Industry figures have called for Australia's alcohol taxes to be shaken up to avoid a repeat of the black market tobacco takeover.
Peak bodies are pushing for an urgent review of alcohol tax settings after researchers found almost one-in-three bottle shops visited across Victoria, NSW, and Queensland contained suspected illicit alcohol products.
The current tax settings are creating incentives for illicit alcohol trade and the situation cannot be allowed to continue, Spirits & Cocktails Australia executive director Steven Fanner said.
"We have a narrow window of opportunity to correct the course in spirits before it follows the same path we have seen in tobacco, where the illicit market now dominates," he said.
Australia has the highest spirits tax in the world outside of Scandinavia, the peak bodies said.
