Burying alcohol in holes, distracting police and driving without headlights are just some of the methods used by people smuggling banned alcohol into restricted communities, research has found.
The alcohol, bought in large quantities long distances from restricted communities, was resold for up to 11 times the original retail price, researchers from James Cook University found.
Professor Alan Clough, part of a team that has been researching the alcohol management plan since 2014, said alcohol traffickers had some bold strategies to get booze past the police.
"People will set up decoys and try to divert police and other authorities, so that they can distract the police to accidents and suicides and things like that so people can drive in unimpeded," he said.
Other methods included burying the alcohol, stockpiling it outside the communities, and having people keep an eye on the police station so others know when to drive the alcohol in.
"It's quite elaborate," Professor Clough said.
"Even just driving at speed at night with your lights off so that no body detects you - people are taking terrible risks, really."
Professor Clough said sly grogging was mainly a problem in communities where there had been total alcohol prohibition.
"The other communities don't seem to have such issues, so total prohibition after a long period probably accounts for why we have inherited this sly grog problem," he said.
Currently, 15 indigenous communities have alcohol restrictions.
In the seven communities of Aurukun, Kowanyama, Lockhart River, Mornington River, Napranum, Woorabinda and Wujal Wujal, alcohol is completely prohibited.
In the other eight communities alcohol restrictions vary, with the maximum penalty for the third or subsequent offence a $94,612 fine or 18 months imprisonment.
Studying the impact the alcohol restrictions have had on these remote communities, Professor Clough said while results were initially positive problems soon began to emerge.
"We've realised there are these unintended consequences that really need to be addressed if these policies are going to continue to have favourable impacts," he said.
The alcohol management plan was first implemented in 2002, and Professor Clough said it had some favourable effects but the ready availability of alcohol from community canteens soon became an issue.
In 2008, he said, the Bligh government closed the canteens and prohibited alcohol entirely in about half of the communities.
"That had immediate favourable effects in terms of violence and injury judging by our indicators," Professor Clough said.
"Violence and injury dropped to historically low levels and stayed that way for probably three or four years.
"But just in recent times we're starting to see an alarming rise in indicators that we've been monitoring, so it's starting to point to things unravelling a bit."
Another issue that needed to be highlighted, Professor Clough said, was the fact the people who trafficked in illegal alcohol were treated the same under the law as people in possession of it for personal use.
"Traffickers are only a few people, and they seem to be punished in the same way as somebody who is just in possession of something they want to drink for themselves," he said.
Despite the shortcomings in the policy, Professor Clough did not want to go so far as to say the alcohol management plan had failed.
"The people who are determined to drink and to trade in drink are doing so despite the restrictions, despite the best efforts of police and others to control it," he said.
The aim of the research, he said, was to point the government, local councils and police in the direction of issues that needed to be addressed to reduce the increase in alcohol related violence and injury.
"The issue of addiction has never been addressed: the people who are addicted to alcohol have never been systematically offered treatment to change drinking styles," Professor Clough said.
"So demand reduction strategies and treatment have never really actually been widely applied."
He said there needed to be a collaborative approach that addressed each community's unique needs.
"We're hoping that this information gets picks up and used for constructive consideration about what to do in the future,"Â Professor Clough said.
Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Mark Furner said sly grogging was and issue worth taking seriously.
"In recent months, mayors of communities with alcohol management plans have spoken to me about the issue and it is apparent there is no one-size-fits-all approach," he said in a statement.
"I have also heard the community's concerns about sly grogging and the need for strategies to better tackle this issue.
"Since those meetings I have sought advice from the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships about effective ways of dealing with the problem.
"I will continue to work with communities and across government, to gather further information about these issues to inform our future approach."
Sly grogging arrests
Police in far north Queensland have made a number of arrests for sly grogging. Here is a sample:
- October, 2016: Police seize 20 bottles of liquor in Pormpuraaw. A man and a woman were charged with possession of liquor. In Kowanyama, police seized a large haul of alcohol including cask wine, XXXX cans, rum and cannabis. A man and a woman were charged with a number of offences, including possession of liquor.
- September, 2016: Police seize approximately 30 litres of alcohol allegedly headed for Arakun. Three men were arrested and charged with possession of liquor.
- 23 February, 2016: Eight people - seven men and one woman - were charged with possession of liquor in a restricted area after police intercepted two separate groups allegedly transporting alcohol in cars in Arakun.
- 16 Feburary, 2015: Police seize 91 casks of wine, 11 bottles of spirits, and 40 cans of rum and coke in Kowanyama after intercepting a vehicle. Four men were charged with possession of alcohol in a restricted area.