Sydney ‘lockout’ liquor licensing law restrictions have been associated with a sustained reduction in emergency department presentations from assaults over 5 years

OBJECTIVES: The present study assessed the impact of changes to the New South Wales Liquor Act in 2014 on assault‐related presentations to the ED of St Vincent's Hospital. This hospital is the primary receiving hospital for the area affected by these laws. METHODS: Patients presenting to the ED with an assault‐related diagnosis were identified from the ED and trauma registry databases from 2009 to 2019 and retrospectively reviewed. The number of presentations in the 5 years prior to the introduction of the laws in 2014 was compared to the number occurring in the 5 years following this. Admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and in‐hospital death were used as markers for severe injury. RESULTS: From 2009 to 2019 there were 2983 assault‐related presentations to the ED, with 153 requiring ICU admission and 12 deaths. The mean number of presentations annually fell from 342 to 255 after the introduction of the laws (P = 0.01). The reduction in presentations was sustained for the entire 5‐year period after the introduction of the laws. Although the mean number of patients requiring ICU admission per year fell from 17 to 14, and the mean number of deaths annually fell from 1.6 to 0.8, neither of these were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: There has been a significant reduction in assault‐related presentations to St Vincent's Hospital following the changes to the liquor licensing laws that has been sustained for 5 years with no significant decrease in the those with severe assault injuries.