The consumption of alcohol by Australian adolescents: A comparison of revenue and expenditure

Aims: To estimate (i) Australian government taxation revenue collected from the consumption of alcohol by adolescents and (ii) the amount spent by the government on interventions aimed at educating adolescents about the potential dangers of alcohol use. Design: Secondary data analysis. Setting: Australia. Findings: Australian adolescents (aged between 12 and 17 years, inclusive) spent approximately $217 million on alcoholic beverages in 2002, netting the Australian government approximately $112 million in tax revenue. This resulted in an average of $195 earned in tax per adolescent drinker. It is estimated that the Government spent approximately $17 million on adolescent drinking interventions in 2002, equating to an expenditure of about $10.51 per adolescent on the delivery of alcohol interventions. For every dollar spent on alcohol interventions aimed at adolescents, it is estimated that the government receives around $7 in alcohol tax revenue. Conclusions: A substantial disparity exists between the amount of tax revenue received by the Australian Government from adolescent drinkers and the overall amount spent in attempting to prevent and relieve some of the problems associated with adolescent problem drinking. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using the tax system to collect fines

In this article we consider the possibility that fines could be collected through the tax and social welfare systems in the same way as higher education contributions and child support payments are currently administered. We argue that the existing system of fine collection and enforcement leads to high default rates and reduces the usefulness of fines as a sanction. We consider a range of models for the implementation of an income-related fine collection system, and discuss their possible implications for issues including judicial independence, the time taken to repay fines and aggregate fine revenue.