Newly released government data reveals there's been a 50 per cent spike in alcohol-related presentations in the Alice Springs emergency department since the lifting of long-term alcohol bans in the middle of last year.
The NT Health data shows such cases in Alice Springs Hospital jumped from 856 in the second quarter of 2022 to 1,299 in the final quarter of the year.
The bans introduced as part of the Howard government Intervention had been in place for 15 years, and covered dozens of communities across the NT, including 18 town camps in Alice Springs.
The lifting of the bans – and a lack of resources supplied by governments to help communities transition out of them – have been cited by Aboriginal health organisations, unions and Opposition political leaders as key factors for a prolonged and frequently violent crime wave in Alice Springs.
On Wednesday, Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles acknowledged the increase in alcohol-related harm.
"It was certainly that November, December period where we saw an increase – and that is why we continue to be agile with policies and put in place different measures," Ms Fyles said.
Asked if she agreed with the prime minister's comment yesterday that "all governments could have done better" in handling the end of the bans, Ms Fyles said: "Hindsight is a wonderful thing."
"For me, it's important for territorians, and particularly [people on] the east coast, to understand, that we have put a range of measures around alcohol policy, but we're also focused around the issues that drive this."
The ABC has confirmed that no tailored resources were supplied to Northern Territory communities by the Commonwealth to help them transition out of the bans, such as rehabilitation programs.
The Albanese government supplied $3 million to the region to help it deal with crime and high levels of domestic violence in the wake of the bans lifting.
Organisations call for immediate action
The new data also shows a spike in presentations at the NT's biggest hospital, Royal Darwin, which during the same period hit its highest rate of alcohol-related presentations since 2018.
For months, frontline organisations have pleaded for the release of real-time hospital data in order to measure the impact of the change, but none has been released.
Domestic violence workers are calling on the Northern Territory and federal governments to immediately put more funding on the table for specialised domestic violence services in Darwin's hospital.
Regina Bennett, the general manager of the Darwin Aboriginal and Islander Women's Shelter, said they'd been raising the issue with the Northern Territory government for months.
"The needs within the emergency department are huge," Ms Bennett said.
"They need their own domestic violence workers working within there, to be able to assist with doctors and nurses on the spot, because of the high number of women that are presenting at ED."
John Paterson, the head of the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT, said immediate funding needed to put on the table for the issue or lives could be put at risk.
"There certainly could be disastrous outcomes," Mr Paterson said.
"We've got to listen to those at the coalface – and we need to make sure that the patient comes first.
"If there's people that have been abused, sexual violence, alcohol violence, we need to make sure that their safety is paramount."
Ms Fyles called for more funding from federal Labor to be able to properly deal with the spike.
"The Commonwealth need to step up," Ms Fyles said.
Dr Robert Parker, the CEO of the NT Australian Medical Association, said he warned Ms Fyles that this situation would occur, once the bans were lifted.
"We were very clear this was going to happen," Dr Parker told ABC Alice Springs on Wednesday.
"In July, I gave her data from North Queensland on the massive population effects there of alcohol in North Queensland and how it had a major impact on physical and mental health."
NT Health declined to put forward Dr Stephen Gourley, director of the emergency department at Alice Springs Hospital, to speak on the matter.
