Pre-European Māori were one of very societies in the world not to produce their own waipiro / alcohol.
Many factors in our society (racism, availability of alcohol, deprivation, access to services, etc) are involved in Māori being more likely to drink heavily.
- In 2016/17, Māori males are 1.7 times more likely to be hazardous drinkers than non-Māori males
- In 2016/17, Māori females are 2.3 times more likely to be hazardous drinkers than non-Māori females
Rates of hazardous drinking among Māori women continue to increase.
Māori are more likely to experience alcohol-related harm than non-Māori. Young Māori males are more negatively impacted by living in close proximity to alcohol outlets than European young males - the reason for this is currently unknown.
Biological differences between Māori and non-Māori do not explain the inequities that Māori face in relation to alcohol - wider society should be the focus in explaining the differences in harm.
Waipiro / alcohol and Māori
It is important to know that pre-European Māori were one of the few known societies not to have manufactured or used psychoactive substances.
Many Māori petitioned Parliament for the total prohibition of alcohol, realising the harm it was causing to their communities.
There is an excellent resource on the history of alcohol and Māori, click the button below.
A HISTORY OF MAORI AND ALCOHOL
Trends in alcohol consumption among Māori
‘Hazardous drinking’ refers to an established alcohol drinking pattern that carries a risk of harming the drinker’s physical or mental health or having harmful social effects on the drinker or others.
From 2006/07 to 2011/12, the rate of hazardously drinking among Māori men and women dropped considerably (from 43.5% to 37.1% in men, and from 24.2% to 20.9% in women).
From 2011/12 to 2015/16, hazardous consumption remained stable among Māori men but increased substantially among Māori women.
In 2012/13, Māori women had a rate of hazardous drinking equal to that of European/other men.
Among men, the rates (%) of hazardous drinking are below:
|
2006/07 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2015/16 |
|
|
Māori men |
43.5 |
37.1 |
38.8 |
37.2 |
38.4 |
36.9 |
|
Pacific men |
33.7 |
29.6 |
27.4 |
27.0 |
34.8 |
29.4 |
|
Asian men |
10.1 |
6.9 |
7.8 |
4.7 |
7.6 |
7.2 |
|
European/Other men |
26.2 |
21.8 |
22.3 |
22.9 |
25.7 |
29.0 |
Among women, the rates (%) of hazardous drinking are below:
|
2006/07 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2015/16 |
|
|
Māori women |
24.2 |
20.9 |
23.1 |
25.2 |
27.0 |
29.4 |
|
Pacific women |
14.0 |
10.7 |
8.6 |
13.7 |
13.7 |
13.3 |
|
Asian women |
1.8 |
1.8 |
2.2 |
2.6 |
1.7 |
2.0 |
|
European/Other women |
10.2 |
8.1 |
8.6 |
10.8 |
10.4 |
12.3 |
These changes are shown below:
The survey question changed in 2015/16 - but what can be seen is that the rates of hazardous drinking remain high among Māori men and women.
Among men, the rate/prevalence (%) of hazardous drinking is shown below:
|
|
2015/16 |
2016/17 |
|
Māori men |
37.9 |
39.0 |
|
Pacific men |
36.0 |
32.3 |
|
Asian men |
11.7 |
9.7 |
|
European/Other men |
30.4 |
28.4 |
Among women, the rate/prevalence (%) of hazardous drinking is shown below:
|
2015/16 |
2016/17 |
|
|
Māori women |
24.8 |
27.6 |
|
Pacific women |
14.1 |
15.2 |
|
Asian women |
2.2 |
3.2 |
|
European/Other women |
13.9 |
12.2 |
Inequities between Māori and non-Māori
In 2016/17, there were large differences in the prevalence of hazardous drinking between Māori and non-Māori:
- Māori were 1.7 times more likely to be classified as hazardous drinkers
- Māori men were 1.4 times more likely to be classified as hazardous drinkers
- Māori women were 2.3 times more likely to be classified as hazardous drinkers
Alcohol-related harm among Māori
Māori suffer extraordinary harm from alcohol - from their own drinking and from the drinking of others:
- Between 2004 and 2007, Māori deaths from alcohol were two and half times greater than non-Maori [12].
- Of the 802 alcohol-related deaths in New Zealand in 2007, 185 were Māori and 617 were non-Māori.
- Māori are more likely to be apprehended by police for an offence that involved alcohol
- Māori are more likely to experience harmful effects on areas such as financial position, work, study or employment, injuries and legal problems as a result of their drinking compared with other New Zealanders
- Māori women suffer more adverse effects as a result of other people’s drinking than any other sub-group by ethnicity and gender.
- There are strong links between alcohol and suicide. New Zealand has the highest rate of youth suicide in the developed world and again, inequalities are present between Maori and non-Māori.
The social, economic and physical environment is unjust
Economic
Economic deprivation plays a major role in drinking and harm. Māori are more likely to experience deprivation than non-Māori.
Social
New Zealand Secondary school students who report experiencing ethnic discrimination are almost twice as likely to report binge drinking as those who do not [13].
The effects of colonisation, institutional and structural biases are likely to play major roles in Māori experiencing disproportionately more harm from their drinking and ability to improve the socio-economic and physical conditions of daily life.
Physical
Māori are more likely to live in communities saturated with alcohol outlets. Outlets face stiff competition so will often lower their prices and stay open for longer.
This increased availability of cheap alcohol and longer opening hours is likely to play a major role in Māori suffering more alcohol-related harm.
Research shows that Māori (and Pacific) young males are more negatively impacted by living in close proximity to alcohol outlets than European young males aged 18-24 years.