had a high level of intoxication (BAC ≥0.10 g/dL) post-intervention. No other significant differences were found. CONCLUSIONS: Earlier cessation of alcohol sales and stopping the sale of rapid intoxication drinks after midnight was associated with people arriving in Fortitude Valley earlier. Though legislative loopholes allowed some venues to continue trading to 5 am, the proportion of people in the precinct who were highly intoxicated decreased after the restriction. Further measurement will be required to determine whether the reduction has persisted.

Queensland Alcohol-related violence and Night Time Economy Monitoring project (QUANTEM): a study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol-related harm is a substantial burden on the community in Australia and internationally, particularly harm related to risky drinking practices of young people in the night-time economy. This protocol paper describes a study that will report on the changes in a wide range of health and justice outcome measures associated with major policy changes in the state of Queensland, Australia. A key element includes trading hours restrictions for licensed premises to 2 am for the state and 3 am in Safe Night Precincts (SNPs). Other measures introduced include drinks restrictions after midnight, increased patron banning measures for repeat offenders, mandatory ID scanning of patrons in late-night venues, and education campaigns. METHODS: The primary aim of the study is to evaluate change in the levels of harm due to these policy changes using administrative data (e.g., police, hospital, ambulance, and court data). Other study elements will investigate the impact of the Policy by measuring foot traffic volume in SNPs, using ID scanner data to quantify the volume of people entering venues and measure the effectiveness of banning notices, using patron interviews to quantify the levels of pre-drinking, intoxication and illicit drug use within night-time economy districts, and to explore the impacts of the Policy on business and live music, and costs to the community. DISCUSSION: The information gathered through this project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Policy and to draw on these findings to inform future prevention and enforcement approaches by policy makers, police, and venue staff.

Demographic Risk Factors for Alcohol-Related Aggression In and Around Licensed Venues.

AIMS: Few studies have examined the role of gender and both area-level and individual socio-economic status (SES) as independent predictors of alcohol-related aggression (ARA) in and around licensed venues. METHODS: The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between gender, area-level SES and individual SES (operationalised as occupational category) and ARA in and around licensed venues. The sample comprised 697 men and 649 women aged 16-47, who completed a patron intercept survey as part of a larger study assessing trends in harm and stakeholders' views surrounding local community level interventions in dealing with alcohol-related problems in the night-time economy. RESULTS: Binary logistic regression analyses showed that age, gender, occupational category, area-level SES and level of intoxication at time of interview were all significant predictors of involvement in ARA. Being male doubled the odds of involvement in ARA, while age was a protective factor. Blue collar workers had more than double the odds of ARA involvement of professionals, while those living in the most socio-economically disadvantaged areas were over twice as likely to report experiencing ARA compared to those living in the most advantaged areas. However, assessment of the predictive model by gender revealed that effects of age, occupational category and area-level SES were restricted to male participants, with greater intoxication no longer predictive. CONCLUSIONS: ARA among patrons was significantly more likely to occur among men, those in blue collar occupations, and individuals living in low SES areas, suggesting both individual and area-level disadvantage may play a role in ARA.

Effectiveness of interventions for convicted DUI offenders in reducing recidivism: a systematic review of the peer-reviewed scientific literature.

BACKGROUND: Driving under the influence (DUI) is a major cause of death and disability. Although a broad array of programs designed to curb DUI incidents are currently offered to both first-time and recidivist DUI offenders, existing evaluations of the effectiveness of these programs have reported mixed results. OBJECTIVE: To synthesize the results of DUI program evaluations and determine the strength of the available evidence for reducing recidivism for different types of programs. METHODS: A systematic review of all EBSCO databases, EMBASE, PubMed, ProQuest, Sociological Abstracts and TRIS was conducted to identify evaluations of treatments/interventions to prevent DUI offenses. Additional articles were identified from reference lists of relevant articles. RESULTS: A total of 42 relevant studies were identified by the search strategy. Of these, 33 utilized non-experimental evaluation designs or reported insufficient data to allow effect sizes to be calculated, making meta-analysis unfeasible. Evaluations of several different program types reported evidence of some level of effectiveness. CONCLUSION: Because of the general lack of high quality evidence assessing the effectiveness of DUI prevention programs, it is not possible to make conclusive statements about the types of programs that are likely to be most effective. Nonetheless, there was some evidence to support the effectiveness of programs that utilize intensive supervision and education. There is a need for future evaluations to adopt more scientifically rigorous research designs to establish the effects of these programs.

The association between an abusive father-son relationship, quantity of alcohol consumption, and male-to-male alcohol-related aggression.

BACKGROUND: While alcohol consumption and heavy episodic (binge) drinking are well-established predictors of male-to-male alcohol-related aggression (MMARA), the role of the father-son relationship in MMARA has yet to be explored. METHODS: This study therefore examined whether fathering by the biological father rather than another father figure, negative fathering, and gender role modeled by the father figure were significant predictors of involvement in MMARA, once drinking frequency and quantity and heavy episodic drinking were controlled for. A total of 121 university students aged 18 to 25 years (M = 20.63, SD = 1.77 years) voluntarily completed the online questionnaire. RESULTS: The only significant predictors of perpetration of MMARA were a more abusive paternal relationship and drinking quantity (number of standard drinks usually consumed when drinking). CONCLUSIONS: Negative father-son relationships may play a role in fostering young men's perpetration of MMARA in the barroom context.

Investigating the relationship between inaccurate blood alcohol concentration estimates, harm and other negative consequences.

INTRODUCTION: Alcohol-related harms place a significant burden on the Australian economy and health-care system. The current study aims to: (i) explore the relationship between blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and self-estimated blood alcohol concentration (EBAC); and (ii) determine whether BAC underestimation is related to an increased risk of experiencing physical aggression, verbal aggression, drink driving, ejection from a venue or refusal of service. METHODS: Patron street surveys were conducted in four night-time entertainment precincts (NEP) across Queensland, Australia, between June 2016 and November 2018. Participants (N = 2144) reported on their EBAC and recent negative or harmful experiences in NEPs. BAC was measured via a breathalyser. Paired samples t tests were conducted to determine if patrons' BAC and EBAC were significantly different. Logistic regressions were conducted to examine whether BAC underestimation is a significant predictor of harm and negative outcomes. RESULTS: Analyses identified a small, significant difference between patron's BAC and EBAC. Patrons with a low BAC were more likely to overestimate their BAC, while patrons with higher BACs were more likely to underestimate their BAC. Moderately intoxicated patrons had the most precise BAC estimations. Patrons with a high BAC and who underestimated their intoxication level were more likely to have been recently ejected from licensed venues, compared to accurate estimators or over-estimators. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Overall, patrons are poor evaluators of their own intoxication level, which may have implications for their experiences in NEPs. The findings highlight the need for improved BAC education for patrons.

Key informant perspectives on 3 am last drinks legislation in Queensland, Australia.

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to explore key informant attitudes towards the 'Last Drinks at 3am' legislation in Safe Night Precincts in Queensland, Australia. METHOD: Sixty-six interviews were conducted with a range of stakeholders including licensees, law enforcement and frontline health professionals. Interviews were semi-structured and analysed using thematic analysis. Key informants responded to questions regarding their experiences of, and opinions about, the last drinks legislation. RESULTS: Key informants reported a range of experiences around the impact of last drinks restrictions, including reduced staffing costs and patron-related problems within licensed venues. While some venues reported that their businesses lost money, others reported no change in income or that they changed their business model to compensate. Law enforcement and health professionals reported a range of benefits including reduced alcohol-related anti-social behaviour, drunkenness and injury. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of key informants reported that the last drinks legislation reduced harm, while having minimal detrimental impact on business.

Do relationship education programs reduce relationship aggression? A meta-analytic study.

There is an increasing focus on evaluating the effectiveness of Relationship Education (RE) programs on reducing relationship aggression. Nevertheless, there has been little by way of a systematic quantitative synthesis of research to date. The primary aim of this research was to conduct a meta-analysis into the effects of RE programs on relationship aggression and provide a comprehensive assessment as to the moderating effects of various methodological characteristics of studies. A secondary aim was to determine whether RE programs reduce negative aspects of relationship functioning that are known to exacerbate relationship aggression. Thirty-one studies (n = 25,527) were included comprising of pre-post comparison studies and control trials. Overall, RE programs were significantly associated with reductions in relationship aggression (d = 0.11, p = .001). Pre-post studies yielded a significantly larger effect size (d = 0.28, p < .001) than RCT studies (d = 0.05, p = .10). Subgroup analysis revealed that participants who reported moderate to severe relationship aggression upon RE program entry demonstrated large reductions in physical (d = 0.66, p = .01) and psychological (d = 0.85, p < .001) aggression compared to those who reported minimal to low relationship aggression on entry (physical aggression d = 0.07, p = .009; psychological aggression d = -0.04; p = .17). Amongst participants who reported moderate to severe relationship aggression, RE programs were also found to reduce controlling behavior (d = 0.20, p < .01) and conflict behavior (d = 0.40, p < .001). Findings demonstrate the emerging efficacy of RE programs for reducing relationship aggression and conflict behavior, particularly in those with a history of moderate to severe levels of relationship aggression.

Predictors of cognitive functioning in presentations to a community-based specialist addiction neuropsychology service.

INTRODUCTION: Cognitive impairment is common in individuals presenting to alcohol and other drug (AOD) settings and the presence of biopsychosocial complexity and health inequities can complicate the experience of symptoms and access to treatment services. A challenge for neuropsychologists in these settings is to evaluate the likely individual contribution of these factors to cognition when providing an opinion regarding diagnoses such as acquired brain injury (ABI). This study therefore aimed to identify predictors of cognitive functioning in AOD clients attending for neuropsychological assessment. METHODS: Clinical data from 200 clients with AOD histories who attended for assessment between 2014 and 2018 were analysed and a series of multiple regressions were conducted to explore predictors of cognitive impairment including demographic, diagnostic, substance use, medication, and mental health variables. RESULTS: Regression modelling identified age, gender, years of education, age of first use, days of abstinence, sedative load, emotional distress and diagnoses of ABI and developmental disorders as contributing to aspects of neuropsychological functioning. Significant models were obtained for verbal intellectual functioning (Adj R2 = 0.19), nonverbal intellectual functioning (Adj R2 = 0.10), information processing speed (Adj R2 = 0.20), working memory (Adj R2 = 0.05), verbal recall (Adj R2 = 0.08), visual recall (Adj R2 = 0.22), divided attention (Adj R2 = 0.14), and cognitive inhibition (Adj R2 = 0.07). CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the importance of careful provision of diagnoses in clients with AOD histories who have high levels of unmet clinical needs. They demonstrate the interaction of premorbid and potentially modifiable comorbid factors such as emotional distress and prescription medication on cognition. Ensuring that modifiable risk factors for cognitive impairment are managed may reduce experiences of cognitive impairment and improve diagnostic clarity.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Trends of Violence-Related Offences in Australia.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the medium-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on violence-related offences in Australia, and whether there was evidence of a 'dual pandemic' of family violence in addition to COVID-19. METHODS: Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average time series were conducted to analyse publicly available violent crime statistics data from January 2017 to November 2021. Population rates of homicide, sexual, domestic and non-domestic assault were assessed across each Australian state and territory, with the effects of COVID-19 being modelled using the average monthly World Health Organization COVID-19 stringency rating for each jurisdiction. FINDINGS: All jurisdictions in Australia showed increasing or stable domestic assault trends over the past decade, which were not significantly impacted by COVID-19, nor by the subsequent lockdowns. Non-domestic assaults demonstrated a significant, negative relationship with the stringency index for each jurisdiction, except Western Australia. There was no significant change in the rates of homicide or sexual assault across Australia in relation to COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Overall, there was no evidence of a 'dual pandemic' in Australia, and whilst domestic assaults continue to increase across the country, non-domestic assaults showed a notable but brief decline. However, these have returned to levels at least as high as pre-COVID-19 and some states show a continuing upward trend. The findings also suggest that alcohol availability may have played a role in continuing high violence numbers. Given the ongoing increasing and high levels of family violence in Australia, revised conceptual frameworks and interventions are indicated.

Father trait anger: Associations with father-infant bonding and subsequent parenting stress.

Introduction: Parent anger presents a risk to family safety and child development. Father trait anger may also compromise the early relational context of fathers and offspring, yet evidence is lacking. The aim of this study is to examine effects of father trait anger on parenting stress in the toddler years, and the mediational role of father-infant bonding. Method: Data were from 177 Australian fathers of 205 children. Trait anger (total, angry temperament, and angry reaction), father-infant bonding subscales (patience and tolerance, affection and pride, and pleasure in interaction), and subsequent parenting stress (parental distress, difficult child, and parent-child dysfunctional interaction) were assessed. At each of the subscale levels, mediational path models examined whether father-infant bonding explained the relationship between trait anger and parenting stress. Models were presented where there was at least a small association between the mediator and both the predictor and outcome. Results: Patience and tolerance was the only domain of father-infant bonding correlated with both trait anger and all parenting stress outcomes. Patience and tolerance partially mediated the effect of total trait anger on parental distress and fully mediated effects on difficult child and parent-child dysfunctional interaction. Patience and tolerance fully mediated relationships between angry temperament and all domains of parenting stress. Angry reactions only had a direct effect on parental distress. Discussion: Father trait anger both directly and indirectly (through patience and tolerance in the father-infant bond) impacts their experiences of parenting stress in the toddler years. Early interventions to manage father trait anger and improve father-infant bonding may benefit fathers and children.

The Impact of Minimum Unit Price on Police-Recorded Alcohol-Related Assault Rates in the Northern Territory, Australia.

OBJECTIVE: From October 1, 2018, the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia introduced a minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol of AU$1.30 per standard drink. The MUP was introduced to address the high alcohol consumption rates and harms within the NT. This study aimed to investigate the unique short-term impact of the MUP on alcohol-related assaults across the NT, for the NT overall and separately for four key regions (Darwin and Palmerston, Alice Springs, Katherine, and Tennant Creek); which allowed for the consideration of differences in concurrent alcohol interventions and population (e.g., Alice Springs had Police Auxiliary Liquor Inspectors (PALIs) introduced on October 1, 2018, whereas Darwin and Palmerston only had the MUP introduced in this period). PALIs effectively equate to a police officer being stationed in every off-premise liquor vendor. METHOD: Using data from January 2013 to September 2019, interrupted time series (ITS) analyses assessed the short-term impact of the MUP on the monthly rate of police-recorded alcohol-related assaults. RESULTS: A 14% reduction (B = -3.07 [-5.40, -0.74], p < .010) was found for alcohol-related assault offenses per 10,000 in Darwin/Palmerston. Significant reductions were also noted in Alice Springs and the NT overall, although PALIs are likely to have contributed to these reductions in addition to the MUP. CONCLUSIONS: This short-term impact warrants longer-term follow-up to determine whether the reductions in alcohol-related assaults following the introduction of MUP are maintained, and the extent to which assault rates are influenced by other alcohol-policy interventions in the NT.

Alcohol-Involved Family and Domestic Violence Reported to Police in Australia.

Family and domestic violence (FDV) is a significant social issue that causes major harm across Australia. Alcohol has been identified as a contributing factor to FDV, and as such increased understanding of the role of alcohol in police-reported FDV incidents may provide the basis for developing specific clinical and forensic approaches. This study aims to identify the key correlates of alcohol-related FDV within police-reported FDV incidence. Data sourced from several states and territories across Australia were used to profile demographic and personal factors involved in police-reported FDV incidents, and to identify the types of incidents involving alcohol. For each state, three separate binary regressions were conducted for family violence, intimate partner violence, and FDV incidents in which alcohol was involved. Between 24% and 54% of FDV incidents reported to police were classified as alcohol-related. Although there appeared to be an association between relative socioeconomic disadvantage and an incident being alcohol-related, this association varied across states. Where victim and offender data were available, offenders were significantly more likely to be alcohol-affected than victims. Alcohol-related FDV incidents were also twice as likely to involve severe physical violence including injuries that were life threatening, as well as an increased likelihood of recidivism. This study demonstrates that alcohol plays a substantial role in police-reported FDV across Australia. It also demonstrates that other factors such as drug use, breach of orders, and repeat offending are associated with alcohol involvement across family violence and intimate partner violence.

Maybe It's Not the Meth: Considering Biopsychosocial Contributors to Cognitive Impairment in Methamphetamine Polydrug Use.

OBJECTIVE: In considering the cognitive harms of methamphetamine (MA) use, there is currently a limited appreciation of the profile of pre-existing, comorbid, or modifiable risk factors for cognitive impairment in individuals with MA-polydrug use who present to clinical services. This is in contrast to the well-recognized evidence in alcohol use groups. The aim of this study was to investigate the biopsychosocial and neuropsychological profiles of MA-polysubstance using individuals reporting cognitive impairment in comparison to an alcohol-using group. METHODS: A retrospective file audit was undertaken of individuals who presented for assessment to a specialist addiction neuropsychology service and reported either more than 1 year of heavy MA use as part of a polydrug use history (n = 40) or having only used alcohol (n = 27). Clinical histories including demographic, medical, mental health, substance use, and neuropsychological assessment results were extracted from medical records. Between group comparisons were conducted to explore differences in the MA-polydrug vs. the alcohol group. RESULTS: Individuals in the MA-polydrug group were significantly younger, commenced substance use at an earlier age, were more likely to have an offending history, and experienced an overdose than those in the alcohol group. No differences in comorbid neurodevelopmental, psychiatric or acquired brain injury diagnoses were observed between groups. For neuropsychological functioning, significant group differences were observed in overall IQ, semantic verbal fluency, and psychomotor tracking, where individuals in the alcohol group performed significantly worse. CONCLUSIONS: Neuropsychological profiles were largely equivalent between groups across cognitive domains, with minor differences in favor of the MA-polydrug group. Relative to the general population, cognitive functioning was reduced for both groups across a range of domains. High rates of comorbid mental health concerns were common across both groups, however, individuals in the MA-polydrug group presented with a higher risk of overall harm from substance use at a significantly younger age which is a unique concern for this group. These findings highlight the importance of considering the biopsychosocial factors, such as age of first use, emotional distress, indirect substance related harms including overdose and blood born virus infection that may be relevant to experiences of cognitive difficulty in MA-polydrug users.

Coercive Controlling Behaviors and Reporting Physical Intimate Partner Violence in Australian Women: An Exploration.

This study explores two approaches to measuring coercive controlling behaviors (CCBs)-counting how many different CCB types and examining the frequency of each CCB experienced-to examine their utility in explaining the relationship between CCBs and physical intimate partner violence (IPV). Australian women aged 18-68 years (n = 739; Mage = 31.58, SDage = 11.76) completed an online survey. Count and frequency CCB approaches yielded similar significant associations with increased physical IPV. Both approaches suggest that frightening behaviors in particular are significantly indicative of also experiencing physical IPV; however, when you count CCB types, public name-calling becomes important, whereas when you examine the frequency of each CCB type, jealousy/possessiveness becomes important. These findings suggest differential utility between measures of CCBs, which examine the frequency of specific CCB types and which count CCB types, and that both approaches are useful in understanding how coercion and control relate to physical violence within intimate relationships.

Factors Associated with Unwanted Sexual Attention in Australian Nightlife Districts: An Exploratory Study of Nightlife Attendees.

BACKGROUND: Experiences of unwanted sexual attention (UWSA) are commonplace within nightlife environments. While typically associated with aggression perpetration, literature has suggested that a history of childhood corporal punishment (CCP) may also be related to experiences of victimisation in nightlife environments. The current exploratory study aims to examine the associations between experiences of UWSA victimisation and a history of CCP, trait aggression, and conformity to masculine norms (Playboy and Winning), for males and females separately. METHOD: Street intercept interviews in the Brisbane inner-city entertainment precincts were used to measure demographic details and participants' breath alcohol concentration. Online follow-up surveys were used to record participants' experiences of UWSA on the night of interview, history of CCP, and self-reported rates of trait aggression and conformity to masculine norms. The final sample consisted of 288 females, as there were not sufficient male UWSA experiences for analysis. RESULTS: Approximately 20% of female nightlife patrons experienced some form of UWSA victimisation. Logistic regression analyses identified that after controlling for age and intoxication, a history of CCP, trait aggression and masculine norm conformity were unrelated to experiences of UWSA for female respondents. CONCLUSIONS: The current study found that individual factors were unrelated to experiences of UWSA, indicating that simply being in the nightlife environment, especially as a female, increases the risk of UWSA victimisation. Understanding and exploring social and environmental risk factors, rather than individual factors, is needed to prevent victimisation in nightlife environments.

The value of identification scanner technology in monitoring and detecting banned patrons in entertainment precincts.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Networked identification (ID) scanner technology is a novel approach to collecting licensed venue attendance data, and potentially reducing alcohol-related violence by detecting banned patrons. Using ID scanner data from three Queensland entertainment precincts (Safe Night Precincts; SNPs), we aim to: (i) examine patterns in patron attendance to licensed venues; and (ii) examine patterns in the detection of banned patrons. DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted descriptive analyses of licensed venue patron entries between 1 October 2017 and 30 June 2019. Scans during high alcohol hours (Friday and Saturday, 20:00-06:00) were stratified by patron sex and key age groups. We described scans associated with a detected banning notice issued by venues, courts or police across all Queensland SNPs and three key SNPs. RESULTS: ID scanner data showed similar attendance trends across SNPs. The peak licensed venue entry hour was 23:00-23:59, with Saturday being the peak day. Approximately two-thirds of scanned patrons were male, and patrons had a mean age of 25.8 years (SD = 8.80). Scanners detected 48 657 attempted entries by banned patrons, with the majority of attempts made by males (85%) aged 18-24 years (61%). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to the limited evidence on the use of ID scanners in the night-time economy and highlights the feasibility of ID scanner use in this setting. Results demonstrate the value of scanners to passively collect data on patrons, identify banned patrons and assist in the enforcement of bans.