When every phone is a bottle shop and alcohol is sold and delivered with a single click, it dramatically increases the availability of alcohol and the potential for harm.

Alcoholic products cause so much harm, much of it behind closed doors, including family and domestic violence, injuries, accidents and alcohol dependence.

The laws that exist to protect people from alcohol harm and keep people safe have not kept pace with the changing ways alcohol is marketed, sold and delivered.

They especially do not properly consider the digital environment in which alcohol is now sold, which is rapidly expanding.

To overcome the significant health and social harms that result from alcohol use, we need change to ensure that we’re doing all we can to keep people healthy and safe and prevent the harm that alcohol causes.

It was encouraging to hear South Australian Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs Andrea Michaels speaking on ABC radio last week about reforms to protect the community.

At a time when deaths caused by alcohol are at their highest in a decade, common sense reforms can help make a difference.

We know that South Australians want higher standards to prevent harm from the online sale and delivery of alcohol, and welcome the State Government’s consideration of reforms to put much-needed protections in place.

Polling data published last week shows strong support for higher standards for the online sale and delivery of alcohol.

The study found that more than three-quarters of South Australians believe the State Government is not currently doing enough to address harms from alcohol, or are unsure.

Most people surveyed were supportive of identification being verified when placing an alcohol order (72.4 per cent) and at the point of delivery (76.6 per cent); alcohol not being delivered later than 10pm (53.3 per cent); and strong penalties for companies that deliver alcohol to children (89.3 per cent) or people who are intoxicated (62.2 per cent). There was also strong support for a two-hour delay between when alcohol is ordered and delivered.

The poll found that 29 per cent of South Australians use alcohol delivery services, and rapid delivery accounts for more than one in five deliveries (22 per cent). This is expected to increase as alcohol companies invest millions of dollars in growing this part of their business.

Alcohol companies collect and use personal data on people who drink alcohol – including children – and use it to push more and more alcohol products to them, despite knowing the risks.

Research shows that alcohol delivered rapidly is associated with a six times higher risk of drinking at harmful levels, with many people who buy alcohol this way using it to extend drinking sessions when they are already intoxicated.

As alcohol companies invest heavily in marketing and selling alcohol online and expanding rapid delivery, we need effective laws to protect the community.

These laws need to consider the way that alcohol is sold now and into the future if we are going to prevent the increasing harm from alcohol.

The South Australian government has an opportunity to make a real difference with this reform.

The changes that are made now can save lives and keep families and communities healthy and safe into the future.

Caterina Giorgi is CEO of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.