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The Australian Government will set the direction for addressing road safety over the next decade with its 2021–2030 National Road Safety Strategy. This road map will detail objectives and goals agreed upon by all Australian states and territories. Similar to previous national strategies, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians are a high priority population. Indigenous Australians are over‐represented in serious injury and fatal road crashes, with alcohol a leading factor. Therapeutic and educational programs are a major strategy among the suite of measures designed to reduce and prevent drink driving in Australia. The release of this new strategy provides a timely opportunity to reflect on what is known about drink driving among Indigenous Australians and to consider the suitability of existing therapeutic and educational drink driving programs for Indigenous Australian contexts. Here, we summarise factors that contribute to drink driving in this population and identify outstanding knowledge gaps. Then, we present an overview of drink driving programs available for Indigenous Australians along with suggestions for why tailored programs are needed to suit local contexts. The response to address drink driving among Indigenous Australians has been fragmented Australia‐wide. A coordinated national response, with ongoing monitoring and evaluation, would improve policy effectiveness and inform more efficient allocation of resources. Together this information can help create suitable and effective drink driving programs for Indigenous drivers and communities Australia‐wide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study investigates the prevalence and characteristics of first drink driving convictions among young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians (aged from 14 to 24) and considers some of the risk factors associated with recidivism.Methods: Convictions recorded between 2006 and 2013 were extracted from the Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney General database. Convictions were regrouped by gender, age, Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia classification, and sentence severity. Chi-square analyses and logistic regression were conducted to identify group differences in offense characteristics for gender and recidivism (recidivists versus nonrecidivists).Results: The sample consisted of 1,583 individuals (74.1% males) convicted in the 8-year period. Gender comparisons showed that there was no significant difference in age at time of first offense, blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level at apprehension, or type of penalty received between males and females. However, males received larger fines and longer periods of license disqualification. Comparisons for reoffending and non-reoffending revealed that males, drivers aged 14-17 years of age and 18 to 20 years of age, and inner regional drivers were more likely to reoffend.Conclusions: There were limited differences between females and males or recidivists and nonrecidivists at first conviction. Convictions for drink driving may provide an opportunity for early alcohol intervention with Indigenous young drivers (<20 years) because it is likely to be an individual's first alcohol-related conviction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beliefs and misconceptions about sex, gender, and rape have been explored extensively to explain attributions concerning alcohol-involved sexual violence. However, less is known about the specific beliefs that people hold about how alcohol facilitates sexual aggression and victimisation. The present study aimed to identify these alcohol-related beliefs among young Australian adults. Six men and nine women (N = 15; 18-24 years) in focus groups (n = 13) and interviews (n = 2) were asked to discuss the role of alcohol in a hypothetical alcohol-involved rape. Using a consensual qualitative research methodology, the effects of alcohol that were seen to introduce, progress, and intensify risks for rape were: increased confidence; character transformation; impaired cognition; behavioural disinhibition; altered sexual negotiation; enhanced self-centredness; impaired awareness of wrongdoing; increased/decreased sexual assertiveness; and compromised self-protection. Some of the beliefs identified in this study are not currently captured in alcohol expectancy measures which assess people's beliefs about alcohol's effects on cognition, emotion, and behaviour. This study's findings offer a conceptual basis for the development of a new alcohol expectancy measure that can be used in future rape-perception research.