Tasmania ranked second last in Australia on Alcohol Policy Scorecard

The annual initiative of the National Alliance for Action on Alcohol aims to raise awareness of progress in alcohol policy development, recognise good practice in alcohol policy, and motivate governments to improve alcohol policy.

States and territories are rated on nine criteria for their overall performance on alcohol policy implementations.

Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Council of Tasmania chief executive Alison Lai said that the results were incredibly disappointing.

"We congratulate the work of our other states and territories, who are implementing contemporary alcohol policies and being courageous in the development of measures that place the health of their communities front and centre," Ms Lai said.

"We are acutely aware that one of the key reasons why Tasmania continues to score so poorly is because our Alcohol Action Framework is substantially out-of-date, having expired in 2015, and there's been no progress by the Tasmanian government for it to be updated.

"We are also aware that the NAAA continues to have concerns about the level of influence the alcohol industry is having on the development and regulation of alcohol policies in our state.

"When the health of Tasmanians is prioritised ahead of the interests of the alcohol industry, we all benefit."

Health Minister Michael Ferguson said the current framework has not expired.

"It is extended to 2019 because the state government has been focusing on working with other states and territories to agree and finalise the National Alcohol Strategy," Mr Ferguson said. 

"The National Alcohol Strategy is crucial to inform the new Tasmanian framework so we're not concerned about getting criticised for following advice in order to do what's best for our state.

"These kinds of surveys can be very misleading because even the best states with the best policies are marked down if there hasn't been a policy change.

"The Tasmanian government takes the issue of problem drinking very seriously which is why we invest up to $23 million on drug and alcohol support programs each year. 

"This includes $6 million for 30 new rehabilitation beds, including securing 12 new beds in Ulverstone through to 2022.

"We have recently boosted our support for preventative programs through organisations such as the $870,000 for the alcohol and drug foundation Goodsports program.''

New South Wales ranked last on the alcohol scorecard because it does not have an alcohol strategy in place, it failed to introduce several recommendations arising from a review into alcohol advertising and there is concern about the level of alcohol industry influence in the states alcohol policies.

This year's best performing government was the Northern Territory.

NAAA co-chair Jane Martin said the Northern Territory was a worthy winner of the best performer in the Alcohol Policy Scorecard.

"The Northern Territory government is taking action to introduce a range of alcohol policies that will save lives and keep people healthy and well," Ms Martin said.

"Their comprehensive reform agenda is leaving no stone unturned and they have also committed to evaluating these measures to contribute to further evidence-based policy development."

An Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report released last month, Alcohol and other drug use in regional and remote Australia: consumption, harms and access to treatment 2016 - 17, found Australians living in remote and regional areas are more likely than people living in major cities to have consumed alcohol at quantities that placed them at risk of harm from an alcohol-related disease or injury. 

Outer regional Tasmania, however, ranked lowest for the proportion of people aged 14 or older drinking alcohol at levels that placed them at harm over a lifetime at 13.4 per cent.