Australia: Alcoholism accounts for a quarter of deaths in the Northern Territory

From an article in the Guardian on Thursday June 21, 2007.Click here to see the whole article:

Alcohol kills an Aborigine every 38 hours and accounts for a quarter of deaths in the Northern Territory.

"There is a strong association between alcohol abuse, violence and sexual abuse of children."

They are consistently the nation's most disadvantaged group, with far higher rates of unemployment, alcohol and drug abuse, and domestic violence.

The child abuse report, Little Children Are Sacred, released last week, found drinking was a key contributor to the collapse of Aboriginal culture and neglect of children, and created opportunities for paedophiles.

From another article in the Guardian on Thursday June 21, 2007. Click here to see the whole article:

"It is absolutely clear that unless we take on and overcome the abuse of alcohol and the harm it causes the Aboriginal people, then the Aboriginal people and their cultures are likely to disappear within a generation or so," the inquiry found.

The authors visited 45 Aboriginal communities and found crime had been cut by 70% in areas where pubs had been shut.

"The inquiry believes that extreme alcohol abuse has become normal in the Northern Territory and the devastating effects on children are rapidly increasing.