Wednesday, 13 May 2026

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:12): (1319) My question is for the Minister for Mental Health. In the last sitting week I asked the minister for liquor regulation about illicit spirits that were being sold in Victoria. I have since met with academics and spoken with police about this issue, and it is a far greater issue than what I thought. Apparently every postcode in the state has retail outlets that are selling illicit spirits – about 30 per cent of stores. I have seen these things being sold myself. Apparently they contain adulterants such as methanol, denaturants, paint stripper, rust and other contaminants. It is also my understanding that not many people are testing this apart from academics and apparently the ATO. So my question is: what is the government doing to monitor this situation, both the prevalence and the types of adulterants that might be in these products?

 Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Government Services, Special Minister of State, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Multicultural and Multifaith Victoria) (12:13): Thank you very much, Mr Limbrick, for your question and also for the conversation that we have had recently about these issues. I know that you are very concerned about these reports of the increase in illicit or bootleg alcohol circulating within the Victorian community, and we obviously know that the consumption of illegally manufactured alcohol can have really serious health risks. We have seen some terrible examples of that in recent times, because often these products can contain substances that are potentially harmful.

Of course the import of any such bootleg alcohol is a matter that is outside of the Victorian government’s jurisdiction, but I know you are talking about the increase in locally manufactured bootleg alcohol, which of course we are concerned about. The Department of Health does continue to monitor those harms through their established surveillance and poisons information systems. There is some responsibility, both with me and with Minister Shing in that regard, in terms of the work that the Department of Health does around minimising harm. But following our discussion, I have actually asked my department to look at what other measures might be looked at in terms of strengthening that surveillance.

The current surveillance system does include gathering information from emergency department presentations and advice from our clinical and toxicology experts. Obviously we would want to ensure that any effort also had a public information element to it to make sure that the community understands the dangers of buying alcohol that is not from a reputable or licensed retailer and avoids those products that are ridiculously and unreasonably cheap. That is because they are probably cheap for a reason. But I understand the points that you are making around the significant increase in illegal alcohol.

I also just want to note that enforcement around these issues is the responsibility of the Minister for Police, but I am advised that Victoria Police’s ongoing investigations into the alleged illicit alcohol supply and enforcement agencies continue to work very closely together to address that risk, including looking into whether there are organised crime links around these unsafe products. So I am very happy to continue to talk with you about these issues, Mr Limbrick.

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:16): I thank the minister for that response. Indeed, many of these products can be found at what would be called reputable retailers. I found personally, to my surprise, that you can buy them pretty much anywhere. With regard to the minister’s comments on surveillance testing, has there actually been any testing, because my understanding is that the Victorian government does not actually have the ability to do this type of testing, which is rather concerning considering the types of adulterants that might be in these drinks. What sort of testing has actually been done as part of surveillance testing?

 Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Government Services, Special Minister of State, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Multicultural and Multifaith Victoria) (12:17): Thank you very much for that supplementary question, Mr Limbrick. Obviously I did touch on the established surveillance approach and the poisons information systems that currently exist within the Department of Health. But one of the issues that I have asked my department for some further advice around is whether there are other mechanisms that could be easily deployed around testing. So I am happy to take that element of your question on notice today and come back to you once I have received that advice from my department.