A remote far north Queensland island community struggling with a home-brew epidemic wants its state imposed alcohol ban lifted, saying alcohol abuse has gotten worse since it was brought in.

Mornington Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria was one of 19 Indigenous Queensland communities which had an Alcohol Management Plan (AMP) introduced in 2009 to improve the safety of residents and boost school attendance.

The law made it illegal to import alcohol onto the island, but local grandmother Margret Escott said it had not stopped the drinking.

"It's gone worse, it never changed since the pub closed down," she said.

"I think it is the whole island, most of the girls I hang out with they drink all the time.

"It's just like every week Thursday to a Sunday."

Ms Escot says home-brew drinking has escalated, leading to violence on the street. ( ABC News: Lucy Murray )

Residents are making home-brew alcohol from fruit, sugar and yeast to get around the prohibition laws.

Traditional owner Grayson Williams drinks the potent brew.

"I drink three, four cups of it and I'm already over that limit," he said.

"When you drink home-brew sometimes it makes you crazy [and] you say inappropriate things.

The grog does not come cheap, selling for $250 for 10 litres, $25 for 1.25 litres and $50 for two litres.

"Young people are getting their hands on it and making it, making a profit of it and making money off their own people."

Young people on the island are also brewing and drinking the home-made alcohol, leading to fights. ( ABC News: Lucy Murray )

Ms Escott said children as young as 12 were not only making the brew, but drinking it and causing trouble on the streets.

Deputy Mayor Sarah Isaacs agreed.

"It is not normal for a 10 or 12-year-old to make home-brew, it is not normal for them to steal money from their parents and ingredients to make it," she said.

'I cry, I cry in my heart for my culture'

Change sooner rather than later is the consensus on the island.

Another generation falling victim to home-brew is Mr Williams' greatest fear.

Grayson Williams says alcohol abuse is causing the island's local culture to slip away. ( ABC News: Lucy Murray )

"For the younger generation for me and my grandson and for the future, I don't want him to turn out like me and the rest of the people on this island," he said.

"I fear every day of my life, I cry, I cry in my heart for my culture it is slipping away.

"This place is the pearl of Gulf, this is a hidden away sanctuary."

Rise in chronic disease from alcohol abuse

Home-brew is often made in backyards with whatever ingredients are on hand.

It is also strong; the health service tested some of the home-brew seized by police earlier this year and found the ethanol content to be as high as 20 per cent.

The main township of Mornington Island, about 30 kilometres off the coast, is estimated to have a population of about 1,200. ( ABC News: Lucy Murray )

Clinical nurse Coreen Reeding grew up on the island and said alcohol induced ailments were worsening in the community.

"Daily this hospital alone deals with intoxicated presentations, or results of intoxication, or alcohol abuse," she said.

"We have never seen so many chronic kidney diseases, so many cardiac issues, liver disease.

"All the other social aspects that come along with drinking — sexual health concerns, relationship abuse, domestic violence, mental health issues.

"Concurrently as home-brew has increased, it would be a long stretch to say it, but health has worsened. Whether that is in direct relation to the increase of home-brew it hasn't been studied."

The push for change

To try and curb demand for home-brew the Mornington Shire Council wants to bring regulated alcohol back onto the island.

The council wants to lease out the old tavern for a bottle shop.

Under the plan each adult would be able to buy eight mid-strength beers, or premixes or a litre of wine per day.

Cr Isaacs saya a whole new generation of home-brew drinkers is being created. ( ABC News: Lucy Murray )

"The one [Alcohol Management Plan] that was imposed upon our community here isn't working," Deputy Mayor Isaacs said.

"My people are still dying, my people are still getting sick, I have a whole community down in Townsville on dialysis from sugar diabetes.

"It's a learning curve for us now, but we are open to do whatever we have to, to get this AMP looked at, really, really looked at."

Any change to the Island's Alcohol Management Plan would have to be approved by the State Government.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Minister Mark Furner said he would consider changing the legislation.

He will be visiting the island in the coming weeks.

"It is apparent there is no one-size-fits-all approach," he said.

"I have heard the community's concerns about home-brew and the need for strategies to better tackle this issue."

Council educating next generation about dangers

Residents like Grayson Williams are in favour of lifting the prohibition rules.

"Sometimes I think at the end of the day, after a hard day at work, I think a man needs the right to have a drink," he said.

Despite supporting a change, he was not sure though that it would put an end to home-brew.

"I reckon the younger people that won't be allowed into the pub will continue making home-brew," he said.

The council acknowledges it may be too late to stamp out home-brew, so is now focusing on educating the next generation about the dangers.

But to do that, they want legal alcohol reintroduced so they can run responsible drinking programs.

"At least with proper alcohol you can do things like responsible drinking, and what affect that has on your body," Cr Isaacs said.

"We are breeding a whole generation of home-brew drinkers."